Visitors are not spoilt for choice of places to stay on this tiny, car-free island – they’re just spoilt at the island’s best and only hotel. You let them know the time of your ferry, and they collect your bags by tractor: ‘The portage of luggage works well.’ The public rooms are well kept and comfortable, with ‘cheerful’ coal fires lit on cold days. Bedrooms overlook the garden or Channel, or both: ‘Ours had large windows, great views of the garden, the pool and the sea to Guernsey.’ The young staff are ‘excellent, friendly, helpful and well trained’. Complimentary tea and coffee are provided in the lounges, and there is plenty of outdoor seating in sun and shade. Brasserie fare is served in the Ship Inn, while in the Conservatory fine-dining restaurant, there are uninterrupted sea views to complement chef David Hook’s imaginative, locally sourced dishes including salt Atlantic cod, scallop mousse, squid ink pasta, hazelnut granola; braised pig’s cheeks, pan-fried monkfish, carrot and cardamom mash, star anise jus. Children love the freedom of the island, the bunk beds, the cafés on Shell Beach and Belvoir Bay.