Six Senses Zil Pasyon

The private island of Félicité lies around 30 miles away from Mahé on the far side of La Digue and is reached with ease by a scenic helicopter ride, or a rather longer roundabout route via Praslin. Whatever the journey, it’ll feel worth it on arrival at Six Senses Zil Pasyon (“Passion Island”), a modern, luxury resort in a stunning location with sustainability at its core.

Your GEM (Guest Experience Manager) welcomes you and shows you around. The 28 one-bed and 2 two-bed villas, all with private infinity pools, are huge and beautifully appointed, very much in the Six Senses style of understated elegance. 3 and 4 bedroom residences, perched high above the resort, boast cutting-edge architecture that would not look out of place on a James Bond movie set.

The other-worldly feel pervades when visiting the spa, walkways and treatment rooms impossibly wedged between soaring rock faces. Guests at Six Senses Zil Pasyon will almost certainly be availing themselves of the wellness facilities, rejuvenating in this surreal setting, and we recommend booking treatments in advance for the first couple of days after arrival.

Our favourite restaurant is the pescatarian Ocean Kitchen, open for lunch and three nights for dinner, serving freshly-grilled seafood accompanied by locally grown produce, with views across the bay. Chef’s Kitchen is a live cooking table for up to six guests, that also hosts cooking classes, while the Wine Vault offers private fine dining experiences and tastings. Koko Bar by the main pool serves sunset cocktails and canapes in the most romantic of settings. The main restaurant Island Café, open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, we found a little more rustic and less enticing than the other outlets.

The resort occupies only a small part of the 652 acre island, the rest being left over to a natural island habitat, aided by careful and sympathetic curation of indigenous flora and fauna, and perfect for hiking along the three walking trails. The coral-rimmed shoreline cossets coves and beaches that offer nesting havens for Hawksbill Turtles. The view from our sumptuous Panorama Pool Villa, facing away from the resort and other villas, was genuinely breathtaking. The verdant tropical forest tumbles down to where the Indian Ocean laps gently around those iconic granite boulders, but what is most remarkable is that there is not a solitary sign of human activity. No roofs, masts, ships or lights blot the view and we can’t help wondering if the vista has remained unchanged since pre-history.

If a blend of secluded luxury and natural environment appeals then Six Senses Zil Pasyon is the ideal location to recharge 21st Century-ravaged human batteries.