Why you should visit this game-changing resort in the Maldives

There are fewer places more appealing at this time of year than the Maldives. A Blue Monday there most likely consists of a descent from your overwater villa straight into the picture-perfect Indian Ocean; and perhaps some snorkelling if you are feeling energetic.

No surprises, then, that the tropical archipelago was among the most popular destinations on Sunshine Saturday (one of the biggest days of the year for holiday bookings) this month, as pre-departure tests to enter the UK were abolished and day-two PCR tests were replaced with isolation-free lateral flow tests – and later scrapped completely. It continues to be among the favourite destinations of Telegraph Travel readers and, since the start of this year, has been the most enquired-about destination for luxury tour operator Abercrombie & Kent.

If you haven’t been before, the Maldives is the ultimate outlet for pent-up holiday demand, the ideal destination for a blowout winter sun break. If you have been before, there is plenty that is refreshingly new to draw you back.

One example is the Fari Islands, which have radically changed the game of what a holiday to the Maldives can look like, as I discovered last year. If you have someone in tow who doesn’t like the idea of staying in a resort in one place, this multi-island development may be just the compromise you need.

It is the first integrated luxury resort in the Maldives to offer 30 restaurants and three five-star hotels: the Patina and Ritz-Carlton, which opened last summer, and Capella, which is scheduled to open next year. They are all on their own islands but centred on a deep lagoon with a boat that regularly criss-crosses between them.

Out goes the idea of “no shoes, no news”, barefoot luxury; of rustic huts topped by thatched palm leaves; of one-island, one-resort thinking. In come three resorts, with sustainability at their core, characterised by sleek, contemporary architecture.

Then there is Fari Marina, a place where guests from all three islands can integrate to the beats and bites of DJ and two-Michelin-star chef Nick Bril at the Fari Beach Club, or bask in James Turrell’s light-filled installation, Skyspace. You can pick up a new timepiece at the Revolution Watch Bar or shop for the latest Cara Mia May pyjamas at Mrs Rake. There are food trucks such as Tum Tum, where soft-shell crab fritters demand a pit stop, and restaurants including fire-fuelled Brasa which deserve an evening of your time.

A speedboat zooms guests over from Malé in 50 minutes. As you arrive, the spherical wooden villas of the new Ritz-Carlton Maldives loom into sight, seemingly floating on the aquamarine waters. The smooth lines of the circular design, repeated throughout the resort, lend a sense of flow which is perfectly in step with the loosening of shackles that holidays bring, but the shape was also inspired by the round drums – boduberu – of the Maldivians, the swirls of the ocean waves and the circle of island life.

The late, great Kerry Hill (this was his last design) has captured the landscape exquisitely in his seemingly humble architecture. Stand at sunset in the Eau Bar with the round infinity pool before you, the ocean beyond it and drumming Maldivians standing between the two as they light the evening fire, and that circle seems to offer the beauty of timelessness too. It’s a more sophisticated version – for the next generation – of the “island time” concept the Maldives launched almost 50 years ago when Kurumba opened, and has honed since.

The familiarity of the Ritz-Carlton name attracts many more mature guests. For a special birthday or anniversary, there are few places more idyllic than your own private villa here.

There are 100 of these round entities in total; and if being indoors in a setting so spectacular feels a shame, fear not, for within them you remain immersed in the outdoors. Dazzling turquoise waters draw your eye away from a neutral interior palette, while lines between the two are blurred by a retractable wall of glass. Decks in bare wood are equipped with a table, loungers and a daybed for two from which your feet can dangle in the swimming pool, perhaps to cool off in the heat of the day, or while indulging in some stargazing together in the evening. In addition to an indoor and an outdoor shower, there is a huge bath in which I returned one night to find an eagle ray floating in the bubbles (of which more later).

If you really want to make someone’s holiday, consider booking them a treatment at the round Bamford spa; perhaps the Maldivian Signature Rejuvenation, which exfoliates the body using sand before a massage and moisturising coconut milk bath over a decadent three hours. Each of the nine treatment rooms is named after its point on the compass, which brings with it a particular energy, while the largest suite includes its own relaxation room.

Sustainability has been a key theme in the development of the Fari Islands, so Bamford fits right in. The use of prefabricated buildings reduced the size of the workforce on-site, thereby minimising localised damage, while solar panels on the roofs of buildings run the air conditioning, which in turn heats the water.

The Ritz-Carlton has introduced Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ambassadors of the Environment programme, which teaches conservation to even the smallest guests by explaining the reef to them in terms of an underwater city with certain fish and coral doing particular jobs.

