Hideaway Beach Resort and Spa

There’s something to be said, of course, for innovation, for surprise, for hotels that succeed in unlikely places or unusual genres. But an overwater villa hotel in the Maldives is none of these things. A hotel like the Hideaway Beach Resort and Spa doesn’t need a revolutionary concept — it needs only to deliver on the promise of Maldivian waterside luxury.

In the case of Hideaway Beach that means large and lavish villas, some on or near the beach, others suspended over the water, with glass-floored living rooms and water’s-edge plunge pools. In all categories the spaces are generous, elegant, and contemporary, full of luxe details like Nespresso machines, Molton Brown bath products, and less tangible luxuries like butler service, to cater for your every whim.

And as impressive as the accommodations are, this place is more than the sum of its villas. There’s the usual spread of restaurants, with options ranging from fresh seafood to wood-fired pizza to a casual poolside café, and activities like yoga, tennis, and an expansive spa. But the star of the show, given the location, is the Indian Ocean itself — from snorkeling and diving to deep-sea fishing or journeys by wooden dhoni or “semi-submarine,” if you can do it by sea, you can do it here.