Maia is a luxury resort that certainly lives up to its motto - whatever, whenever, wherever.

Our stay at Maia started with being welcomed at the airport by our chauffeur. We booked a BMW X5 but were upgraded to a Porsche Cayenne. The drive to Maia is about 30 mins on some fairly winding roads so the comfort of the Cayenne was very much appreciated, as were the cool towels and waters. Our driver was friendly and explained some of the island history as he drove so it seemed like no time at all when we arrived at Maia.

The resort has no reception area as such so you are taken by golf cart to your villa for check in formalities and introductions to your butler - in our case this was Luthfi. During your stay at Maia, your butler will manage everything for you - dinner reservations, in room dining, excursions, activities, spa services, housekeeping etc. Luthfi was excellent. He was there when we wanted him and gave us privacy when we wanted that. He was only ever a phone call away, day or night and always with a smile.

Dining at Maia is a very flexible affair. The restaurant is located in the heart of the resort beside the pool and the beach. Although TecTec is just one restaurant, it actually has 5 menus and if there is something not on the menu you want - just ask. Everything that is served in the restaurant can also be served in your villa. Sometimes it is delivered by room service, sometimes it is cooked in the villa for you. The portions are plentiful and the quality is very good. Again, your butler will either make a reservation or bring the food to you.

During check in and thereafter, your butler will also stock a drinks fridge for you. As well as juices and soft drinks, there is a full selection of beers, wines and spirits. And just in case you have the nibbles, a few bars of KitKat, Toblerone and Bounty are also thrown in for good measure. The Maia rate includes most wines and spirits bit in case you want something special there is also a supplemental wine list with plenty of great choices.

We stayed in Villa 212, one of the Ocean Panoramic villas. It sits just below the summit of hill that Maia is built on so there are some excellent views out across Anse Louis. Just behind the villa is the helipad. During our week there it was only used once so it really was a non-issue. One of the good things is that if you choose to have sunset dinner on the helipad - its right outside your door!

That's on the assumption you want to leave your villa. There are two living areas in each villa - one indoors and one outdoors. The indoor area has the maser bedroom including a sitting area with TV, closets, shower and bathroom. The air conditioning is very effective in case you need a break from the weather. The bed is very comfortable - the sheets are amazingly crisp and fresh.

The outdoor area comprises a small kitchen/bar area, a day bed, a table & chairs and 2 pools (one shallow wading pool and one infinity-style swimming pool). The private infinity pool is amazing. We spent most of our days relaxing on the day bed and cooling off in the pool. The wading pool has some sun loungers in it for sun bathing where the day bed is under the shade.

Each villa has a TV and sound system that plays throughout the villa inside and out. Its no problem to synch up your iPhone and have music wherever you want. Each villa has WiFi which works well enough but can sometimes drop out. But you didn't come here for that kind of surfing.

The resort offers water sports and various activities on premises or elsewhere on the island. We took an island tour for a few hours with a hotel arranged driver. The island s quite small and so there is only so much to see. A 4 hour tour was just about right..

If you are feeling a bit more active, the hotel will also arrange a personal trainer for you. In our case they arranged Roland Raforme to come each morning for an hour in the Maia gym. If you would like a serious work out while you are here, then Roland is the one for you. He is a former Seychelles Olympic boxer and now runs classes on the island as well as personal training. A very nice person and a great workout.

Maia offers several dining experiences for you - including on the beach or on the helipad. We chose the helipad in the evening. You will have to reserve it with your butler as they also use it for moonlit massages.

Some things to consider when you travel to Seychelles:
- we used a VIP arrival service to expedite immigration/ In hindsight we didn't need it. We flew business class so we were first off the plane and we were the only flight arriving. Even without the service, we would have cleared immigration in 5 mins. Now if you arrive at the same time as 3 Boeing 777s and are NOT first off, you may well appreciate the expedite service.
- the cellular service is very dependent upon your carrier. Our Verizon service was pretty much voice only. Consider buying a Cable & Wireless SIM card upon arrival.
- the local currency is Seychellois Rupees but Euro are readily accepted. There are ATMs in Victoria and at the airport. Beyond that they are sparse so either bring cash or get it upon arrival
- your return flight to wherever will likely leave later in the day. There is nothing to do at Mahe Airport so request a late checkout. Once at the airport, use the Business Class lounge if you are able but do not expect too much. Its fine for an hour or so.

Overall Maia lives up to its motto. You set your own agenda, your own pace and they will make it happen. If you are headed to the Seychelles and want a hidden gem to completely relax - come to Maia.

The food and service at Maia is excellent.

The rooms were in good shape with very quiet and effective air conditioning, even if one or two items are getting close to needing a refurb.

It was very useful to have a personal butler with our 18 month old baby. We could order whatever food we wanted for her at any time we chose, and our butler would help set up the high chair and, more importantly, clean up the mess afterwards!

Our room had a good quality crib and changing mat and baby toiletries provided by Bvlgari (!). There was no nappy bin, but our butler cleaned the room whenever we wanted so the bins were always empty, and she was always on hand to help raise or close the blinds for baby naps.

Food is excellent throughout. Even a simple curry brings beautifully tender chicken and staff are always happy to provide whatever you want whenever you want it. Order breakfast in your villa: there's no point in going to the main restaurant because there's no buffet anyway (and it still took over 5 minutes to bring me a banana, because of course it was peeled, shaped and sliced... I would have been fine with it in the skin!).

Anna the bartender, mixologist and sommelier is a star, really friendly and always happy to chat through drink options.

Inclusive Scuba diving for qualified divers was a nice bonus, which takes place down the road at Dive Resort Seychelles (the same operator that serves Four Seasons and Kempinski).

However, whilst I'm sure many people receive a 5 out or 5 experience, I can only give a rating of 4 because of some letdowns from the back office team:

Email contact in advance was painfully slow, and I often didn't receive a reply at all. They also started on a bad note, as their first email to me was clearly a copy and paste job including an apology about an unavailable date for a wedding. We were not getting married and had mentioned nothing about a wedding! This copy and paste error was quite impersonal.

Does this poor email contact really matter? Yes, because I clearly stated in writing that I am a qualified scuba diver. Somehow they ignored this message and told the dive shop that I was going for an introductory dive, which meant they collected me earlier that necessary and I sat at the dive shop for a full hour for no reason.

The Guest Relations team also created an unnecessary argument for our final 24 hours. We requested our airport transfer for 7.15am, 2.5 hours before our flight. I'm happy to take advice on traffic, so we agreed to move the time to 7am. However we later received a message that Guest Relations were refusing this time, that they would allow 6.45am at the latest, 3 hours before departure, and that if we wanted any different then we would have to argue it out with them.
I have never before paid for a taxi and then been dictated to what time it would arrive and this was a most bizarre series of conversations that made our final day and departure unnecessarily stressful.
Of course they were trying to ensure 110% that we arrived in plenty of time for our flight, but that's my decision, I don't want to argue about it, and an insider tip: you don't need to be at the airport 2 hours before a flight.

So, great food, great service, but middle management left us with a sour taste.