Raffles Seychelles

You stay in one of eighty-seven private pool villas at Raffles Seychelles, set on the hillside above Anse Takamaka beach on Praslin Island. Each villa has a plunge pool and a butler to arrange meals, barbecues, or meditation sessions on the terrace. The resort opened in 2011 as the first Raffles property in the Seychelles, within a UNESCO-listed area of palm forests and granite boulders.

The villas are built to face the ocean or the island’s interior, with hardwood decks and outdoor showers. Some have two bedrooms for families, and all come with minibars stocked with soft drinks and snacks. The beachfront villas are a short walk from the sand, where the water is clear and the shore is lined with takamaka trees.

Dining is at oceanfront restaurants serving Creole cuisine, with seafood and tropical fruit. The spa offers treatments using local ingredients, and the resort runs a coral rehabilitation project in the bay. Activities include visits to Vallée de Mai to see the coco de mer palms, or boat trips to La Digue island for its bicycle paths and granite beaches.

The resort uses hybrid buggies to move guests around the hillside property, and has banned single-use plastics since 2019. Water comes from a five-stage filtration system, and the gardens are planted with native species to support local wildlife.