Meet Abu Dhabi’s exclusive luxe community on Nurai Island

Nurai Island, Abu Dhabi, is a 10-minute boat ride from an air-conditioned jetty house on Saadiyat Island. As we board and speed away, past the mangroves, all thoughts of the bustle of the city melt away. Rounding a corner, we catch our first glimpse of the private, beachfront estates and water villas of Zaya Nurai Island, and could be forgiven for thinking that we've been transported to a luxury resort in the Seychelles.

This is Abu Dhabi's most exclusive address: all 23 residential, waterfront villas – each costing upwards of Dh20 million – on the 4.3-million-square-foot island have been sold. Nurai Island's master plan includes 32 luxury boutique retreats for hotel guests, a spa, restaurants, a marina, a non-motorised water sports centre, a yoga studio, a gymnasium, a tennis court, a helipad and more.

The resort and living environment have been designed for a community of successful, discerning individuals who want somewhere they can really relax, explains Nadia Zaal, the chief executive and co-founder of Zaya Retreats. "The wives had been saying: ‘We keep having to cancel our holidays.' So wouldn't it be amazing to give them a holiday environment, closer to home, which they could use more often?"

Just 20 minutes from Abu Dhabi, or an hour from Downtown Dubai, the island getaway was envisaged as the perfect antidote to city life – without international flights and extensive travel.

Each of the island's private residences sits on a generous plot – up to 65,000 square feet – and has uninterrupted views of the Arabian Gulf, not to mention the occasional dolphin.

Nadia has worked on the island's development since its acquisition in 2008, and explains that they wanted to create a "virgin island; the rationale behind the design was that you felt like it was integrated into the landscape and wasn't harsh on the eye".

Curved, eco-friendly "grass" roofing seamlessly joins banks of planted grasses to pull the estate villas into the island topography. Planting is still in progress, but this has already bedded the architecture to the land, creating an aspect that is both natural and enticing.

The island's only hotel, Zaya Nurai Island by Zaya Retreats, is due to open in the fourth quarter of this year, and will provide the island's residents with full concierge services, housekeeping, maintenance, security and catering. When a new homeowner queried what he needed to bring for his first trip, Nadia responded: "Just bring your clothes, that's it; everything else is taken care of." There are no cars on the island – residents can arrive either by a regular or on-demand speedboat service; there's also provision for private yacht mooring. On-land transport is strictly by buggy only.

To create a destination that's beautiful, functional and unique, and a location where people can "disconnect in order to reconnect with what's important", Nadia sought those who could respond on an emotional level to the vision that they had for Zaya Nurai Island. She decided to "take a chance", not with an architect, but with a product designer – Drow of Drow Studio – as she felt an immediate rapport with the young designer and his ability to think differently. Drow worked on developing the concepts for Nurai's architecture, creating the desired "virgin-island" homes, with buildings melded into the landscape.

Drow joined forces with AW2, the Paris-based architects responsible for a number of award-winning resort projects including The Nam Hai in Vietnam. The results speak for themselves.

No two homes are the same, as owners select various permutations and functions for their rooms, as well as the hard finishes for their properties.

We visit an estate villa, where Nadia's mother, Lesley Zaal, an interior designer and the founder of Etcetera Living, is putting the final touches to the interiors and pool area of the property. The owner and his family are due to arrive shortly to view their new home.

Before the commencement of the project, a lot of research was done on how light influences mood and performance, and the estate villa's design optimises its naturally light-filled spaces. This forms a fundamental aspect of the philosophy of the architectural design of Nurai, which takes its name from the Arabic word nur, meaning "light".

The entrance to the villa is ­dramatic, with the pool, beach and sea immediately in sight. "People just can't believe the colour of the sea here," says Lesley, who has selected the exact shade of the extraordinary turquoise-blue of the sea around the mangroves for outdoor cushions at the pool and deck area.

The colour palette for the dining, living and pool areas is reflective of the colours of nature and the local landscape, in line with the island's design ethos. The project team discovered that the ancient Greeks also believed that referencing nature in their design environment made them calmer.

