At Fiji’s Laucala Island resort, Austrian businessman Dietrich Mateschitz has spared no expense in developing this private island, and his concept—to build a limited number of Accommodations, leave ample open space, and create a self-sustaining infrastructure—has yielded a luxury resort like no other.
Located about 45 minutes by plane from Fiji’s Nadi International Airport, Laucala Island was a coconut plantation for nearly a century. The 3,000-acre atoll is now a study in tropical gardening, with hillsides thick with herbs and vegetables, as well as fruit-bearing plants that supply the shot-glass portions of fresh juices that attendants serve to guests throughout the day. Visitors stay in thatch-roofed villas (each with its own swimming pool) set along the mountainous island’s beaches and cliffs. Looking out over the palm treetops to the dark-turquoise water, you might just forget where you came from and why you need to go back. Accommodations 25 ocean-view villas. Dining Five restaurants, all of which use produce grown on the island. Facilities A world-class spa, personal watercraft, a fleet of boats, a man-made lagoon of swimming pools, and an 18-hole David McLay Kidd–designed golf course. Rates $3,800 to $35,000.
