2025 Readers' Choice Awards: Best island resort

Winner: Soneva Fushi

Why you love it…

The Indian Ocean wraps around Soneva Fushi like a shiny blue-green bracelet. The eco-conscious resort sits at No. 28 on The World’s 50 Best Hotels list and embodies the whole barefoot-chic approach with its ‘no news, no shoes’ approach. Set on one of the northerly atolls in the Maldives, the resort’s 63 private villas – each with their own barefoot butler – is accessible by seaplane or speedboat.

Hot tip…

Head to The Observatory to discover the mysteries of the Maldivian night sky with the help of expert hosts.

Runners-up

Shangri-La Yanuca Island, Fiji

Want to hard-launch your situationship? Book a stay at this luxury island resort which caters to couples with everything from its adults-only wing to beach picnics for two.

Six Senses Laamu

Swim with a goofy-grinned manta ray, surf uncrowded waves and luxe it up at the only five-star resort on the Maldives’ remote Laamu Atoll.

Four Seasons Resort Bora Bora

Take a deep dive into French Polynesia with a stay at the Four Seasons Resort Bora Bora. The tropical hideaway has overwater bungalows set up for couples as well as estates designed to accommodate multi-gen getaways.

Amanpulo

The jungle is pulled up like a green bedspread around this Palawan resort in the Cuyo Archipelago in the Philippines, which is so impossibly idyllic it looks like an AI hallucination.

For all the winners and runners-up, visit our 2025 Readers’ Choice hub.