All the indoor seating areas of the living and dining room are covered in outdoor fabric by the American company Perennials, in recognition of its immediate proximity to the beach and pool and the challenges that brings to luxury furnishings. "You want it to look a million dollars and yet still want it to be hard wearing," explains Lesley. "I have been using these fabrics for projects for the past six years and they are all ­incredible; you can take them outside, hose them down and they will still retain a high-end interior look."

Another nod to the inside-out function of the downstairs areas is a non-slip coating applied to the opulent marble flooring to allow for children with wet and sandy feet to run straight in from the beach. All walls are white and glow with reflected light, as mirrors at each end of the room bounce reflections and illumination inward.

Aside from the extraordinary sea views, the focal point of the room has to be the large glass-and-silver-metal chandelier with hanging, crystal-like "icicles", which is by the Portuguese lighting company Serip. The structure is also evocative of the coral motif picked up in the napkins set out on the dining table. The distinct gold wall disc lights, as well as the large leaf lighting piece hung on the opposite wall of the room, are also from Serip, and all are distinctive pieces of art in their own rights. A number of the villa's large canvases were commissioned by Lesley from a Vietnamese art studio.

The master suite on the first floor is the designer's favourite room, especially for its silver-and-black wallpaper, which is from a new range by Zinc Textile. "When I opened the book, I had goosebumps – I just had to have it," enthuses Lesley, who also used Zinc Textile fabric alongside Armani for the room, a key inspiration for the design interior.

Floor-to-ceiling windows open out across the width of the room to the glass-fronted balcony to give unobstructed views of the sea and allow light to flood the dramatic interior.

But if there's one room in the home where magic and whimsy are allowed to reign, it's the suite dedicated to the five young daughters of the family. Lesley worked to a design brief of "pink" and has created a room for "sugar and spice and all things nice", with matching beds and butterflies. The centre point for the room is a rug made from New Zealand wool, which incorporates the girls' names, written in pink.

Nurai Island's villas were marketed with the view that they would be a convenient holiday and weekend location for owners. Yet, already, two families are considering making Nurai their full-time place of ­residence.

"Originally, they were looking at it only for weekends," reflects Nadia, "but now they have seen the end product, they are thinking of living here."

It's not hard to understand why. Where else could you be in the centre of a world-class, international city and all its attractions, then travel to your island retreat, all within the space of 20 minutes?

A tale of two villas, and a headache, on Abu Dhabi’s Nurai Island

He spends two thirds of the week in the Dubai villa in Al Barari and the remainder on Nurai, a tiny island off the coast of Saadiyat Island only accessible by boat or helicopter. The island has been developed as a 32-villa ultra-luxury boutique retreat, where the owner has a six-bedroom beachfront estate and a four-bedroom water villa.

The 18,700-square-foot, six-bedroom mansion is set in 38,000 sq ft of private grounds and on the market through Gulf Sotheby's for about Dh50 million. Showing us around, the owner says: "Sometimes I sit on the chair here and just look at the sea for hours. I love to be here because it is so peaceful.

At the moment, the island is full but you see nobody. You can see dolphins, turtles and all sorts of fish but you hear nothing."

The glass-fronted villa is dominated by views of the sea, the Louvre Abu Dhabi and the Abu Dhabi Corniche in the distance.

A large open-plan living space is divided into split levels and opens on to a terrace and swimming pool area and then down to a private beach. There is also a gym, spa and sauna and the owner has plans to convert other rooms into a cinema.

The property owner then calls a golf buggy to transport us to the second Nurai abode, a slightly smaller 10,000-sq-ft, open-plan, four-bedroom villa perched on the edge of the bay. With a roof terrace and its own pool and Jacuzzi overlooking the ocean, it has private access to the sea and is on the market through Gulf Sotheby's for Dh21.5m.

"When I first invested in Nurai, I bought this villa, I preferred the simplicity to the big estate villas," the owner says. "Now I don't know. I want to sell one so I can retire."

Q&A: Ian Kirkby, director of luxury sales of Gulf Sotheby's International Realty, tells Lucy Barnard more about the Zaya Nurai Island villas it is marketing:

How easy is it to get to Nurai Island?

Very easy. Boats run from Saadiyat Island on the hour each hour during the day and take just 10 minutes. The island is also accessible by helicopter.

Does anyone actually live in the island full time?

