The Havannah Vanuatu — Exclusively for Adults

Rooms and decor

Picture thatched-roof villas built in traditional Polynesian style, spread well apart through palm gardens and along a private beach on Havannah Bay — so quiet you would hardly believe a resort this close to Port Vila could be this still. There are only 18 of them, designed in a mix of Polynesian and colonial style with warm brown timber, cream linen and hand-woven rattan furniture. Each villa has a wide timber deck set up with a hammock and a cushioned sofa, opening onto a turquoise bay view where you can sip morning coffee to the sound of the waves. The villas most reviewers call worth every dollar are the upper ones with a private infinity pool of about 7 metres, angled right out to the bay — sliding in at sunset is the moment couples say they remember for life. Bathrooms are roomy, with a soaking tub and an outdoor shower walled in timber and greenery, and the toiletries are an organic brand in glass bottles rather than plastic — a small detail that says the place was thought through.

Food and amenities

The heart of The Havannah is the resort's French kitchen, included across every meal in the main package. A resident French chef works mostly with local Vanuatu ingredients — fish the local fishermen pulled from the bay that morning, local lobster that comes up especially sweet, good island beef — cooked with classic French technique. Plenty of reviews agree the food is better than you would expect from a small island in the middle of the Pacific. The main dining room is open to the bay view, with hand-woven rattan chairs, white linen tablecloths and a well-chosen wine list, and breakfast comes with fresh pastries from the oven, tropical fruit and good coffee. The bayfront spa is another thing reviews keep mentioning — set in an open pavilion with the waves as the soundtrack, using cold-pressed coconut oil and local herbs for an unhurried treatment. Out on the beach, guests get free kayaks, SUP boards and snorkel masks and tubes; Havannah Bay has some of the healthiest coral in Vanuatu, and a few minutes' swim off the sand puts you among coral and bright fish. The pool bar pours cocktails with a warm smile all day.

Location and getting there

The Havannah sits at the tip of Samoa Point, the far northern end of Efate Island, on a bay that was once an Allied warship anchorage during World War II and is now a quiet stretch of water with the odd private sailboat moored offshore. It is about 45 minutes by road from Bauerfield International Airport (VLI) and roughly an hour from Port Vila, and the resort arranges transfers — book them when you confirm your stay. The drive runs past traditional Ni-Vanuatu villages, green pasture and rows of coconut palms, with the bay opening up in stretches, and the time goes quickly. The remoteness is the selling point: no traffic noise, no shop lights, nights quiet enough to see a sky full of stars, ideal for anyone who wants to get away from the city and properly reset. The clear trade-off is that if you came for the town, the market or Port Vila's restaurants, each outing means budgeting nearly two hours round trip. This is a resort for people who came to settle in with nature, not to use as a base for circling the island.

Things to know before booking

Straight talk to help you decide. The complaint that comes up most is the remote location — anyone hoping to get into Port Vila daily or hit the market often will feel that the 45 minutes from the airport and an hour from town eats into the trip. A short 2-3 night stay can leave you feeling you spent more time in the car than in the pool, so plan on at least 4 nights to make it worth both the money and the time. The second thing is Wi-Fi, which follows the Vanuatu norm of running mainly on satellite — enough to check email, send a chat or post a photo, but streaming and large files stall, so anyone with serious online meetings should plan for it or pick elsewhere. On cost, service charges on some out-of-package extras, plus alcohol and wine that are not part of the standard package, can add up — budget travelers should check the package terms closely when booking. Last, the adults-only rule (16 and over) means families with young children cannot stay at all, so if it is a family trip, choose another resort in Port Vila instead.

Our take

After reading through hundreds of real reviews and the run of Vanuatu's Leading Resort wins it took for four years straight (2014-2017) at the World Travel Awards, The Havannah Vanuatu is about as complete an adults-only answer as Port Vila has for honeymooners, anniversary couples and anyone wanting to slip away into nature undisturbed. If the trip in your head is waking up to soak in a private infinity pool over a turquoise bay, paddling out to snorkel the coral, coming back for a spa by the waves, then closing the evening with French-chef lobster and a cold glass of wine — this is the most complete fit there is. But if you need to get into town every day, work online seriously, or bring kids, it is not the one. Overall we give it 9.4/10, best for couples planning a long stay of at least 4 nights who want the kind of 5-star, adults-only resort experience that is hard to find in the Pacific.