Taj Exotica Resort & Spa, Andamans

Taj Exotica Resort & Spa, Andamans is an all-villa resort on Havelock Island, spread across 46 acres beside Radhanagar Beach. The setting is built around space: stilted villas, gardens, dense rainforest and the sea rather than a large hotel block with a few ornamental palms added for form. English-speaking staff make communication straightforward from the start.

This is a place for divers who want the hotel to carry the rest of the holiday. You can spend the morning in the water, return to a villa with room to breathe, then choose between the beach, the pool, the spa or dinner without having to leave the grounds. Couples get the privacy of an individual villa; families have larger accommodation and a proper run of activities when the children have finished asking whether it is time to go snorkelling again.

You are in Havelock Island, India, directly beside Radhanagar Beach. The beach is part of the property, so reaching the sand does not require a taxi, a timetable or a heroic negotiation with a scooter. Elephant Beach is about 1.5 miles away, while Govind Nagar Beach is about 4.5 miles away.

The resort occupies a coastal site surrounded by primary rainforest and mangroves. The nearest named restaurant, Turtle House, is about 200 feet away by road, as are The Settlers and Shoreline; Dugong Dugon is about 0.5 miles away. Havelock is not being presented here as a place where you stroll between a dozen cafés in five minutes. The practical advantage is that your main choices are already on site, with car hire, a concierge and a shuttle service available for getting further afield.

Every accommodation unit is a villa, and every villa has a balcony with garden views. Air conditioning matters here for a diver: it gives you a properly cool place to recover when the day has involved warm water, salt and too much sun. A desk, flat-screen television with satellite channels, DVD player, hairdryer and private bathroom cover the less glamorous but useful parts of a stay, while some villas also look towards the pool.

For two people, a Deluxe Villa or Luxury Villa keeps things simple, with a super-king-size bed and generous living space rather than hotel-room gymnastics around a second bed. The Deluxe Villa facing the mangroves changes the outlook without changing the overall footprint. If three people are sharing, these villas accommodate the group without making the sleeping arrangements the evening's main topic.

The two-bedroom villa is the sensible step up for a family or two couples who would rather have separate sleeping space, while the Tata Suite is the large-format option for a bigger group, with three super-king-size beds and three bathrooms. Selected stays also include resort activities such as beachfront yoga, aqua aerobics and shell art, with hi-tea and a floating breakfast attached to the larger options. The cards below give you the exact layouts and capacities; the useful distinction is who gets the space, the view and the privacy.

Three restaurants give you more than one answer to the post-dive hunger question. The Settlers focuses on regional Indian cooking, Turtle House combines Mediterranean and Mexican food, and Shoreline handles multi-cuisine dining. That is a useful spread when you are staying several nights and do not want every dinner to follow the same script.

Breakfast is served as a buffet, with continental, vegetarian, vegan, halal, gluten-free, Asian and American choices, as well as breakfast to go. Room service, breakfast in the room, packed lunches and a snack bar add flexibility around early starts and awkward return times. Special-diet menus are available on request, and the resort also serves children's meals.

There is a bar and a coffee house on site, plus wine and champagne. The food concept also covers grills, global dishes, all-day dining and regional specialities, so you can keep an evening relaxed rather than turning every meal into an expedition. The three restaurants are all close to the resort itself; the outside alternatives are there, but you do not need to leave the beach to find dinner.

The pool is no token rectangle beside the lobby. You have an Olympic-length outdoor infinity pool as well as another outdoor swimming pool, with sun loungers, beach chairs, umbrellas and pool or beach towels available for the hours when lying still is the most sensible activity. Direct access to Radhanagar Beach gives you the other obvious option: sand, sea and no timetable.

J Wellness Circle is the place for massage, yoga and meditation, with an organic spa concept, a relaxation area and a steam room. The fitness centre and fitness classes are there if you genuinely want to exercise after diving; the gymnasium and yoga instructor make that choice easier, although nobody will be checking. A beachfront yoga session is also included with selected villa stays.

For something more active, you can use the games room, play table tennis or billiards, join a walking tour, cycle, fish or try archery. The resort also offers forest treks, turtle-nesting excursions, a Havelock village experience, day-and-night kayaking, water sports and trips to places including Neil Island and Cellular Jail. Couples can keep the afternoon quiet with a spa treatment or take a sunset excursion; families have a kids' club, indoor and outdoor play areas, board games and evening entertainment.

Veer Savarkar International Airport is 26 miles away in direct distance, with a road distance of about 41 miles. An airport shuttle is available on request, in private or shared form through the resort, and a general shuttle service is also available. Car hire, concierge assistance and luggage storage help when your island plans involve more than the beach outside your villa.

Check-in runs from 14:00 to midnight, and check-out is by 12:00. You need to tell the resort your expected arrival time, and photo identification plus a credit card are required at check-in. Early check-in and late check-out can be requested. The front desk operates around the clock, with private and express check-in and check-out available.

Wi-Fi is available in public areas, including the lobby, and standard and premium Wi-Fi services are offered. Laundry and dry cleaning are available, as is a doctor on call. The resort welcomes children of all ages, with extra beds and cots available on request; guests aged 13 and over are treated as adults. Pets are also welcome, with one dog or cat under 15 kg permitted per room.

The resort is EarthCheck certified and was built with sustainable plantation timber without felling trees. That choice is part of the architecture rather than a slogan stuck on a noticeboard: the villas sit within a large coastal site of rainforest, mangroves and beach.

Solar power, bio-gas and local-produce initiatives form the working side of the approach. The resort also links its environmental work to waste management and the protection of the ecosystem around Radhanagar Beach, which is Blue Flag-certified. For you, the practical result is a property designed to sit lightly within the landscape while still offering air conditioning, pools, a spa and the comforts expected from a full-service resort.