Sandals Grande St. Lucian occupies a peninsula at Pigeon Island, Gros Islet, with Rodney Bay on one side and open water on the other. It is adults only and built for couples, and everything is included: meals, unlimited drinks and the stocked minibar in your room. Expect a relaxed, romantic register rather than a boisterous one, and a layout that puts water on almost every side of you. It suits couples marking a honeymoon or an anniversary.

Nineteen room categories sit across three service tiers, Sandals Luxury, Club Sandals and Butler Elite. Views take in the ocean, the beachfront, the pools or the tropical gardens, and many suites add a balcony or patio. Overwater bungalows stand out on the water with glass floor panels, a private soaking tub, a hammock and butler service. Two storey oceanfront Butler Suites and Rondoval villas sit at the top of the range.

PADI certified scuba diving is included, with equipment and instruction, and the water sports run to snorkelling, water skiing, wakeboarding, Hobie Cats, paddleboards and kayaks. On land there is tennis and a spread of other sports. Green fees at Cap Estate Golf and Country Club, an eighteen hole course, are covered, and shuttles run there and back. Evenings bring live music and entertainment that carries on after dinner.

Five pools, three whirlpools and a dedicated scuba training pool are spread across the grounds, one of them with a swim-up bar you can reach without leaving the water. Red Lane Spa handles the treatments, drawing on Caribbean tradition, and the fitness centre is open for anyone who wants to keep a routine going. Day and night entertainment runs through the week, around the beach and around the pools.

Twelve restaurants and seven bars cover cuisine from Italy, England, Jamaica, India and the Orient. Bayside is an international buffet by day and a French brasserie by night, Toscanini's turns Italian, Josephine's does crepes, Barefoot By The Sea puts you on the sand and Olde London Pub pours late. Robert Mondavi Twin Oaks wines and Jamaica Blue Mountain Blend coffee come as standard, and none of it arrives with a bill.

Hewanorra International Airport is forty one miles away, a scenic drive of some length, with transfers arranged whichever room you book and helicopters available at extra cost. The Pitons and Pigeon Island National Park are the two draws most people make time for. Island Routes runs a Soufriere Adventure Cruise taking in the Pitons and the Sulphur Springs mud baths, and ziplining and dune buggies are close by.