North Island Seychelles - The Details
Each of the 12 glorious villas on North Island have private sea front access, onto a wide-swathing white sand beach. Ten of the villas are each about 450sqm, (5000 square feet), extending through the Master bedroom with its voluminous en-suite outdoor-indoor bathroom, the outdoor decking and plunge pool, office or second bedroom with bathroom and small kitchen.
Each villa is exquisitely private, and provides a new ultimate in barefoot luxury; each built area is handcrafted from local materials by craftsmen and artists, to an inspired, open-air, wood, shell, glass and stone finish.
A private butler will look after your needs and requirements in this glorious sanctuary, preparing light lunches and breakfasts of your choice and sumptuous barbecues or candlelit evening meals. The children’s room can be transformed into a cinema for the night, and your Villa Master will see to the popcorn and icecream…
The dining concept on North is deliciously bespoke, although this does require proactivity on your part. Send details of your ideal menu plan prior to arrival, and suggestions will be made each day of your stay. You are always free to change or alter the menu with the help and guidance of your Villa Master.
The entire rest of the island is a glorious, natural playground. Giant tortoises plod the distances between golden beaches, among the regenerating forests and coconut palm groves. The sandy pathways are easily navigated by buggies, assigned to you on arrival. Staff make every effort to plan your stay so that the entire holiday appears to be completely private; guests enjoy private meals, drinks, walks, dives or boat trips without a prying eye. Undeniably, there is a high price to pay for such wonderfully styled barefoot luxury, but if you can afford it, it is truly a life-affirming treat.
The rest is the work of Great Mother Nature, with a helping hand from a team of dedicated gardeners helping to restore the island to its idyllic indigenous state. Tiny Coco de Mer palms are now flourishing among many types of wild mango and breadfruit, and impressively giant tortoises lumber in the woody shade. The trees are alive with the ministrations of enormous fruit bats, sociable and flamboyant even in the mid-day. It feels almost unreal, a paradise island of sound and scent and colour, and blissfully, a thousand miles from anywhere.
It is this emphasis on drawing out the true nature of the place, building with the indigenous, natural, raw materials of the island that makes a stay on North so charismatic and special. The handcrafted villas and central areas are truly wonderful to experience, with joyous stone sculptures, curtains of shells and wide, sand buffed wooden floors. The fact that they have chosen not to adorn any of the huge, plumped swathes of beaches sets this place apart; not an unsightly sunbed or beach toy breaks the natural drift of the sand, so that each morning is your own personal moon-landing, only your own footsteps trail behind, and ahead is uncharted, pristine.
The swimming pool is glorious, hand cut into the granite rocks half way up a mountain. It curves into organic small pools at one end, deep and lusciously cool at the other. The shade of the palms dances on the water, with views beyond across the bay. It is hard to share here; guests get very used to having the place to themselves, and the swimming pool is almost the only area in which you may encounter other visitors, apart from the funky sunset bar and pizza restaurant on the West Beach, which draws a 6 o’clock crowd. The main bar is elegantly arrayed with a restaurant area on one side, and fabulous outdoor bar area on the other. There is an indoor ‘library’ and brilliant dive centre, all housed in the old copra plantation buildings, now gorgeously whitewashed and styled.
Please follow this link for our blog post about Turtle Nesting and also, if you are not convinced North Island is the paradise we say it is, please see our post about North Island nostalgia...
