Clef Des Iles

The rooms make the most of that position. Guests describe beautiful, charming beachfront units over two floors, apartment-style with a small but fully equipped kitchen, and super comfortable beds where you fall asleep to the sound of the ocean. The sunsets over the bay are called incredible, and for peace of mind there is security on site, so the immersion in beach life comes with a reassuring sense of calm and safety.

The host is the heart of it. Catherine is described again and again as a sweet, kind and endlessly helpful hostess, the sort who provided a guest with a local SIM card to make contacting tour operators easy and who thinks of the small things. Mornings bring fresh fruit, water and juice delivered to the room along with daily cleaning, and breakfast, rich in local fruits, is remembered as one of the simple details that made the whole stay feel special.

For location, Clef des Iles could hardly be better placed. It is in the heart of Beau Vallon on Mahé's north-west coast, with a couple of markets and fruit stands within a short walk and the village's restaurants, dive centres and shops all close at hand.

Beau Vallon is the main beach of Mahé, a long, calm bay on the north-west coast and the most sociable stretch of sand in the Seychelles, where a real village of restaurants, dive centres and shops backs directly onto the shore. To stay beachfront here is to be in the middle of island life rather than cut off from it, with swimming that is safe and gentle, watersports on tap, and sunsets that are the best known in the country. The Wednesday evening Bazar Labrin brings grilled fish, Creole food and music to the sand, dive boats set out for the reefs and Silhouette island offshore, and the capital, Victoria, with its market and ferry terminal, is about fifteen minutes over the hill.