Find your island

Best Private Island Resorts

Private-island resorts compared on what the seclusion includes: transfers, dining choice, activities and the full cost of the stay.

Related guides

5 guides

How private island resorts differ

A private island resort is the only place to stay on its island, so one operator controls the beaches, the boats and who comes ashore. Within that label sit two quite different things. A whole-island retreat such as North Island in Seychelles has around a dozen villas and no other guests in sight. A resort-island in the Maldives may have 50 to 100 villas on a small island of its own, which is private from the outside world but busier inside.

What to check before booking

  • Villa count: 11 villas and 70 villas are both "private islands", and that number shapes the beaches, the restaurants and the evenings more than any brochure line.
  • The journey and its cost: helicopters, light aircraft and seaplanes can add several hundred to over a thousand dollars per person, and some are priced only on request.
  • Baggage limits: small aircraft and helicopters allow roughly 15kg to 30kg each, so soft bags help.
  • What the rate covers: some quote near all-inclusive with spa and diving, others room only, which makes headline rates hard to compare.
  • Ways off the island: ask about day trips, medical help and what happens if weather delays your departure flight.

Price signals

At the top end, whole-island stays in Seychelles start from around US$12,000 a night for two on a near all-inclusive plan, and the most exclusive Caribbean and Pacific retreats sit from around US$6,000 a night. Larger resort-islands are far easier on the budget: in Seychelles, a pool villa reached by a short boat ride from Praslin can start from around US$1,500 a night. A rate that includes meals, a daily activity and the transfer often closes much of that gap once you price the alternatives.

We'd only pay for a whole-island retreat on a stay of five nights or more, when the plan is to stay put. For a shorter trip, a split stay works well: a few nights at a mainland resort, then the island at the end, when the journey has already been done once.

Where to start