The first Maldives resort I have been to where they don’t upset the eco-balance by feeding the fish is also the first where you can see marine life from a drone, as I did. Dr Sol Milne, who researches the entanglement dangers of “ghost nets” (lost or abandoned fishing gear which continues to ensnare), also offers a glimpse of what is out there on drone flights. We tracked a fever of mobula rays – a rare sight, judging by Sol’s excitement. Despite the terrible coral “bleaching” from El Niño a few years ago, the reef is showing strong signs of recovery and marine life was plentiful, from multicoloured butterfly fish and damselfish to a graceful eagle ray that flapped past me.

It was this that was recreated in my bath by the wonderful Mariyam Shaghaf, my Aris Meeha (an old Maldivian term for the monarch’s consort that the hotel has adopted as an alternative to “butler”), using thin bamboo reeds. Clearly, her artistic talents are as strong as her organisational skills, which kept me where I should be at the right time.

That was mostly in the restaurants, whether enjoying a lazy brunch at the Beach Shack, where the Miraval rosé flowed and I feasted on bluewater prawns; eating dim sum at the Summer Pavilion, which hangs over the water, candles reflecting in the inky darkness; or admiring the culinary wizardry of chef Jameel, whose wagyu beef with smoked truffle teriyaki was bliss in a bite at Japanese restaurant Iwau.

Across the water at Fari Island Marina near the tempting shops of Mr and Mrs Rake, more culinary choices await, including street food trucks such as the candy-pink gelato tuk-tuk, which parents will love almost as much as children on account of the complimentary ice cream it dispenses to gleeful recipients between 11am and 5pm daily. Most of the restaurants there, apart from the Ritz-Carlton’s Arabesque – a twist on a Bedouin tent – come from Patina, the inaugural resort in the Patina brand developed by Capella Hotel Group, whose resort neighbours the Marina.

Another fun feature for families here that you wouldn’t necessarily expect in the Maldives is a campfire complete with toasted marshmallows, perfect for evenings together that you will all remember forever. By day, there is the Footprint kids’ club – or you can venture out together on bikes, stand-up paddleboards or kayaks. Up to two children stay free, including meals from the kids’ menu, and an introduction to scuba diving for one child per stay is offered, if you want to inspire in your kids a lifelong love of the ocean.

Buildings at Patina are low-slung to give unimpaired views of the horizon and come in earthy colour palettes and natural materials of slate, wood and rattan. In villas, huge prints of Maldivian flora and fauna by Brazilian photographer Cássio Vasconcellos hang over beds clad in earth-coloured Frette sheets. Baths are outside, near the swimming pool behind a hedge of greenery for the beach villas; or on your own deck for the overwater villas.

You can take to the waters in the extraordinary Adastra, a 140ft superyacht, to dolphin-spot or snorkel as I did along the reef beyond where the Capella is being built. In among the coral, I surprised a shy young hawksbill turtle, while later a lobster waved its antennae at me and unicorn fish, fusiliers and oriental sweetlips flaunted their intricate designs like colourful catwalk models.

Sustainability also sparked the idea for the plant-based Roots restaurant. Dishes not to miss are the texture-centric Jerusalem artichoke and the butternut squash “steak”. This is just one of Patina’s 12 restaurants in the hotel and along the Marina, from Greek Helios to Latin American Brasa for pitch-perfect meat cooked over fire.

If you follow the noise you will end up at the Fari Beach Club, where Nick Bril dazzles with a menu that pays homage to local ingredients, from Maldivian lobster served with seagrass harvested off the island to dry-aged yellowfin tuna with tomatoes, wasabi ponzu, fermented daikon and kaffir lime. With his DJ hat on (a role that helps him de-stress from the exacting nature of his kitchen), he has paired music to his meal, guaranteeing a fully immersive experience.

The same can be said of the signature piece by legendary James Turrell, a little further along the Marina. One of a collection of works of art on the island, Skyspace Pavilion plays with light as a tangible material. Stand inside it and the open ceiling seems to flatten the sky, challenging your perception of space. This is the new-generation Maldives, and it will give you something to think about.

How to do it

The Ritz-Carlton Maldives, Fari Islands (00 960 400 0999; ritzcarlton.com) has doubles from £1,355 per night (plus a £4 pp/pn Green Tax) including breakfast. Patina Maldives, Fari Islands (00 960 400 0555; patinahotels.com) has doubles from £1,785 per night with breakfast. For more travel inspiration, read Telegraph Travel's guide to the best hotels in the Maldives.

Visitors to the Maldives must present a negative PCR test on arrival, taken within 96 hours of departure and complete a health declaration form. For full details of entry, see here.