The secret is out the bag--the Royal Couple, the Duke and Dutchess of Cambridge, William and Kate are honeymooning in the Seychelles.
Before we began designing the lodge we undertook extensive research that strongly indicated that in today's overcrowded world, people were increasingly looking for privacy and their own space. It is precisely this concept that became the cornerstone and major influence in the design of the Villas and a point of focus to ensure that guests would really enjoy spending their time in their Villa if they so wished.

North Island, Seychelles, Royal Honeymoon Hideaway
With this in mind, we designed Villas that measure 450 square metres (4,890 square feet) which we felt is the optimum size, allowing guests an exclusive feeling and enough room to spread out and enjoy a unique, private, island-style experience to the full. The idea was to make sure the Villas would bring the sense to life, but at the same time be a simple space in which to free the mind and refresh the soul.
Each Villa has two bedrooms, a main bedroom and a second bedroom. Whilst the Villa is primarily occupied by one or two guests, they may have a requirement to use the second bedroom for children or friends and this is available at an additional cost. Alternatively, the second bedroom can be converted into a study for guests staying in the master bedroom.
Each Villa has been individually handcrafted by Seychellois and African craftsmen on the Island. The principle materials used were wood, local stone, glass and thatched roofs. All this combines to form a warm and inviting space that offers guests that rare opportunity to relax completely. Each Villa is completely self-contained and is raised over a metre off the ground to catch the cooling island breezes.
A luxuriously proportioned master bedroom with change-room and writing area leads onto a large en-suite bathroom with marble bath and two showers, one indoor and one outdoor. The bedrooms are air-conditioned and all rooms have overhead "punkah punkah" fans. The fully retracting sliding doors allow for uninterrupted views onto the lawns and the turquoise seas in front of each Villa. There is satellite television, a DVD/CD system and Internet access. The kitchen leads off the lounge/dining area. A private plunge pool and sala are the finishing touches in this private sanctuary.
In siting the Villas, we placed Villas 1 to 9 discretely in the tree-line, facing onto Anse d'est Beach. Villas 10 and 11 are completely unique in their siting. Their layout has been designed to accommodate the incline along the extreme northern side of the Anse d'est Beach and they are secretly tucked away in the Takamaka forest. The beach views from these Villas are truly spectacular from every angle of these units and it is this, together with the unique manipulation of the design, which separates these two remarkable Villas from the rest. Villas 10 and 11 are referred to as Villa Royale and Villa North Island respectively.

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Each Villa offers you:
- Elements of design and style in the Villas that epitomise the concept of barefoot luxury.
- Each Villa has two bedrooms, a main bedroom and a second bedroom/study.
- The bedrooms and dressing rooms are air-conditioned and are equipped with extra large beds, as well as lounge areas with TV and DVD/CD.
- Spacious main bathroom with marble bath, inside and outside showers and twin vanities. A separate toilet and bidet leads off the main bathroom.
- Lounge and dining area with adjoining kitchenette.
- Use of a second en-suite room as a guest room or office/study complete with Internet connection (also in the main bedroom), as determined by guests' personal requirements.
- 200 square metres of outside decking, a private 17,000 litre pool and covered "sala".
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- One of Travelwizard.com owners recently cheched out the royal honeymoon hideaway. See what they saw.
- Dear All,
I think I am in love with North Island in the Seychelles! Maybe it is the giant tortoises that bumble about the island nibbling on grass and eating the fruit that falls from the trees...maybe it is the sea turtles coming to the beaches and laying their eggs, perhaps it is the perfect weather with sun and evening rain almost every day with temperatures pretty much the same year round AND the islands lay just outside the hurricane belt.
- Best of all is the sea life...
Sailing in to the main island of Mahe through the shipping lanes I looked down off our balcony and saw a sea turtle. A few minutes later I looked down and saw a manta ray which I later found out was an Eagle Ray. Greg and I saw a fish skipping on it's tail just like a rock skipping along....and that was all just in the shipping lane!!
- Our first day on North Island I went snorkeling.
The water was quite rough so we were taken to a secondary site via the dive boat to find calmer waters. We were at a dive site so the reefs were quite far down but we could still see a lot of amazing sea life. Visibility nearly perfect. I saw a giant eel, white tipped reef shark, sea turtles, small schools of large fish, and large schools of small blue fish. So many different fish that I cannot even recall them all!! Suffice it to say that the seal life here looks very healthy! ... Oh !! Oh !! did i forget to say we were even greeted by a small pod of dolphins they stayed just long enough to give us a good look over ...and as suddenly as they appeared they vanished into the open depths of the Indian Ocean. the guys went deep sea fishing while i was bobbing with the dolphins and in under 2 hrs had caught 2 small Tuna 1 dorado, 1 30lb Barracuda + another fish that i had never heard of before 5 in total and when we all landed back on the beach at about the same time there was a lovely lady to great us and to hand us a scented clean cloth to wipe with and as we all exchange stories of our adventures. She asked us if we would like to have a barbeque where the chef would come to one of our villas to cook our fish and some other delicacies as we all dined under the stars just off the beach under a full moon ... white linen table cloth soft flickering torches place as to draw us down a path to this perfectly set dinning table just for US !!!
- North-Island itself is an experience that I feel very privileged to have experienced. Think Robinson Carusoe goes luxury and you will get an idea...firstly the only way to get to the island is by helicopter as there is no landing strip for a plane. If you came by boat you would have to swim ashore as there are no docking facilities. So- back to the helicopter. It is so thrilling to get to go in a helicopter and fly over the tiny tropical islands enroute to North Island. The entire trip from Mahe takes only about 20 minutes and every minute was a thrill!! Seeing the islands from the air gives you a perspective of the beautiful turquoise waters and lovely sandy coves that you cannot see from the ground...fantastic visuals!!
- To give you a clue as to how exclusive the island is; there are only 11 villas on the entire island accommodating approx 25 People. There are 110 staff to look after the island facilities and it's guests....Bill Gates was here not too long ago and rented all 11 villas just so he could have the whole place to himself! Brad Pitt & Angelina were on the island while we were there. So there you have it...we vacationed with Brad Pitt (hey, that is our story and we are sticking to it!!!).
Each villa is approx 5000 square feet and is built to accommodate 2 people. It even had a separate den with screening facilities, wifi, huge flat screen tv's, resting area, bathroom and everywhere there are outdoor showers. We had 5 showers in our villa!! There was even a full shower at the bottom of our stairs coming up from the beach area. Each villa comes with a Butler and your own private plunge pool, kitchen, outdoor showers, some rooms completely open to the air and some completely enclosed with air conditioning. All materials used are local sticks, fronds, logs, shells, so that each villa is a unique piece of handcrafted art with carved floors, beauty and luxury at every turn with the most high teck "stuff" all hidden away behind the rustic look.
- We have all heard the saying "Paradise Found" ... WELL this truly is it.
- Love to you all
- Linda
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