Dreamiest Resorts to Go for a Holiday
Earlier this month, Jaclyn Sienna India, CEO of ultra-luxury travel concierge Sienna Charles, scouted Fiji for a major actor client and found Navotua, a village where she (and later the actor and her family) stayed and experienced kava ceremonies, traditional welcoming rituals that show respect and reverence for guests. The client “wanted to really understand the culture,” said Sienna India.
“They lived with these local tribes for four days in huts on the beach, wearing grass skirts and walking around barefoot.”
The warm hospitality, Sienna India said, was “unreal.”
They’d take boats to islands where hardly a soul has stepped and staff caught fish and cooked it for them on the beach.
Of the US$75 (FJ$170.85) a night homestay, she added, “It wasn’t luxury, but you couldn’t have paid more for a more remote, incredible, once-in-a-lifetime experience. It was exactly what they were looking for in terms of immersion.”
Wakaya Club & Spa
Afterward, her client flew via helicopter to the private island Wakaya Club & Spa, where they rented the whole island (US$2500 (FJ$5695) to $11,000 (FJ$25,058) a night and US$330,750 (FJ$753,448.50) for a week buyout).
At storied Wakaya — where Keith Richards famously fell from a coconut tree in 2006 and Celine Dion, Jim Carrey, Michelle Pfeiffer and Bill Gates are rumoured past guests — there are two organic farms and a team comprising 95 per cent native Fijians cooking island-to-table fare, plus a guest experience of foraging or spearfishing and cooking in a traditional lovo volcanic stone fire.
Turtle Island
The intimate Al Gore–frequented eco resort Turtle Island ranges from US$2800 (FJ$6378.40) a night with a five-night minimum.
This is where Britney Spears and Jessica Simpson each spent their first honeymoons. The resort took the pandemic as an opportunity to further regenerate the 500-acre private island into a self-sustaining ecosystem that raises and grows its own food, all in an effort to benefit the local people, environment and Fijian heritage.
Dinners are communal and hosted by a different team member each night, and there’s also a nightly kava ceremony for further bonding with the longtime staff.
Jean-Michel Cousteau Resort
“When I’m in Fiji I’m diving every day with my team in the most beautiful, immense ocean with healthy, abundant coral reefs with diversity of species, which is synonymous with stability,” said film producer and ocean explorer Jean-Michel Cousteau, who has been visiting Fiji for 32-plus years.
“Fijians are happy and healthy, and when I’m in Fiji I am also,” he told THR.
“Fiji is where I recharge my batteries … taking the time to slow down and enjoy the simplicity of being in nature.”
The environmentally responsible all-inclusive Jean-Michel Cousteau Resort (from $925 a night), which he opened in 1995 on Vanua Levu, is now owned by Canyon Equity.
“Fijians are great protectors of their land and embrace their cultural heritage,” Cousteau said of what, “for me is a country of great hope.”
Joss Stone held a concert there for the Fijian community during her world tour in 2019.