Fiji continues to tempt travellers with its warm-breezed climes, hop-across access and warm hospitality. But how to select the right resort for you? We visit two recently refreshed properties to help guide your next choice.
Fji’s 333 islands, around 100 of which are inhabited, herald a shimmering expanse of endless possibilities – and, for many a traveller, total tropical resort overwhelm. When all the idyllic imagery starts to blur into one, it helps to remember that the best resorts engender moments of true (re)connection: with yourself, your loved ones, the nature and culture around you. The following two have recently refreshed their offerings; each geared increasingly towards connection, each uniquely worthy of consideration for your next Fiji fling.
Six Senses Fiji
In a nutshell
Sprawling residences at Six Senses Fiji are perfect for group getaways.
This is polished-as-a-pearl, tropical elegance that wears its sustainability and wellness credentials lightly, but takes them seriously indeed.
Location
Six Senses Fiji is slung across a beautifully landscaped swathe of western coastline on Malolo Island, which sits within the Mamanuca group. A handy 45-minute boat ride from Port Denarau, your transfer pulls up right at the resort’s private marina.
The resort
Breezy residences
make the most of the views.
And come with private pools.
Snorkel directly from the sand to admire Fiji’s famous marine life. (Credit: Nikki Wallman)
Twenty-four villas come complete with private pools and greenery-cloistered outdoor spaces. Meanwhile, three newly opened private residences make a total of 16 exclusive multi-bedroom properties in the resort’s inventory – perfect for a group, family or multi-gen stay in paradise (up to eight hours of complimentary nanny services each day and an optional private chef seal the deal).
Tovolea, the main restaurant, overlooks a tranquil, palm-fringed pool and beach scene. Breakfast brings fiery health shots, virtuous broths and Fijian spiced scrambled eggs alongside pancakes and pastries for the less wellness-focused. Lunch and dinner – taken as the violet-saturated sky washes, watercolour-like, from the ocean over the murmuring diners – focus on fresh local fare that punches up flavour while leaning better-for-you. Think ‘forgotten pumpkin’ with a rich, crunchy peanut sambal; miso-roasted cod with burnt leek and spiced tomato sauce; and chunks of pear roasted in local honey with earthy beetroot, macadamias and vincotto. There is also a well-stocked deli and gelato bar, TeiTei Pizzeria and Charcoal Grill, and the casual RaRa Restaurant & Bar.
Make sure to book a custom wellness consultation with Dr Aju Raveendran.
The spa (always a highlight at any Six Senses resort) offers personalised wellness screenings, with Ayurvedic doctor and integrated wellness practitioner Dr Aju Raveendran setting the foundation to dial your experience up or down. I gravitate to the greenery-hugged wellness area and yo-yo between the steam room, and hot and cold plunge pools. Massages are intuitive and personally precision-tailored. There’s a well-equipped fitness centre, jungle gym, tennis court, and a visiting practitioner program spanning modalities from sound healing to traditional Chinese medicine.
Who goes
Honeymooners, families, holidaymakers who see wellness as integral to the experience, and groups snapping up the sprawling residences for special occasions – we hear a celebration wafting over the warm air one evening.
Why go
The private residences are a standout (and blow-out) reason to plan your next memory-making family or friends retreat.
Highlights
The new beach-facing Residence 51 at Six Senses Fiji blends tropical touches with modern comforts. (Credit: Nikki Wallman)
We’re in Residence 51, a new five-bedroom offering that marries a monumental yet flowing sense of space, interior tropical courtyard and well-equipped kitchen. There’s also a sweeping beachfront pool and outdoor dining area that draw us like moths to a flame come sundowner time, while a firepit adds further scope for conviviality.
The modern tropical aesthetic blends organic-feeling stone feature walls and cool concrete accents with surfboards-as-art, ambient lighting and tribal-vibe textiles softening the edges.
Energizer bunnies might opt for the sunrise power hike; slightly later, we head to a breezy, elevated pavilion for morning yoga, eyeing the surf break on the horizon (surf manager Dan Sinclair has hosted Chris Hemsworth and family). Water babies can snorkel off the main beach, dive, jet-ski, sail, fish and more. The relaxed among us can partake of basket weaving or hit the spa, and children can go wild at Grow With Six Senses kids’ club.
