There are 115 islands in the Seychelles, scattered like confetti across the Indian Ocean, 1,000 miles off the East African coast.
With their lush, tropical vegetation, granite peaks, dazzling beaches and guaranteed sunshine, they're the stuff that holiday dreams are made of, but a paucity of luxury hotels has kept high spenders away. For the past 20 years or so the Seychelles has gained an unenviable reputation as a five-star destination with three-star accommodation.
Not any more. The islands have now joined the Premier League with a clutch of five-star hotels that rank alongside anywhere in the world, some glamorous resorts with every amenity and activity, others island retreats where holidaymakers can hole up in pampered seclusion. Here are the best of the newcomers...
All prices quoted are with the tour operator ITC Classics.
Banyan Tree, Mahe
Where is it? The 36 villas are scattered around the secluded bay of Anse Intendance on land once owned by Peter Sellers in south-west Mahé, the main island and a 40-minute drive from the airport.
What's it like? Groupies of this Thai hotel chain will be familiar with the Banyan blueprint - the full-on glamour, state-of-the-art spa and Thai cuisine, and in the villas, the seductively large bedrooms bristling with discreetly hidden hardware, and bathrooms crammed with unguents.
Opened in February, the fifth and latest Banyan Tree is shaping up nicely. Holidaymakers can choose between white colonial-style beach villas or hillside villas, each with its own ravishing little deep blue tiled pool, pavilion and sun deck. In the bedrooms, the chocolate-brown, cream and burnished gold decor is pure Oriental Ideal Home - though the ubiquitous soothing Muzak can pall.
I'm slightly ambivalent about the public facilities; the pool is stunning, giving bathers the illusion of swimming straight out into the ocean, but the waves on the beach can be too bouncy for timid bathers and young kids.
And while the hotel's Thai restaurant makes a change from Creole cuisine, I found the atmosphere formal rather than jolly. The more relaxed Au Jardin d'Epices serves international dishes.
The wow factor Even if you don't rate spas, this one is a splendid piece of theatre with an idyllic, leafy open-air backcloth. And the tiny, exquisite Thai girls who serve you herbal tea, wash your feet and paste you with dill seeds and honey or other exotic body wraps and rubs, have hands like brickies when it comes to the final massage. Prices are higher than in other BT establishments: $120 (£80) for a two-hour rejuvenation session in Phuket, $230 in the Seychelles.
Any snags? A top-class hotel that as yet offers an eastern rather than Seychellois experience.
Who for? Models, TV presenters, execs and minor royals (remember Fergie and Andrew?), who need a fair bit of maintenance.
The price Flights and seven nights' room-only accommodation in a hillside villa start at £2,384.
Sainte Anne
Where is it? Opened last month by Beachcomber Hotels, it's the only one on the island of Sainte Anne, the first island to be settled by Europeans, who arrived from Mauritius in 1770 and founded a colony there before moving to the larger Mahé. The smaller island is only 15 minutes by private launch from Mahé.
What's it like? Arriving by boat - the best way to get to any island - instantly blows away the sterilised fatigue of a 12-hour flight, so by the time you're sipping your welcoming fresh watermelon juice at reception, you should be in a holiday mood.
Electric buggies then whisk you between the tamarind and takamaka trees to one of the 87 cottages, none more than 100 metres from the beach.
Sainte Anne's pedigree is impeccable, the first Seychellois offspring of the Beachcomber Group, which runs some of the swankiest hotels in Mauritius; most of the sleek young managers are Mauritian.
It's also one of the larger luxury establishments in the islands, and has a range of activities you'd expect in a full-blown resort. No chance of being bored, with floodlit tennis courts, mountain bikes, a kids' mini-club and adventure playground and a selection of non-motorised watersports - Sainte Anne is a marine sanctuary harbouring 150 species of fish.
Tucked away beside its own lagoon is a pleasant little spa, which I suspect they'll need to enlarge. The landscaped gardens still had a raw look (I was there only three days after the opening), but most activities were working.
My cottage, decorated in the rich warm terracottas of the natural surroundings, wasn't mind-blowing but it was nice, and tacked on to my large indoor bathroom was a sexy little alfresco shower in a white pebbled courtyard. A wooden gazebo in my walled garden provided sanctuary for breakfast and sundowners à deux , with a large sofa for serious rest and recreation.
