North Island, a Luxury Collection Resort, Seychelles

North Island is wonderful when it comes to the villas, the service, the food, the activities, but is it really worth its exceedingly high price? I don't think so, quite frankly, it's overpriced compared to other luxury places on the Seychelles. When we were there, there were only 3 couples in a total of 11 villas. It's a bit laughable if you have to pay extra for cocktails and mini bar when the daily rate is around € 4600, per person mind you. All in all, it's going to be our one and only visit, I am sorry to say.

Our anniversary week at North Island in the Seychelles was absolutely amazing — even as it wasn’t perfect. But our 2.7 million Bonvoy points were very well spent, indeed. And that’s much better than the US$74.5K it otherwise would have cost! #northisland #seychelles #luxurycollection #diving #scuba #turtles #tortoises #privateisland #privatebeach North Island is spectacularly beautiful. Having been fortunate enough to have stayed at many private island resorts over the years, we certainly think North may be the most beautiful and serene. The Seychellois certainly make it easy to love. The arrival by helicopter certainly is one to remember, too. The beaches have incredibly soft white sand, crystal clear blue/green waters, and few if any other people on any of them at any time. It all feels so worlds away from everything — even as it’s just a 20 min helicopter ride or 1 hr 15 min boat ride to the main island of Mahé. The North Island facilities and villas are all “rustic elegant” in style and generally very comfortable — and with a tremendous sense of place that makes you know you’re on a private tropical island and not the usual luxury resort. North Island isn’t the usual modern 5* luxury resort. North Island is a private tropical island luxury getaway with a completely traditional Seychellois ambience and sensibility. With the Seychellois islander service touch to match. About 65% of staff are Seychellois. Our villa was enormous and definitely rustic chic. The online videos and photos speak for themselves. It’s important to note that the Villa’s main suite bedroom and studio suite room (which I had requested before arrival to be converted into a second bedroom as a back up for air con) are enclosed and air conditioned; but the Villa’s main bathroom and studio bathrooms both are outside and not air conditioned. Not everyone will appreciate going out to the bathroom or to shower in the heat and humidity. But if I could handle it, it’s hard to imagine that most others couldn’t. My husband absolutely loved it. The GM Oliver had indicated plans to enclose the bathrooms with air con for a few villas in the coming year. I’d definitely love to stay in one of those on a return visit, indeed. One of the 10 regular villas was closed during our stay as it was getting a new roof installed, but we never heard anything of it. There are 10 “regular” villas (we had villa 😎, all around 450 square meters (4900 square feet), plus the larger Villa North Island (villa 11) at 750 square meters (over 8000 square feet) that also includes a cinema and study in multiple stories. All 11 villas are found on the East beach, along with the main Piazza restaurant and bar, boutique, activity center, library, spa, gym, and office/reception. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner can be had at the Piazza or in your villa. But you can have any meal anywhere on the island. Some special locations incur extra charges, but in-villa dining and even on the beach dining are complimentary

My husband and I spent 10 days at the North Island and had the best experience. From the moment we stepped onto the island until the time we left we were treated like royalty. Douglas was our villa host and was so accommodating. He was awesome and seemed to anticipate our needs. The villa was spacious and we loved sitting outside and hearing the waves. Even when our air conditioning was not working properly Douglas had someone there to fix it promptly and made sure they were not interfering with our schedule. The food was amazing and Kevin, the chef at the West beach, was so friendly and always smiling. He would come out to greet us and make sure we were taken care of. The island itself is amazing. The beaches were beautiful and we loved being able to feed the land turtles, which were spectacular. We were also able to witness a hatching of the sea turtles and watch them go out to sea for there first time. That will be something we will never forget. The weather was not so nice during our stay, windy and lots of rain but despite that we had a fabulous time and would definitely recommend. It was the most private place were have ever vacationed and we felt like we had the island to ourselves most days. The freedom of being able to roam the island and set your own schedule was a plus.