Best Luxury Hotels in South Pacific

This Relais and Chateaux property is operated by Pearl Resorts and has been designed in authentic Polynesian style. Like the Sofitel, it’s situated on its own private islet and is right beside a coral garden for prime snorkelling opportunities (snorkels and SUP hire is free and the hotel has its own scuba dive centre). Guests can book one of 45 overwater bungalows with wrap-around decks providing direct water access, or one of 12 beach villas each with a plunge pool, walled tropical gardens and thatched roof cabanas. There are three dining venues: La Plage, Le Vanille and the gourmet restaurant, L’Ohiri, serving five-course banquets crafted from sustainable ingredients. It also has a spa and a floodlit tennis court.

Located in the Pacific Harbour, Nanuku Auberge Resort gives you contemporary luxury with a bit of a traditional Fijian feel. This resort has an all-inclusive tariff that consists of breakfast, lunch, and dinner provided at the Club House daily. The resort offers expansive beachfront residences with villas, and elegantly designed luxurious suites that are spacious and have sleek bathrooms. Also, most have private pools. The resort is full of fun activities like water sports, cultural excursions, and daily yoga. Get a personal butler and a nanny to help you around, and don’t forget to relax in spa treatments at the Lomana Spa and Wellness Centre.

Located amongst the green hills of Malolo Island, Likuliku Lagoon Resort offers the perfect tranquil, luxurious island escape. Enjoy the white-sandy beaches, the scent of tropical flowers, clear turquoise water, not to mention unique and stylish over-water bures and scenic beachfront bungalows that will make you never want to leave your room. The resort emulates the traditional Fijian villages giving it an authentic charm. It also houses a wireless network, a modern luxury spa, creative cuisine of Fijiana Restaurant, stylish furnishings, and a freshwater pool that offers spectacular views of the lagoon. You will be welcomed with the warmth of the Fijian people.

Located on the beachfront of Viti Levu Island, Outrigger Fiji Beach Resort features 24-hour room service, modern air-conditioned rooms, award-winning restaurants, a complimentary Kids Club, and a magnificent tropical pool. Other facilities available include a 24-hour fitness centre, traditional Fijian bures, golf training facility, and Bebe Spa with private open-air balconies that offer breath-taking ocean views. The hotel offers several activities for the entire family, which include snorkelling, kayaking, a traditional Fijian fire walking show, or the cultural Fijian kava ceremony. When you get to this luxury hotel, you’re embraced with a gracious Bula welcome and pampered with Meimei nannies and signature Talai butlers.

Located in the Mamanuca Islands, Tadrai Island Resort is an adult-only hotel that often attracts couples and honeymooners looking for a quiet, personalized stay. The villas offer private plunge pools, terraces with stunning ocean vistas, open-air showers, Wi-Fi, flat-screen TVs, iPads, and minibars. Be part of amazing activities such as spa treatments, hiking, sailing, fishing, water sports, kayaking, snorkelling, islands excursions, or simply chill on the beach. The resort serves Pacific Rim cuisine and also offers in-room dining and massage.

Choose from villas that lie next to the beach, or over the water, at Le Moana Bora Bora. There are 64 suites in total – all leading out to furnished balconies or patio spaces – and two restaurants. It has its own private beach, arguably one of the most beautiful on the island and you can swim in the sea, the saltwater lagoon, or the hotel’s infinity pool. Le Moana is located at Matira Point and takes on a traditional Polynesian feel. While there isn’t a spa onsite, a boat shuttle can transfer you to the InterContinental Bora Bora Resort & Thalasso Spa where guests can use the facilities including the Deep Ocean Spa.

Featuring 100 stunning over-water bungalows, the Four Seasons is a 13-year-old resort that oozes luxury. The site is expansive, with landscaped gardens, a plethora of onsite activities, its own boutiques and multiple dining choices. As such, you’ll need to like walking or grab a lift on one of its many golf buggies to get around. It’s not all about lying back and sunning yourself (although doing that on one of the poolside teak loungers is a pleasure). Here you can take part in a workshop with the hotel’s own marine biologist, learn a paddle sport, or practise yoga. The opulent Kahai Spa is quite something — it has treatments incorporating 24-carat gold.

It’s exactly how you imagine paradise: staying in an over-water thatched villa on stilts, with the blue, fish-filled ocean visible via glass panels, 24-hour butler service, spa treatments and your own pool. Guests have access to the resort’s main pool with a sociable swim-up bar, a fitness centre and four restaurants. Lagoon Restaurant by Jean-Georges is the resort’s exclusive signature venue and the food is hard to beat anywhere on the island. Like many of the villas, it sits over the water, serving fish caught from the local area. If you’re in the mood for some fine Italian cuisine, eat at Far Niente Ristorante, or there’s Bam Boo with classic wok cuisine, teppanyaki and sushi.

Rarotonga is the largest of the Cook Islands, and its Muri Lagoon beachfront — just 15-minutes drive from the airport — is the setting for the Rumours resort. Book a huge self-catering villa with a four-poster bed, a projector with surround sound for movie nights under the stars and your own courtyard with a tiered pool and rocky waterfalls. The resort has a private beach, BBQ facilities, a saltwater pool and the multi-award-winning Waterfall Day Spa. While there isn’t a restaurant or bar on site, this maintains a quiet, private vibe, and there are plenty of fantastic places to eat and drink nearby.

Choose from a villa, bungalow or suite, set beside the Aitutaki’s lagoon, where you can listen to the calming sounds of the lapping shore while you recline on the timber chairs of your private porch. The resort has a colonial-inspired decor in South Pacific rustic-style architecture and is reserved exclusively for adults. Local fare is served all day in the waterside Rapae Bay Restaurant, with snacks and drinks provided on the beach or in-room via the Black Rock Bar. Wellness treatments can also be provided on the beach and in-room, or within the Tiare Spa.

Get the full paradise experience by staying in a thatched overwater bungalow on the lagoon. Fans of the Real Housewives Of Orange County may recognise the resort from an episode aired in 2015, set on what is arguably the best beach on the island, close to Tootea Lookout. Sofitel Kia Ora accommodates 113 luxurious bungalows (some over the protected lagoon, others on the beach or immersed in tropical gardens). There are two restaurants — K by Marc Lintanf and Pure, with an outdoor terrace and dance shows — a bar, an outdoor swimming pool and a day spa.