Seclusion, serenity and plenty of sea: Welcome to the Maldives’ latest Secret - video -bc

One moment I was rocking on the swing, enjoying the sun and gentle breeze, and the next I was scrambling to find shelter as rain came down in thick sheets.

Suddenly, two pixies in raincoats appeared and swiftly folded louvred bathroom windows and slid well-hidden glass panels into place. At Soneva Secret, open bedrooms and bathrooms are great ideas only because the butlers — or Barefoot Guardians and Assistants as Soneva likes to call them — are thoughtfully efficient. Mine were Nouha and Eve, who anticipated everything from drastic weather changes to snorkelling essentials during my two-night stay at the 14-villa Soneva Secret, which opened in April this year. It is the latest in the brand’s collection of barefoot luxury properties that included Soneva Fushi and Soneva Jani, also in the Maldives, and Soneva Kiri in Koh Kood, Thailand.

After a five-hour flight from Singapore to Male, it is a 75-minute jaunt on a Soneva seaplane from Male to Soneva Secret. The moment you step out onto the jetty, the “no news, no shoes” policy kicks in. My footwear was collected and stashed away in a linen bag, never to be seen again until the day I left. The resort is in the Haa Dhaalu Atoll in the northern part of the Maldives, and it is so remote that the nearest inhabited island Makunudhoo is a 15-minute speedboat ride away.