3 of a kind

Hotels on stilts

PANGKOR LAUT, MALAYSIA

Pangkor Laut, Lumut, Perak, Malaysia, tel: 00605-699 1100, pangkorlautresort.com.

He sang of historical tragedies in his time but tenor Luciano Pavarotti was moved to near-tears by this resort. “This place is enchanting, it is a paradise. The morning when I woke up I went out and I was really moved, almost crying, to see what beautiful things God had done. This is a paradise.” There’s a suite as named after him as a result.

On a private island off the west coast of Malaysia (along the Straits of Malacca), guests sleep in the stilt villas and you will “leave” this island heading to bed along a wooden walkway. Here there is a large balcony and vast baths from which to gaze at the sea. There are also two-bedroom suites that stand on stilts over the water.

Only small parts of the 300 acre island have been developed into the resort and its eight “estates”, secluded houses (with pools and other sumptuous add-ons), leaving space to explore the rainforests and quiet bays edged with white sandy beaches.

Rooms: there are a variety of villas including sea villas on stilts, beach villas, garden villas, amid tropical plants, and hill villas (in the rainsforest). The Pavarotti suite is a two-bedroom affair on the hill in the rainforest, with a lounge area, balcony with sea views and a large open-roofed bathroom. Sea villas start at US$460 (€230) room only.

LIKULIKU LAGOON RESORT, FIJI

Likuliku Lagoon Resort, Malolo Island, Fiji,

tel: 00679-666 3344, mrandmrssmith.com

As guests perch in “bures” (indigenous huts) above the South Pacific, the ocean is all around. It can be seen through the glass floor panel and from the bed and free-standing bath. Even the private decks are strewn with loungers for gazing at the sea, or why not plunge into the lagoon via a ladder (remember to pack your snorkel)? The sea should stay serene in these parts – Likuliku translates as “calm waters”.

This adult-only resort is on Malolo Island in Fiji’s Mamanuca archipelago and has been designed in the native style, recalling a traditional Fijian village, with thatched-roof wooden buildings, including the stilted huts.

Rooms: There are 45 and, as well as the stilt rooms, there are larger, secluded beachfront bures with indoor and outdoor showers, and private plunge pools on the sand. Doubles from FJD1,600 (€687); stilt suites from FJD2,800 (€1,202) full board (guests in over-water bures get a canapé platter every day, too) and non-motorised watersports.

LE PRINCE, MAURITIUS

Choisy Road, Poste de Flacq, Mauritius,

tel: 00230-402 36 36 princemaurice.constancehotels.com

Up above a blue lagoon, in the Indian Ocean on the north-east coast of Mauritius, there are eight suites perched above a fish reserve. If you thought gazing at a fish-tank was relaxing, try this. Large beds, sumptuous bathrooms and terraces or balconies are made for relaxation and contemplation and, should this thought-time inspire your creativity, there is a desk in the sitting area. There are also three villas on stilts, complete with whirlpool bath, plunge pools and an on-call villa master. This is six-star pamper world. Guests don’t even need to leave the water-top to eat, along an elevated wooden path is the Le Barachois restaurant on stilts, with mountains and mangrove trees providing a backdrop. Get there before dusk and watch the sun set over the lagoon and then dine beneath stars and, more locally, twinkling lights.

The resort covers 60 hectares and includes three white-sand beaches and tropical gardens.

Rooms: there are 64 junior suites, in teak with thatched roofs: 56 of them along paths in the tropical gardens or on the beach and eight on stilts. There are 12 familly suites (with a bunk-bedroom), 12 villas (nine on the beach, with private pools, and three on stilts) and a Princely suite by a beach with three bedrooms, two swimming pools and three terrace views across the lagoon. Suites from €515, suites on stilts from €675.