Beau Rivage

Vin mousseux on arrival - and Tiffany cutlery in the Asian-fusion restaurant Indouchine - hint at BR's aspirations. Crafted by Mauritian architect Jean Francois Adam, the place looks subtly indigenous: set in two horseshoes of hint-o'-peach three-storey blocks, 174 rooms and suites survey the ocean from under sugar-cane thatch. With locally made furniture, the decor's citrussy exuberance is slightly Home-Countiestempered (think The Pier); make like David Ginola, and bag the sherbet-hued mighty Maharajah suite, or try the honeymoon suite, with darkwood four-poster, whirlpool tub and his 'n' hers Tiffany goo. The resort ripples with genuine staff enthusiasm: in the soaring timber lobby (all gently brimming decorative pool), the Epicure wine shop (for Posh and Becksy takeaways: Dom Perignon '92 - £175), not to mention the (two) Trader Vics-type bars and (two) Med-infused eateries that hug the (island's largest) pool. Round midnight at Bar Trou La La, honeymooners Victoria and James - hot off the dance floor, sinking lagers - sighed: "We wish we'd discovered this place before." (They'd spent 11 days in the still of the Residence, along the shore.) From £1,385 through Thomas Cook Holidays (01733 418450).