Coco De Mahi

The setting and the bungalows are a big part of it. The four units are spacious, modern and well equipped, arranged with a great deal of privacy in a perfectly maintained garden that guests describe as clean, green and beautiful. Recent visitors note the bungalows are brand new, and the whole property has the feel of somewhere loved and looked after, a calm, private base to come home to after a day out among La Digue's beaches and trails.

The food deserves its own mention. Guests strongly advise taking the breakfast and dinner, because the cooking is exceptional and the half-board is a highlight in itself. Breakfast is served on your own private terrace each morning, with a generous variety and, as one guest noted, always brought exactly at the time requested. In a place where restaurants are limited, having outstanding meals on site turns out to be one of Coco de Mahi's quiet strengths.

Above all it is the hosts who earn the perfect score. Mario is described as one of the nicest people guests have ever met, endlessly helpful, friendly and quick to organise wonderful trips around the island, while Hillary and the team greet everyone with a smile and treat guests like family. More than one reviewer, having also stayed in pricier hotels on Mahé and Praslin, wished they had saved their money and spent longer here.

Anse Réunion is the green, settled stretch of La Digue just south of the ferry village of La Passe, a leafy corridor of gardens and small guesthouses rather than a built-up resort strip. A short walk or cycle brings you to the old L'Union Estate, with its coconut plantation, giant tortoises and the path down to Anse Source d'Argent, the pink-granite beach that is one of the most photographed in the world. Back the other way, La Passe has the shops, bakeries, restaurants and bike-hire, and the whole car-free island, from the calm west coast to the wild sweep of Grand Anse in the east, is yours to explore at a gentle, pedal-powered pace. The Praslin ferry takes about fifteen minutes.