Honeymoon
Luxury honeymoon destinations: ten hotels for the trip of a lifetime
A luxury honeymoon is not about gold taps. It is about a villa with its own pool, a beach with no one else on it, dinner exactly where you want it and staff who remember how you take your coffee. These are the ten hotels we recommend for it.
Picolo Editorial
Picolo's honeymoon guides contain no affiliate links. Our picks are made independently by our editors.
This guide covers what makes a honeymoon truly luxurious, the ten hotels we recommend around the world and how to get more for the money. It is part of our best honeymoon destinations series and our guide to honeymoon ideas.
In short: luxury honeymoon destinations
The Maldives: Six Senses Laamu and Ozen Reserve Bolifushi.
The Seychelles and Mauritius: Six Senses Zil Pasyon and One&Only Le Saint Géran.
Asia: Four Seasons at Sayan in Bali, Cape Weligama in Sri Lanka and The Ritz-Carlton, Kyoto.
Europe: Caruso in Ravello and Canaves Oia Suites on Santorini.
Costa Rica: Nayara Gardens in the rainforest by Arenal.
Our first choice: Six Senses Laamu in the Maldives, where every villa looks out over the lagoon and the resort has its own island far from the busy atolls. Our guide to private island resorts has more hotels with an island to themselves.
What makes a honeymoon luxurious
For most couples, luxury on a honeymoon means space and privacy rather than marble. A villa with its own pool, a beach or a deck that feels like yours alone, and service that takes care of everything without being in the way. Good food matters too, and the best hotels let you eat where you like, on the beach, on your terrace or in a restaurant over the water.
The location is part of the luxury. A resort on its own island, a palazzo above the Amalfi Coast or a lodge in the rainforest gives you a setting no city hotel can match.
Ten luxury honeymoon hotels
Six Senses Laamu, the Maldives
Six Senses Laamu has its own island on Laamu Atoll in the south of the Maldives, with villas on the beach and out over the lagoon. The days are about snorkelling straight from the steps, dinner with your feet in the sand and a sky dark enough to see the stars. See our Maldives honeymoon.
Ozen Reserve Bolifushi, the Maldives
Ozen Reserve Bolifushi is in South Malé Atoll, a speedboat ride from the airport, and everything is included. With five restaurants you can eat somewhere new almost every night, and the spa offers Ayurvedic treatments. See all inclusive in the Maldives.
Six Senses Zil Pasyon, the Seychelles
Six Senses Zil Pasyon is the only resort on the small island of Félicité, with villas among the granite boulders and boats across to La Digue. You share the island with very few other guests, which makes it the most private choice on this list. See our Seychelles honeymoon.
One&Only Le Saint Géran, Mauritius
One&Only Le Saint Géran stands on its own peninsula at Belle Mare on the east coast of Mauritius. Every room and suite has a deep bath and a balcony or terrace, and the restaurants range from the beach to the water's edge. See our Mauritius honeymoon.
Four Seasons at Sayan, where the villas look straight into the jungle outside Ubud. Photo: Hotels.com (Expedia Group)
Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan, Bali
Four Seasons at Sayan sits in the river valley outside Ubud, with villas looking straight into the jungle. Morning yoga, a walk through the rice terraces and dinner in Ubud make it easy to mix calm and adventure. See our Bali honeymoon.
Cape Weligama, Sri Lanka
Cape Weligama sits on the cliffs above the bay at Weligama on the south coast of Sri Lanka. Combine a few days here with the tea country in the highlands and a safari in Yala, and you get three trips in one. See our Sri Lanka honeymoon.
The Ritz-Carlton, Kyoto, Japan
The Ritz-Carlton, Kyoto sits on the Kamo River, a few minutes from Nishiki Market. See the temples before the tour buses arrive, eat your way through the market at lunch and walk along the river to Gion in the evening. See our Japan travel guide.
Caruso, A Belmond Hotel, Ravello
Caruso is an old palazzo in Ravello, high above the Amalfi Coast, with gardens and a pool that looks straight out over the sea. In the evening you have the terraces and the view almost to yourselves. See our Italy honeymoon.
Canaves Oia Suites, Santorini
Canaves Oia Suites is set into the cliffs of Oia, with the caldera right below the terrace. In the evening the whole village drifts west to watch the sun go down, and you watch it from your own terrace. See our Greece honeymoon.
Nayara Gardens, Costa Rica
Nayara Gardens sits in the rainforest near La Fortuna, with Arenal volcano close by and hot springs nearby. Fill the days with hanging bridges, waterfalls and sloths in the trees, and the evenings with a warm soak while the forest hums around you. See our Costa Rica honeymoon.
Cape Weligama on the cliffs above Weligama Bay in southern Sri Lanka. Photo: Hotels.com (Expedia Group)
How to get more luxury for the money
Travel just outside the peak season: the same villa often costs much less a few weeks before or after Christmas, Easter and the summer holidays. Our honeymoon calendar shows the best months for each place.
Split the stay: spend the last three or four nights in the best villa, and the first part of the trip somewhere simpler.
Check what is included: in the Maldives, the transfer and the meal plan can add a large share of the price. All inclusive often pays off on islands with only one resort.
Tell the hotel it is your honeymoon: many resorts mark it with a small extra, and some offer an upgrade when there is space.
Our first choice
Six Senses Laamu: a villa over the lagoon on an island of its own
Six Senses Laamu is the only resort on its island in Laamu Atoll, far in the south of the Maldives, and one of the most private places to stay in the country. The villas stand on the beach or out over the lagoon, and the restaurants include one built on stilts over the water. It is the luxury honeymoon we recommend when rest, reefs and privacy matter most.
Our verdict
What Picolo chooses: Six Senses Laamu for a beach honeymoon, Caruso for Europe, and Four Seasons at Sayan for jungle and culture in Bali.
Why: each gives you privacy, space and a setting you will never forget, in three very different parts of the world.
The trade-off: the best villas sell out first and cost the most in the peak season, so book early or travel just outside the busiest weeks.
Wondering what it will all cost? We checked real hotel prices for 2027 in our guide to how much a honeymoon costs, from Zanzibar and Bali to the Maldives and the Amalfi Coast.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most luxurious honeymoon destination?
The Maldives are hard to beat for a luxury honeymoon, with resorts on their own islands and villas over the lagoon. Six Senses Laamu is our first choice there. For something different, Six Senses Zil Pasyon in the Seychelles gives you an island with very few other guests.
How much does a luxury honeymoon cost?
It depends on the destination, the season and the villa. The flights, the transfer and the meal plan often add as much as the room itself, especially in the Maldives. Travelling just outside the peak season and splitting the stay between two hotels are the best ways to keep the cost down.
Where can we have a luxury honeymoon in Europe?
The Amalfi Coast and Santorini are the most romantic choices for a luxury honeymoon in Europe. Caruso in Ravello and Canaves Oia Suites on Santorini both give you terraces above the sea and some of the best views on the continent, with a short flight from the UK and Norway.
Is a private island worth it for a honeymoon?
For many couples it is. A resort with its own island gives you quiet beaches, few other guests and a sense that the place is yours. It usually costs more, and you depend on the resort's restaurants, so check the meal plan before you book. Our private island guide has more options.
Sources
This guide builds on Picolo's honeymoon and destination guides and on the hotels' own information. The hotels are checked against their information on Hotels.com. Last checked: 4 November 2026.
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Picolo Editorial