La Sablonnerie

‘Paradise,’ write readers on their ‘umpteenth’ stay at this rose-smothered, whitewashed hotel on a tiny, car-free island. Established by the Perrée family in 1948, and today run by the ‘charming and helpful’ Elizabeth Perrée, it centres on a 400-year-old farmhouse, and down the years has spilled over into neighbouring cottages. Past guests include Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier. This is a romantic place, which you reach via a scenic isthmus by horse-drawn carriage. Newly redecorated interiors are old-fashioned in the best sense, with antiques, rough-plastered walls and exposed beams. ‘Delightful’ bedrooms have a rustic simplicity. A fire burns in the lounge on chilly days. In summer, you can have a cream tea or dine in the flower-filled garden. Colin Day uses locally farmed and fished ingredients in such dishes as seafood platter, lobster with ginger and lime, spring lamb with Madeira sauce and wild mushrooms. At breakfast there is Sark honey from the bees that gorge on the blazing gorse. Experiences including a dip in tidal Venus Pool, boat trips, puffin-spotting and stargazing linger 
in the memory. (JB)