Leave it to luxury-goods giant LVMH to up the ante on extravagance in the Maldives. Slated to open in mid-November, Cheval Blanc Randheli (Noonu Atoll; 960/301-6000; doubles from US$1,300), the group’s second hotel venture (the other is in the exclusive French Alps ski resort of Courchevel), will whisk its guests from Malé in a private seaplane kitted out with leather seats, accommodate them in soigné pool villas designed by Jean-Michel Gathy (the architect behind several Amanresorts properties), and pamper them with Guerlain spa treatments. Some elements are bound to come off as a bit precious—butlers are called majordomos, and the concierge staff  “experience alchemists”—but everything else looks set to dazzle, from the “color spot” installations by French artist Vincent Beaurin to the menus created by Michelin-starred chef Yannick Alléno, not to mention the vibrant reef life waiting offshore. –David Tse

This article originally appeared in the October/November 2013 print issue of DestinAsian magazine (“In the Open”)