Cocktail Hour: Tovolea Bar

Tovolea bar overlooks the glittering resort pool and the white-sand beach beyond. Photo / Instagram

Tovolea Bar

Six Senses Fiji, Malolo Island

The view: The glittering resort pool and the white-sand beach beyond.

The vibe: This eco resort has award-winning decor by Auckland-based Space Studios. The brief was for "quirky luxury" with a focus on sustainability. There's a beautiful thatched vaulted ceiling, grass-cloth covered walls, tapa cloth patterns etched into surfaces, and bespoke furnishings made from mahogany and rain trees. The bar's seamless connection to the surrounding water means it's the ideal location for a sunset cocktail. It also means you'll find resort guests in varying states of undress as they sip on their drinks.

The bar features award-winning decor by Auckland-based Space Studios. Photo / Six Senses Fiji

The chat: With wellness a key focus for Six Senses Fiji, the team here is very passionate about homemade probiotics and shrubs, with many ingredients on the cocktail menu cultivated from the nearby garden.

The menu: : "Wellness" cocktails, "Love Potions", classics with a twist (the Mollini has Aperol, moli shrub, housemade orange bitters and bubbles) plus an extensive wine list, lots of spirits, and a couple of local beers – no craft beer here. The cocktails will set you back NZ$20-$25 and the wines by the glass are about the same. If you want to eat, head to the adjoining Tovolea restaurant headed by ex-The Grove chef Ihaka Peri, serving dishes like crayfish dumplings, braised duck with herb gnocchi or tuna with mud crab aioli.

The bar offers drinks with a wellness twist, featuring homemade probiotics, ades and more. Photo / Instagram

The expectation: Healthful cocktails that provide a wellbeing boost as well as a buzz.

The reality: The Limonade cocktail and its mix of lemon kombucha, Limoncello, white rum and "living lemonade" is a refreshing, citrusy cocktail with a good amount of booze. The health benefits are yet to be seen, but the addition of kombucha has a welcome placebo effect, at least.