Surfboards-as-art add to the modern tropical aesthetic. (Credit: Nikki Wallman)
Sustainability is embedded thoroughly and thoughtfully. A glance at a board reveals the organic gardens produced 298 kilograms that month. On a back-of-house tour, we see healthy-looking chooks pottering about ‘Cluckingham Palace’, visit the onsite desalination plant, and meet ebullient sustainability director Raquel Dias from Portugal, who is also working with a local village to eliminate its first dump site by the end of the year.
One evening, lighthouse-like with the torch, our guide leads us through the lush greenery, pointing out the critically endangered, electric-green Fijian crested iguanas the resort has been protecting. The population here has increased 65 per cent since 2022; they recently translocated 15 adults to nearby Qalito – aka Castaway – Island with the aim of re-establishing a self-sustaining population.
Aside from the comforting thrill of seeing these startling creatures – hidden in plain sight in thriving nature amid our human holidaymaking – my favourite moments are spent luxuriating in our group’s residence, peals of laughter and stories echoing around the pool. This is a fresh, light-feeling sense of indulgence, geared towards those golden moments of connective, collective happiness.
How much does Six Senses Fiji cost?
A Hideaway Pool Villa at Six Senses Fiji starts at AU$1650 per night; all rates include breakfast, a personal guest experience maker and non-motorised water activities. Rates for Residence 51 are between AU$9850 per night in low season and AU$14,300 per night in peak season.
Jean-Michel Cousteau Resort
In a nutshell
The resort occupies a palm-populated peninsula.
Jean-Michel Cousteau Resort is the original Fijian eco-resort, where true luxury lies in the deep-in-your-bones feelings this place evokes. You also can’t beat it for aquatic adventure credentials – ocean explorer and environmentalist Jean-Michel Cousteau himself is here when we stay, quietly perambulating the jetty and drinking in the surrounding beauty as if for the first time.
Location
The resort occupies a palm-populated peninsula near the town of Savusavu, on the northern Fijian island of Vanua Levu (the second largest in the country). Flying from Nadi over hieroglyphic smatterings of reef and landing at the tiny Savusavu Airport, you encounter a different Fiji – an intoxicating jungle-tangle, where kava dries in bark-like strips on rooftops and bright green school buses ply potholed roads.
The resort
The resort’s main pool overlooks dreamy Savusavu Bay.
Two-bedroom beach bures at Jean-Michel Cousteau Resort provide space for families.
Traditional thatched roofs and rustling palms capture the Fijian charm. (Credit: Nikki Wallman)
This recently unveiled refresh is a gentle reassertion of what has endeared this place to generations (around 35 per cent of holidaymakers here are returning guests, general manager Nigel Fisher tells me). It features updated furnishings and new decking around the central (adults-only) pool area; a new gym and resurfaced sports courts; traditional magimagi weavings; and revitalised, lush gardens spiked with elegantly waving palm trees.
Thatch-roofed oceanfront and garden bures are decorated simply with pillowy, mosquito-netted beds, their refreshed interiors retaining a nostalgic vibe and a happy absence of televisions.
The lively, expansive Bula kids’ club has me wishing we’d come when ours were little, while a smorgasbord of daily activities also caters to teens with more adventurous diversions such as crab-trap making and night snorkelling.
Savour the taste of the tropics at Jean-Michel Cousteau Resort. (Credit: Nikki Wallman)
The low-key bar flows to the sole onsite restaurant serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, divided into adults and family ‘wings’ overlooking the pool. Meals are a consistent highlight (and set for even greater things with the recent arrival of ex-Kokomo chef Shaun Thomson, who’s plotting new garden-to-table dining initiatives and thumbing his Rolodex of local seafood suppliers). Think fluffy banana pancakes and omelettes at breakfast and three-course lunches and dinners featuring the likes of prawns and wild fern salad with smoked coconut cream, red onion and lime dressing; crispy fillet of walu atop deliciously chewy coconut rice; and crème brûlée with a tropical twist.
A massage at the charming two-room spa is soundtracked by the swoosh of waves and tickling breeze. Mine is unfussy, shoulder-loosening and hits the spot.
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Who goes
This is an (eco)utopia for families, hence five newly expanded two-bedroom/two-bathroom beachfront bures. Divers are drawn to world-renowned sites such as Namena Marine Reserve, while other nearby sites promise vibrant purple soft corals, barracuda, reef and white tip sharks, giant Māori wrasse, huge tridacna clams and eagle rays.
