Maldives

• Go in the summer silly! - Indian Ocean
• Lovers in Luxury - Maldives
• Feet first into the Maldives - Maldives
• No news, No shoes - Maldives
• My wedding pact with David Walliams - Maldives
• Push the boat out - Seychelles
• Relaxation Addict - Seychelles
• Mauritius the Delicious - Mauritius
• Mr Perma-Tan in Paradise - Mauritius
• Never seen you looking so lovely - Mauritius
• Island Iffy No Longer - Sri Lanka
• Having a swell time! - Seychelles
• Perfect, even for the world’s pickiest guest! - Maldives
• Do not disturb - Mauritius
• My tantrum in paradise - Mauritius
• Calendar girl makes a date - Maldives

WHEN PEOPLE TELL ME to take off my shoes and ‘chill’, I get tense. It’s why I have never done yoga. The very mention of ‘exhale . . . and relax’ makes me want to ‘go . . . and be busy’. But since the arrival of our twins, Phoebe and Dora, three years ago, I’d been hoping for a little relaxation. I needed a change and The Maldives looked like the place for it.

But could ten days in Paradise make the world’s greatest multi-tasker switch off? And was it a mistake to take two three-year- olds to an island the size of our local park, with not a brightly-coloured playground ride in sight? We are undoubtedly demanding customers. As a consumer journalist who has reported for the BBC’s Holiday programme over the last ten years, I could be described as spoiled and slightly picky.

Perfection Itself

Combined with my husband Paul’s requirements, I could push any travel agent to the limit. We wanted luxury, we wanted lovely food, we wanted natural beauty, uncomplicated service and – yes, I admit it – to ‘chill out’.

But within an hour of stepping off the speedboat and touching our tired London toes down on the soft white sand, we realised we had found what we were looking for.

The Maldives has been on my destination wish list for a long time. But it kept getting usurped because it just didn’t seem remarkable enough.

Enormous beds and endless featureless beaches are for honeymooners, not busy, curious people who get a kick out of ‘to do’ lists. The idea of two weeks strolling along the sands holding hands would normally do my head in.

Nevertheless, we put 11 hours of movies between us and Heathrow and with an excess baggage sticker on our ‘things to entertain the children’ suitcase, we touched down in the capital, Male.

We were all a little too weary to appreciate fully the novelty of stepping out of an airport and on to a boat.

But the sea air and 40 minutes of eye spy gently prepared us for our arrival at the resort.

Geographically, Huvafen Fushi is perfection itself: gentle sand sloping down into a balmy sea; clear, blue water crammed with more fish than Finding Nemo; palm trees and sandy tracks that lead from bed to breakfast to beach and then back to bed again.

It would be easy for a developer with a seven-star budget to get it very wrong at such a location. Thank goodness someone here was born with a sensitivity gene.

At Huvafen Fushi, you have plunge pools and showers in open-air bathrooms, floatation pools over the sea, an underwater spa and sand beneath your toes as you dine.

Very Happy and Loving Place

But the art of perfecting the essentials is what the resort should really be shouting about.

The beds are bigger than they need to be and so are the bath towels. The food is exceptional.

We began to laugh at ourselves. ‘We should get duvets like this at home,’ we would say to each other. ‘And we must write down the scent of this incense. Oh, and the shower gel. Let’s get some of that, too.’

Huvafen Fushi is a very happy and loving place. There is just nothing to get tense about. I checked my e-mails a couple of times in the library – but after that, I just didn’t bother. Even Paul separated his ear from his phone for a full week.

I wasn’t feeling particularly ‘bikini fit’ either and so it was a joy to be in a place where guests don’t bother giving each other the once over.

Nobody cares what you wear for dinner or even where you want your dining table to be placed – the beach is fine.

Although I am sure that, if the rumours are true and Kate Moss was on one of her repeat visits, there would be a little ‘pretend reading behind sunglasses’ beside the pool.

As a family that normally lives by a routine, we fell into a wonderful pattern of sleeping when tired, eating when hungry and filling the stretches in between by just splashing, reading or, yes, holding hands.

I think I had underestimated how much Fulham life deprives you of the sensory treats that Huvafen Fushi has in abundance.

The island is a tabby cat’s heaven, with endless places to stretch out or curl up.

The spa beckoned and I left Paul, Phoebe and Dora to feed the baby turtles while I went to reclaim my body.

Lime, the spa, is an amazing experience, with underwater treatment rooms, and pink-cushioned corridors between the ‘relaxation pods’.

I was a little hesitant about stripping off in front of a fine selection of marine life (the windows look out onto the reef).

I suppose I anticipated a couple of enthusiastic scuba divers would be following them with underwater cameras and a fish spotting guide.

But I have never encountered such caring and skilful treatments and the therapists treat individuals with customised care. The genuine desire to help was almost alarming.

‘Do you have a problem with bloating?’ I was asked.

What could I say? ‘No, I just ate too much lunch.’ Or ‘Yes,’ and risk a massage that might noisily expel all that trapped wind. Oh, the shame!

In any event, I went back to find my family with a big smile on my face, which is exactly what a spa should do for you.

And then I greedily returned every single day for more – with Paul happily signing the bills once he saw my creases and crabbiness ebbing away.

Children are a rarity on the island. In fact, we saw only one other in the two weeks we were there and the staff were happy to entertain them as we wandered off to curl up barefoot in the bar, sipping experimental cocktails and watching people or Bond movies.

Even the Children were Entertained

There was a blissful absence of evening entertainment but we played backgammon in the bar sharing huge chairs and tasting wonderful wines.

Even our hangovers were happy ones!

Did the children get bored? Did we yearn for a uniformed brigade of entertainers?

Honestly, not once. The little ones built sand castles, chased crabs and snatched at fishes with their little hands. They were completely happy and loved sharing the surroundings with us.

We were all so chilled that we broke my childcare rules and often all fell into the one seven-foot bed to sleep.

Nothing woke us, except the anticipation of being the first to sit up in the morning and spot a dolphin swimming past.

On the last night, as we floated on our backs in the beautifully warm sea counting stars, we tried to analyse what makes Huvafen Fushi work so beautifully.

I can’t tell you. We were just too ‘chilled’ to work it out.