Flanked by the restaurants and bar, the pretty pool is the spot for people-watching and sussing out which millionaire is occupying the three-bedroom Royal Villa on the low cliff above.
The wow factor Having bagged three-star Michelin chef Marcel Driessen, it's not surprising that the food here is by far the best I've tasted in the Seychelles.
Even if you never eat breakfast, break the rules for the freshly baked breads and croissants and home-made jams - try the banana, mango and kumquat. There are more gastronomic treats in the main L'Abondance open-side restaurant - musts include tuna carpaccio and Creole bouillabaisse, but mercifully not fruit-bat, another local speciality. Le Mont Fleurie restaurant offers mainly Italian cuisine.
Any snags? Not really a getaway island - the docks of Mahé are clearly visible.
Who for? With its mainly flat terrain and safe, sandy beaches without rough waves, the hotel is well suited to families and less mobile holidaymakers. The proximity to Mahé and the airport for flights to other islands (the hotel runs a regular shuttle by boat) will appeal to guests with itchy feet. Liverpool and England footballer Michael Owen is among the celebs rumoured to be interested.
The price Seven nights' B&B with flights starts at £1,975.
North Island
Where is it? Just 32km and 30 minutes by helicopter from Mahé.
What's it like? The 4km square former plantation abandoned 30 years ago and named after the nineteenth-century botanical artist Marianne North, friend of Charles Darwin, is currently being transformed into the latest drop-dead luxury island retreat.
There'll be only 12 villas, lined up along a peach of a beach with separate restaurant, bar and library grouped around a huge takamaka tree, and a spa and pool at opposite ends of the development. The hotel is not due to open until March (cross your fingers), but I had a sneak preview of the accommodation with the South African architects, Silvio Rech and Lesley Carstens.
My first impression of the villas was that they are Swiss mega-chalet meets African safari lodge. I was not surprised to learn that Rech has designed several camps in Africa. 'The ultimate barefoot luxury' is his mantra, obviously for platinum card Crusoes who need the internet, walk-in mini-bars and bathrooms with a sunken Balinese tub that could take a rugby team. Not forgetting of course their own Man Friday, a personal butler to indulge every whim. Make no mistake, this hotel is going to make waves.
A rustic theme characterises the villas. It is created by the use of raw and rough materials such as stone and chunky wood of every description, from driftwood mirrors to tree-trunk supports. By contrast a rather dainty boudoir beside the pool houses a canopied day bed fit for Madame de Pompadour.
There'll be lots of tycoons' toys, deep-sea fishing boats, windsurfers and a diving centre on another beach across the island. As yet the jury is still out over the island's green credentials, which include a project called Noah's Ark, aimed at restoring the place's original flora and fauna.
The wow factor The bathroom with a view in number 11, one of the two sumptuous three-bedroom hill villas.
Any snags? The price (see below).
Who for? Posh and Becks, perhaps, with Brooklyn and Romeo: villas sleep between four and six.
The price Seven nights' full board with flights costs £5,184.
Fregate Island
Where is it? This private island, 9km square, was opened up in December 1998. It is 30 minutes north of Mahé by helicopter or light aircraft.
What's it like? Privacy is an art form at Frégate. The posse of paparazzi pursuing Paul McCartney and Heather Mills on their honeymoon didn't get a sniff. Some beaches even sport 'vacant' or 'occupied' signs; there are seven beaches in all, as well as a freshwater pool. And since there are only 34 guests at a time, the chance of getting a beach to yourself is high.
The island was put on the map by French seafarer Lazare Picault in 1744, who named it after the elegant frégate birds that wheel over the cliffs. After dozing for a couple of centuries as a plantation, the island was recently bought by a German industrialist who lavished a small fortune on 16 villas with four times as many staff as guests.
Hidden among the banyan and takamaka trees on a cliff, the Balinese-style villas are seriously classy. Glass walls open up on three sides so that you can lie in your hibiscus-strewn four-poster with the waves crashing and the winds sighing below as though you were in heaven, which you almost are. Across the sun deck a separate glass-walled living room is furnished with two huge white linen sofas, antiques and hand-made artefacts that traders might have collected around the Indian Ocean.
