Luxury Defined….

Hmmmmmm. How do you define Luxury? What makes a resort a “luxury resort” luxurious? Is it the thread count of sheets, amenities in the room, cuisine, attention to detail, service? For me luxury is more than the quality of the accommodations and resort amenities, it is a combination of quality and level of service.

In my mind it is quite simple. A luxury resort goes above and beyond what is expected in terms of 5 star accommodations and in room amenities and offers one of my personal favorite things, anticipatory service! The word Luxury seems to be thrown around quite often to endorse a resort or oversell its level of service and I hate that! We all know brands that are synonymous with Luxury like “Four Seasons or St Regis etc” but what do they do that is over the top to make them Luxury?

In my opinion the word “luxury” should be used as a benchmark, a standard where the resort/hotel in question offers service better than 99% of the other hotels.

In the Fiji Islands, we have many resorts ranging from backpacker resorts to  Fiji Luxury Resorts and everything in between.  In my worldly travels I believe that the service you receive in Fiji at a 3 star resort is superior to many “luxury” resorts around the world because of the natural hospitable nature of the Fijians. Fijians are the friendliest people on earth!

When ranking Fiji Luxury Resorts I would personally organize the list based on my personal experience at each of them over the last 20 years so here they are!

1. Laucala Private Island Resort and Spa– Hands Down the best resort experience I have had worldwide! It comes with a hefty price tag but it is worth every penny! Laucala offers a maximum of 72 guests a once in a lifetime, bucketlist trip to Fiji. The resort boats 5 restaurants, an 18 hole golf course, an airstrip with the capacity for 6 jets in their own hangars, a worldclass spa with homemade oils from their spa kitchen, an underwater submarine and many more activities and experiences!

2. Namale Resort and Spa– Overall my second favorite resort in Fiji. PS I may be biased as I was married here so there is a soft spot for Namale…

3. Vatulele Island Resort– although not currently open, this is one of my all time favorite resorts!

4. Yasawa Island Resort

5. Royal Davui Resort and Spa

6. Likuliku Lagoon Resort

7. Dolphin Island Resort

8. The Wakaya Club