Why go
For a time-slowing, perspective-changing, proper time-out. Arriving here is like stepping into the nostalgic, faded-edge photo albums of your childhood, where golden memories are made and hectic, modern life fades away.
Highlights
While away the hours on Jean-Michel Cousteau Resort’s blissful palm-fringed shores. (Credit: Nikki Wallman)
I’m greeted at my villa with a Fijian foot scrub of coconut milk and raw sugar, administered by the softly spoken Janice Yavala; a generous gesture of hospitality that sets the tone. Many of the staff have been here for years, even decades, and job descriptions can seem as fluid as the surrounding ocean tides.
Sefanaia Veiqaravi, one of the young activities staffers, also created the beautiful traditional magimagi weavings wrapping the wooden beams in the restaurant and bures (apparently, 2.5-kilometres of coconut husk twine was employed in the restaurant alone); others may be on a cultural excursion with you one minute and beating the lali (Fijian drum) to herald the evening lighting of torches the next.
Here exists a deeply held dignity and pride in the local culture that goes beyond the usual kava ceremonies and evening songs, and even these seem imbued with a little extra magic. One evening we gather on the jetty for sunset drinks – everyone sun-kissed, everything around us aglow. Nearby, local kids splash in the sea. The Bula Band strum and sing and invite guests to sip kava as the technicolour embers of the day’s last glow sweep Savusavu Bay.
Days bring excursions steeped in culture and nature: exploring local markets, meeting a village chief, or winding up steep unfurling roads, past lolly-coloured houses and rugby fields, to embark on a hike through the primal-feeling rainforest to a hidden waterfall.
Immerse yourself in verdant scenery on a rainforest hike. (Credit: Nikki Wallman)
On a snorkelling jaunt, the sun catches mellifluously moving schools of fish like a disco ball illuminating shiny confetti. Resident marine biologist Johnny Singh scratches names on a board: sunshine-yellow Fiji canary blenny, pulsating coral, and pistol shrimp – which we hear crackle-popping tinnily through the water.
Another day we lunch on zingingly fresh tuna kokoda, livened with lime and served in a half-coconut, before Sefanaia boats us across to Naviavia, a pristine private island. Canapés and bubbly are offloaded as we settle in, pulses retuning to the rhythm of the waves. We hop in, snorkels at the ready again, and surrender, spotting starfish the colour or Yves Klein-blue as we drift. This is the luxury of true and simple pleasures, given space and time to breathe.
How much does Jean-Michel Cousteau Resort cost?
Garden view bures start from AU$1838 (2026) and AU$1912 (2027) for two adults and two children under 15. This includes meet-and-greets at Nadi and Savusavu airports, transfers to and from Savusavu Airport, all meals, non-alcoholic beverages, most resort activities, Bula club for kids, and a Fijian buddy or nanny depending on children’s ages.
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Nikki is a freelance writer constantly in search of moments that illuminate the bigger picture: those travel experiences that plug you in to the very best of the natural world, and the best of people; of what they can create and share with curious minds. She also really, really loves food and wine and beautiful design, and discovering how we can all contribute to a more sustainable and fulfilling way of travelling.
Wellbeing means different things to different travellers. Here’s how to pick a hotel that gets it right for you.
The best wellness holidays aren’t necessarily spent wrapped in a spa robe. Sometimes they’re found around a dinner table in Cambodia, on a hiking trail in New Zealand or after finally beating jet lag on the other side of the world. The hotel you choose is what makes them happen.
1. Easy access to good food
Taste delicious meals at Novotel Bangkok Sukhumvit 20.
One of the quickest ways to derail healthy habits on holiday is to spend half of it working out where to eat instead of digging into the culture around you. Thankfully, Novotel has done much of the hard work already, with chefs building menus that lean into the flavours, ingredients and traditions of each destination.
In Sihanoukville, Cambodia, Korkor soup – often dubbed ‘Cambodian ratatouille’ – sits alongside raw blue crab dressed with lime and chilli, best enjoyed with views across the Gulf of Thailand.