My understanding is that one family lives in it full time.

How much interest have you had in these villas?

Interest has been significant. We have had a number of people looking at the villas as private homes, but there are also investors out there interested in buying them to lease out to the hotel on the island.

What sort of people can afford to buy on an island like this at the moment?

Any high net worth individual really. We've had most nationalities buying there, including GCC nationals, Europeans, Indians and Africans.

Isn't Abu Dhabi's villa market suffering a correction at the moment?

The Abu Dhabi property market has not been hit quite as badly as Dubai because there is a limited amount of stock in the city, which keeps prices a bit more stable. Yes, we have seen falls in the overall Abu Dhabi market. However, this sort of super-luxury stock has not been affected. The people buying this sort of villa don't look at the market, they just look for the best quality. They are usually buying their second or third home.

Koh Samui’s most romantic pool villas

You might remember the tropical Thai island of Koh Samui from its bygone bohemian days, when it was a mecca for backpackers in search of the fabled beach that inspired Alex Garland's cult novel The Beach.

But visitors to Koh Samui's shores will find the island much changed since then – barefoot beach shacks have given way to uber-luxe hotels, an upscale culinary scene and seriously sumptuous spas. With a host of luxury resorts offering palatial pool villas alongside scenery that's still as seductive as ever, the island now attracts an influx of well-heeled honeymooners and couples in pursuit of stylish escapism.

From boutique jungle boltholes to heavenly hilltop hideaways, here's our pick of the islands most tempting retreats for two.

Sala Samui

Sleek, stylish and oh-so-chic, Sala's signature pool villas offer inpidual pools set in their own private courtyard, sinky-soft beds and indulgent al-fresco bathrooms – complete with oversized freestanding tub and outdoor rain shower. Though you may never want to leave your room, a first-rate restaurant, two full-size swimming pools and the sands of Choengmon beach are just steps away.

Six Senses Samui

Set on a secluded headland on the island's north-east coast, this rustic-luxe resort is made up of seductive sea-facing pavilions nestled among the rainforest. Pool villas here boast floor-to-ceiling windows, a sunken bath, private pool and deck for total privacy in an intimate jungle setting.

Silavadee

Overlooking the silver sands and stunning rock formations of Laem Nan Beach on Samui's south-east coast, Silavadee's ocean-front pool villas offer guests inpidual infinity-edged pools, cavernous stone bathtubs, romantic mosquito-net draped beds and all-encompassing ocean views. Hashtag yes please.

Kamalaya

Located on Samui's unspoilt southern coast, wellness-focused Kamalaya is the ideal destination for couples looking to relax and rejuvenate together – with on-site yoga teachers, wellness centre and detox menu. Opt for a beachfront pool villa to enjoy both the remote rainforest setting and soothing sounds of the waves below.

Sensimar Koh Samui

For couples after tranquillity, Sensimar's adults-only policy means a stay free from any unwelcome interruptions (read: screaming kids). Beachfront villas boast private pools and lounging areas, with views out over the silky sands of Mae Nam Beach. Located on the island's north coast, you're just a 10-minute drive from the popular Fisherman's village and its tantalising array of restaurants and bars.

A luxury holiday to Lanzarote, courtesy of Optima Villas

THIS COMPETITION HAS NOW CLOSED

If you're dreaming of days spent soaking up the sun and evenings exploring a beautiful island, then you'll want to enter our competition to win a holiday to Lanzarote.

Together with holiday lettings company Optima Villas, we're offering one lucky winner the chance to enjoy a seven-night break in the breathtaking Villa Luna for up to six guests.

You and your guests will stay in the three-bedroom, three-bathroom villa, just a short walk from the centre of Playa Blanca. Whether you're firing up the barbecue or just relaxing on the terrace, you'll be impressed by this sun-kissed villa.

On top of this, you'll receive up to £500 off the cost of flights from the UK to Lanzarote. The villa is available to enjoy from 27 May until 3 June 2017.

For your chance to win a holiday to this glorious Canary Island, submit your details in the form below before 30 April 2017.

Abu Dhabi villa prices fall 9%

Average apartment sales prices in Abu Dhabi fell by one per cent in Q1 2017 while villa prices dropped by nine per cent amid public and private sector downsizing, according to property agency Chestertons Mena.

