Le Tikehau by Pearl Resorts

Le Tikehau by Pearl Resorts is the only boutique hotel in the Tuamotu archipelago, and a member of Relais & Chateaux — a single resort on a private pink-sand motu within the atoll of Tikehau, a graceful oval crown of islets around a lagoon long famed for its density of fish. Set in four hectares of wild coconut grove, it has just 29 keys: 21 overwater suites and bungalows and 8 beach bungalows, built in traditional Polynesian style under pandanus thatch from bamboo, wood and coconut fibre, from around 45 to 55 square metres and up to 93 for the suites. The overwater bungalows have a glass-floor section over the lagoon; the Premium overwater bungalows and the suites add direct lagoon access, where the standard overwater bungalows do not. Dining centres on Poreho, the lagoon-edge restaurant set under a great fare potee — a Polynesian meeting house — serving European and Polynesian cooking and the day's fresh-caught lagoon fish, with the Tianoa and Kaina bars poolside for cocktails beneath the stars. The Fare Massage by Tavai Spa offers Monoi and taurumi rituals in an open-sided fare, and a freshwater infinity pool looks out over the pink sand and the lagoon. This is a castaway address built for divers and honeymooners: snorkel and dive the Tuheiava Pass, with its manta cleaning stations, sharks and dense reef life; walk the famous pink-sand beach; sail across the lagoon to Bird Island, a sanctuary of red-footed boobies, terns and noddies; take a sunset cruise and lagoon picnic; or visit the village of Tuherahera. Reached by a 55-minute Air Tahiti flight from Tahiti and a short boat shuttle, it is among the most secluded and most beautiful places to stay in French Polynesia.