New owner Giles Fuchs has ambitious plans for this gleaming white Art Deco hotel, much loved by readers. They include a spa, private members’ club and refurbished local inn. Mr Fuchs, who made a fortune renting out office space, wants to restore Burgh Island to its former glory as the most luxurious hotel west of the Ritz. We hope it will remain ‘one of a kind’, ‘a place to dance and dream’, the service and style, as ever, ‘classical and sophisticated’. The sea tractor still ferries guests across the sands. Morning tea and coffee are brought to period-style bedrooms named after notable former guests, and supplied with chocolates, fluffy bathrobes, bespoke toiletries. Some have a balcony, most a lovely sea view. You can hire Agatha Christie’s beach writing retreat, or a dog-friendly apartment above the 700-year-old Pilchard Inn; drink cocktails in the Palm Court bar; don best bib and tucker for a three-course dinner in The Ballroom. There is less-formal dining in the Ganges restaurant, Captain’s Cabin and inn. A dip in the natural seawater Mermaid Pool is a perfect start to the day. Reports, please.