From the air, close to 400 villas fan out into the ocean in the shape of a giant palm tree, much like the Palm in Dubai -- a grandiose development that has been plagued with problems from its inception.

BBC: The Maldives meets Dubai, in Malaysia

Thousands of Deco structures -- hotels and theaters, apartment blocks and luxury villas -- are still standing, evoking the days when ocean liners anchored off Shanghai and European and Chinese grandees mingled with movie stars and gangsters in the city's jazz clubs and dance halls.

WSJ: Touring Asia's Art Deco Gems in Shanghai and Napier, New Zealand

The Sunset Water Villa is named appropriately it sits at the end of a strip of villas with unobstructed views of the sun as it sinks over the ocean.

FORBES: Five Overwater Ocean Villas To Book Now