Imagine the anticipation of waiting for your chauffeur driven limousine to pull up outside your home. Your journey starts here…

Arrive at the airport in style and go straight to the business class desk for a speedy check in. Enjoy a glass of bubbly in the Etihad lounge before boarding your business class flight to your ultimate paradise island. Sample drinks of your choice and some fine dining on board, before drifting off to sleep on the Etihad Airways lie flat beds.

Arrive thoroughly refreshed only to board a sea plane for the final hop across the Indian Ocean. After a short 25 minute flight you will arrive at the five star luxury Kandolhu Island in the Maldives. The island is 200 metres long by 150 metres wide and has only 30 villas.  It is the guardian to one of the most pristine and colourful reefs in the Maldives. The beach, one of dust like pure white sand, is exactly what comes to ones imagination when ‘paradise’ is mentioned.

You will be staying in one of only seven ocean pool villas. Facing the sunset, these villas serve only to enhance the experience at Kandolhu. Each villa is reached by its own private walkway and on entering the oversized bedroom, you’ll notice the large bed, daybed and walk-in wardrobe. The bathroom is open with a shower, bathtub and opens out onto the pool deck. Complete with sunloungers, sun umbrella and a plunge pool with panoramic views of the ocean. Suffice to say; You. Have. Arrived.

So we are familiar with the concept of ‘all inclusive’, but Kandolhu Island brings that concept to a whole new level. Here you will have the choice of dining in four a la carte restaurants. You have your own wine cooler in your room, stocked with 30 bottles of premium wine. There is an unspoken challenge to get through as many as you can, as you sit and watch the sunset beyond the horizon each evening. So is this the ultimate honeymoon destination? Well, its got to be up there with the best, and once you consider the ‘ultimate inclusions’ option, it doesn’t get much better than this!

After relaxing for seven nights on this wonderful island, being spoilt by the service, and slowing down the pace of life to a crawl, what next? It has to be the glitz, the glamour and all the excess on offer in Dubai. Shop till you drop in the biggest malls in the world and marvel at the view from the world’s tallest building. You can ski, surf, or safari (in the desert at least!)  – what ever you want to do, you will probably find it in Dubai. Spend five nights in a deluxe room at the stunning Atlantis Palm Hotel (airport transfers by limo of course). Enjoy breakfast and evening meal each day and if you are feeling adventurous, access to their waterpark throughout your stay. You will also have afternoon tea in the world’s only seven star hotel, the Burj al Arab. I have done this and, believe me, it’s worth it just to see the glorious excess that is seven star.

Don’t worry though if you are feeling tired after all that action in Dubai, you can chill out and relax on your return business class flight. And just to complete the ultimate honeymoon, your chauffeur will be waiting for you in Dublin airport to bring you home – and back to the reality! So forget about the chocolate fountains and the candy carts, nobody will remember them anyway.  As for the honeymoon, well, it is a trip of a lifetime….

Tempted?

See IslandEscapes.ie for more details.