Making Waves

Noam Bounekala, a 27-year-old upstart hotelier, turned a business-school idea into an impressive network of private villas. Next up? A Michelin star.

- Mark Ellwood

"BUILD ME A villa that thinks it's a yacht," the owner said to his architectand as one wanders around the resulting seven-bedroom, 10,700-sqft property Noam Bora Bora, it's clear he got what he wanted. It feels like the ocean is everywhere. The property, designed and decorated by Ora Architecte and Patrick Raffeneau Design, sits on a lagoon, as if moored, with a stepped infinity pool reaching out to the island's lagoon. A private swimming hole allows for snorkelling (skinny-dipping optional). But the most jaw-dropping feature is half-hidden.

When you arrive, it seems there are two square ponds, teeming with fish, one on either side of the entrance. It's only after descending to the basement that you realise the 'ponds' are actually glimpses into a massive aquarium that runs the entire span of the structure's lower level, flooding the rooms with blue-tinged light, and connects directly to the lagoon to allow smaller fish to come and go as they, please.