In the lovingly chaotic city of Bangkok, the presence of food cranks up the sociability. At Novotel Bangkok Sukhumvit 20, you can settle in with mango sticky rice and stranger-turned-friends beside the pool at Sky on 20 rooftop bar, or bring them along to tackle river prawns and stir-fried crab with holy basil at the buzzing Crab Paradise Dinner Buffet.
Then Novotel Dubai Al Barsha welcomes you with a laidback twist on the level of indulgence the Middle Eastern city is best known for up on Deck Se7en. Looking towards Burj Al Arab, the rooftop lounge has everything from Mediterranean-style dishes like seabass ceviche to Italian prosecco sundowners.
At the other end of the scale, in the hills that surround the Novotel Bali Ubud Resort, calm comes from nature. At Siralada restaurant, Balinese traditions shape the menu while thunder rumbles over the surrounding jungle – proving the setting is as nourishing as the food itself.
While at Novotel Nha Trang, chef Kieu Thi My Hanh and her team showcase Vietnam’s knack for balancing freshness, texture and fragrant herbs. Pho remains a favourite, while seafood salad with pomelo and mango brings those flavours together in one bright dish.
It’s all an approach backed by partnerships with expert food creators such as Alfie Steiner, whose plant-forward recipes prove healthy food should never taste plain.
2. Better sleep options
Sleep deeply with Novotel.
There are few travel experiences more disappointing than arriving in a new country, determined to seize the day, only to fall asleep fully clothed by 3pm.
For Australian travellers, jet lag is often an unavoidable part of the journey. That’s one reason Novotel runs sleep-focused initiatives that help guests adjust quickly without compromising on health. We’re talking partnerships with Sydney-based sleep specialist Olivia Arezzolo, known for her advice on everything from better sleep habits to beating jet lag, alongside features like pillow menus, in-room yoga content and tailored sleep guidance.
The sooner you’re operating on local time, the sooner you can get back to more pressing matters – like deciding which spa treatment to book.
3. More ways to move
Stay at Novotel Queenstown Lakeside and explore local hiking trails. (Credit: GettyI mages/ naruedom)
Every place in the world has its own way of getting you moving: whether that’s hiking up ice-bitten mountains before a sauna or gentle stretching by the pool before a facial. From fitness centres to spas, Novotel recognises that wellbeing rarely looks the same.
At Novotel Queenstown Lakeside, activity is inescapable. Here, hiking trails, ski fields, bungee jumps, and white-water rafting have made the region famous. The hotel’s location on the shores of Lake Wakatipu means less time spent organising yourself and more time out there experiencing them. To top it all off, you can book a private hot tub for the evening before heading back into the wilderness tomorrow.
Bali, of course, takes a softer approach. At Novotel Bali Ubud Resort or Novotel Bali Nusa Dua, movement is less about conquering a mountain and more about a dance class between the tropical gardens and lagoon pools. Afterwards, the spa takes over, with traditional treatments like a Lulur body scrub: a combination of rice, turmeric, sandalwood, ginger and jasmine that’ll soothe muscles already relaxed by the Balinese heat.
4. Better connections
Kids will love a stay at Novotel Sharm El Sheikh.
One of the best things about travel is that it gives your family stories you’ll be telling for years. Novotel helps create them with activities that bring everyone together, whether that’s trying something new, learning a local skill, or simply spending more time together.
Go for a distinctly Thai twist at Novotel Phuket Vintage Park, where many of the family activities draw on local culture. Kids can try everything from beginner Thai boxing and language lessons to umbrella painting and – a pastime beloved by children the world over – pool foam parties. Everyone is welcome to join in, whether that’s getting splashed, covered in paint, or simply watching their children discover a new side of Thailand during the dedicated Family & Kids Day.
A different adventure awaits at Novotel Sharm El Sheikh. Kids could be perfectly content with discos, drawing classes and new holiday friends, but the Red Sea has other ideas. Sitting on the edge of Naama Bay, days here might involve snorkelling colourful reefs, taking a boat trip to Ras Mohammed National Park or heading into the desert by quad bike or camel for a Bedouin-style dinner beneath the stars.
Everyone’s idea of wellness looks a little different. With more than 600 hotels across 65 countries, Novotel gives guests the freedom to choose the destination that suits them best. Whether that’s a beachside escape in Phuket, an alpine expedition in Queenstown or a city break in Bangkok, there’s a good chance a Novotel isn’t far away.
All that’s left? Choosing your version of wellbeing.
