Maldives is perfect for all ages!

On our last visit, we stayed at Naladhu, in South Male Atoll, a mere 40 minutes' speedboat from Male airport so you arrive, as we did, on the near-midnight flight from Singapore and still get to your bed that night. Naladhu is a pretty thoughtful type of resort - and it is thinking of intelligent guests. A tall bookcase in beach-set villa 11, for instances, holds binoculars, a copy of Overnight Sensations Asia Pacific, other big hardback glossies on Thai spas, a history of events that stopped our lives (We Interrupt This Broadcast) and, a bit unnervingly, Karen Blumenthal's Six Days in October: the stock market crash of 1929. Paperbacks include a new Small Luxury Hotels of the World directory and distressed novels left by previous guests - all in English, though the leather-bound visitors' book has a lot of happy Russian entries. The bedside lights that are high enough to read by, a Sony flat screen that miraculously appears, evening time, through the white curtains that entire envelop the bedroom, and when you turn it on, it is straight into good-quality BBC World. How about the big-size L'Occitane toiletries, and plenty of them, and the Bose, the iPod, the Jemma Kidd designer lip balm and so much more? How about the big Kadeka private wine cooler, its bottle necks bearing labels that show the cost ranges from a Koonunga Hills Chardonnay at $28 to a Billicart Salmon Rosé for $285, or the LavAzza Blue coffee machine - hidden away, no sock-it-to-you here - and the fresh milk, Bacardi Breezers and Starbucks Frappaccino in the minibar? It's really tempting to spend all one's time in this 3,200 sq ft space (the count includes inside, and your personal outside, with big deck and your own pool). It is so enjoyable. I longed to try on the straw goucho hat that was nonchalantly thrown, with a woven India shawl, over a carved wood screen that stood in a back corner of the bedroom, or to lounge on the wind seat inset into the right wall, its back bearing brightest dayglo orange, fuchsia a green cushions that exactly matched the cushions on the hanging swing outside. For those who really need to work, both wireless and wired internet is first class. At your first meal, the resort manager, a jolly South African beauty called Elmine Nel, suggests a few ideas for your stay. Half an hour later my personalized program, immaculately printed, was presented on parchment. You know where you will be eating and roughly when: you have nine dining options. Yes, Naladhu Maldives is unique among the plethora of Maldives resorts for two reasons, if not more. Firstly it is run, by Minor International, in tandem with three adjacent islands (read Minor Chairman Bill Heinecke's Insider thoughts here). Two of those other islands are all-island resorts. Anantara Dhigu Resort & Spa has a total of 110 units, including 38 overwater villas. Anantara Veli has 50 units, all overwater. Anantara Naladhu and Anantara Veli are joined by a 200-yard over-water boardwalk, and a door at one end allows access only with Anantara Naladhu keys: all three islands have on-demand boat shuttles. Anantara Naladhu guests can visit the other islands and dine at their restaurants, but not vice versa. This means that a boutique all-island resort with only 19 units can offer nine restaurants, plus dine-on-demand (eat where you want) and in-villa dining. (The other unique feature is that there is actually a fourth island, for utilities. All maintenance, heavy cooking, laundry and generators are over there, as is housing for the 700-total staff, so resort guests are not inconvenienced and, off duty, staff can yell as much as they like when playing football.) Adriaan Erasmus, another Australian, runs all four islands. We took the six-minute boat shuttle across to Dhigu, oh so romantic in the dark. Fuddan Fusion Grill is the downstairs of a two-floor open-sided heavy wood building (an Italian restaurant is upstairs). There is a big open kitchen, and the Thai chef, Paitoon, came out to offer specials. The Italian sommelier, Davide, suggest Chilean wines. The highly-entertaining salt sommelier Nasrulla went into a prolonged explanation and tasting of his colored salts, in glass-sided metal grinders. We explored Himalayan, Hawaiian, Cypriot charcoal, Balinese kefir lime and coconut, alderwood-smoked salt from Washington State and an Andean pink, from Peru. He then went on to explain his range of Australian chutneys, and mustards (six, each). Our food arrived, our starters in big ice caves formed inside balloons, and then side holes cut. Mine held a bite-sized smoked salmon parcel wrapped around avocado terrine. Next came Australian wagyu filet, which had been seared on a lava grill before being tucked up with baby roast potatoes, asparagus, grilled veggies and a thin blanket of wild mushroom sauce. Sparingly-poured glasses of Davide's choices, Casillero de Diablo 2006 Chardonnay and Monte Sul 2007 Merlot, fitted the bill perfectly. This meal was decidedly geared to quality rather than quantity, which of course is what real life should be all about. Of course you are a serious outside runner you might want a bigger island than this. Five minutes and you have done your first circuit. Similarly, if you want a noisy nightclub, this is not for you - though you can make as much noise in your marvellous, lovely 'home' as, thanks to those crashing waves, no-one will hear you. But if you are serious about water and spa experiences, this IS the place to come, again and again. You can kayak and snorkel and PADI dive, and swim with the dolphins and take out the two-master, by the day or overnight (it has two cabins and is fully staffed).  The spa is seriously serious, and I am sure that some of those who regularly come here for a month or more have time for at least one five-day spa journey for well being. Personally we cannot wait to return, for any length of time.