Best for: Silence Seekers
Six Senses Zil Pasyon, Félicité Island
By Mary Lussiana
The private island of Félicité, rimmed by translucent turquoise waters and with 30 villas invisibly dotted among lush mango and papaya trees, could well be described as “an earthly paradise”, the same words that boatswain Thomas Jones used to describe the Seychelles in 1609 when his British merchant vessel boat dropped anchor in Mahé, the Seychelles’ largest island.
Little has changed. While many places around the world have sacrificed natural beauty for tourism, here the government understands preservation, even teaching it in school. It’s a perfect pairing for the eco-friendly Six Senses group, which was very careful not to compete with nature when it opened here in 2016.
From the sea, there is little to mark out the luxurious villas on the island, hidden as they are by vegetation and dwarfed by the vast granite boulders so typical of Seychellois scenery. Once inside, though, perspectives shift. Bedrooms, rich in local décor, open out onto wooden sundecks where an infinity pool lies, to be illuminated by twinkling lights when night falls.