"Sales prices are expected to further decline due to redundancies attributed to the shrinkage of the oil and gas sector. We believe the trend of downsizing or moving to more affordable areas will continue until 2018, when an expected increase in government spending could improve market sentiment," said Robin Teh, UAE country manager and director of valuations and advisory UAE, Chestertons Mena.

On average, villa sales prices fell by nine per cent in the first three months of the year. Al Ghadeer, Al Reef and Khalifa City witnessed the largest percentage drop resulting in prices falling to Dh915 per sqft, Dh897 per sqft and Dh747 per sqft respectively. Al Raha Gardens also witnessed a sales decrease, although less severe, of just under six per cent to Dh931 per sqft.

Apartment sales prices, on average, declined by one per cent in the first quarter of the year. Areas bucking the trend included Al Reef Downtown, which saw an increase of one per cent to Dh948 per sqft, Al Reem Island remained flat at Dh1,362 per sqft. Al Gadeer witnessed a three per cent decrease to Dh1,009 per sqft, while Al Raha Beach fared slightly better with a decline of just under one per cent to Dh1,601 per sqft.

Ivana Gazivoda Vucinic, head of advisory and research, Chestertons Mena, said: "Sales figures, particularly in the villa market, have been sliding gradually since Q4 2014. Housing benefit packages have been impacted by cost-cutting moves in many companies which may have had a knock-on effect on the villa market. "Sales prices are likely to continue to ease throughout the remainder of 2017 and into 2018, however we do expect the market to rebound with reinvigorated activity." Apartment rents declined by an average of three per cent in Q1 compared to the previous quarter, Al Raha Beach witnessed no change, while Al Ghadeer fell on average by one per cent. Al Reef Downtown fell by an average of six per cent and Al Reem by 4.5 per cent.

"Apartment rents have declined across the board as the trend for more affordable accommodation continues. A two-bedroom apartment in Al Raha Beach is now available for Dh155,000 annually; while in Al Reef Downtown and Al Reem Island, prices for a two-bedroom start at Dh92,000 and Dh125,000 respectively," added Gazivoda Vucinic. Similar to the apartment rental market, villas also witnessed softening across the board by three per cent. Villas in Al Reef, Al Raha Gardens and Khalifa City saw rental decreases of between one per cent and seven per cent.

According to Gazivoda Vucinic, new supply will hinder the market further. "An additional 4,000 apartments and villas by the end of 2017 will add further pressure to the rental market in Abu Dhabi."

Tuscan villas, Galway food and island escapes

NEWS To Tuscany
For families looking for. The collection of villas and apartments have lovingly been renovated from their former use as a traditional Tuscan farm, with dining areas, an outside terrace and private pool with a shallow end for little ones. Feast on the best of Italian cuisine, explore the nearby hilltop towns or relax with an in-room treatment.

Basket Case
Picnics are making a culinary comeback thanks to a new initiative by Galway Food Tours and McCambridges. The Galwegian food heroes have launched a gourmet picnic hamper packed full of fine Irish fare starting at €48 each. Each basket comes with a detailed map with all the best al fresco dining spots in the city and adult colouring books, just for fun.

Street Style
Britain's prettiest streets have been revealed via a survey conducted by National Express. The Shambles, York's famous 14th-century market road, took the coveted hot spot, with the Royal Mile in Edinburgh's old town and the Circus in Bath taking second and third place respectively.

CHECK IN  Island Escapes
St Lucia: GoHop is offering an adventure in the East Caribbean island for 10 nights from €2,999 per person including return flights, taxes, accommodation, one checked bag per person and return transfers.

Slumber Party
Kilkenny's four-star Hibernian Hotel has launched a new package perfect for hen parties or friends in need of some quality time. Check in to the hotel on a Friday night for a Suite Sleepover with sweet treats on arrival and a host of Netflix movies at your fingertips. Enjoy a freshly prepared breakfast the next morning before exploring the cobbled streets and shopping hot spots before returning to dinner and cocktails in Harper's Restaurant that evening. Finish your stay with a night on the tiles complete with a specially reserved VIP area in Morrisson's Late Bar and a bottle of bubbles.