A few steps lead down to a canopied day bed and Jacuzzi. Each villa comes with its own electric buggy so that Ferrari and Bentley owners can trundle off to the Pirates' Bar, to the library for a game of Scrabble or to the marina, which has its own clubhouse and fleet of boats.
The wow factor The 160 giant tortoises, including a friendly veteran called James, which is 120 years old. There are also 100 rescued turtles, 46 pairs of magpie robins, a rare songbird saved from extinction and some 70,000 other birds.
Frégate pays more than lip service to conservation. It has become a safe haven for endangered wildlife, and you can explore it either on your own or with Steve, the resident naturalist. The island supports its own experimental plantation growing papaya, tomatoes, pumpkins, lemongrass and 17 species of bananas, which are served in the two restaurants.
Any snags? No spa, though a masseuse will come to your villa.
Who for? Honeymooners, stressed celebs and high rollers seeking - you've guessed - privacy. Steep climbs to several beaches make it unsuitable for young children or less mobile holidaymakers.
The price The island was a pirate's lair with rumours of buried treasure. You may need it when you see the price: £6,984 for seven nights' full board, with meals.
Lemuria Hotel, Praslin
Where is it? On the north-west of Praslin, the second largest of the islands and 20 minutes by Air Seychelles from Mahé.
What's it like? Opened at the end of 1998, and somewhat formal and hyperactive by the Seychelles' soporific standards, the Lemuria is the closest thing to the luxury resort hotels of the Caribbean or Mauritius.
The 88 two-storey thatched suites fringe the creamy beaches. There are three restaurants, four bars, a galaxy of watersports, a mini-club and three pools, one of them a triple-decker cascading down through granite boulders and tropical foliage. On the velvety 18-hole course, the first in the Seychelles, golfers must feel that General Gordon, who visited on his way to Khartoum, was right to describe Praslin as the Garden of Eden.
The wow factor At 115 square metres each, eight new villas are so large you can get lost in them; they open directly on to Anse Kerlan beach, and each has its own pool and massage parlour for private pummelling. The Presidential Villa is a whopper.
Any snags? There's still some local resentment that the hotel swallowed up two of Praslin's best beaches.
Who for? Anthea Turner is among the celebs. Families will appreciate the privacy of the villas, backed by the service and activities of a five-star hotel.
The price Seven nights' B&B with flights is £1,844.
Denis Island
Where is it? Ater the cows have been cleared from the runway, it's a 30-minute flight north from Mahé.
There is only one hotel on the flat 375-acre coral island, which you can walk round in 90 minutes. But there is an endearing local village, which makes an interesting change from hotel life.
What's it like? No phones, no TV, no keys. Kick off your sandals (old favourites rather than designer-label) as soon as you arrive and flop out - this is the original castaway island. Even though the 25 colonial-style cottages have recently been revamped, six still have fans rather than air-conditioning, for holidaymakers who want the authentic Seychelles experience. The formula works: Brits have been coming here for the last 20 years.
Ethnic simplicity with considerable comfort rather than luxury is the keynote in the Creole-style villas - the hotel claims that Sainte Anne pinched the idea of alfresco showers from them. The array of watersports includes a Padi dive-centre, while the island is renowned for deep-sea fishing.
The wow factor Learning the real meaning of getting away from it all.
Any snags? The hotel is charming, friendly and relaxed, but not for the jet set.
Who for? Escapists who want to chill out and enjoy the friendly, lazy rhythm of Seychelles life.
The price Seven nights' full board with flights costs £2,407.
Factfile
The Seychelles are made for island-hopping, so why not combine two or three islands? With ITC Classics, a 10-day package with five nights' room-only at the Banyan Tree on Mahé, plus five full-board nights on Frégate, costs £5,721. A 14-night, three- centre holiday to Sainte Anne (B&B), Lemuria (B&B) and Denis (full board) costs £3,844.
Jill Crawshaw travelled with ITC Classics (01244 355 527), which offers a wide range of holidays in the Seychelles.
Further information from the Seychelles Tourist Office (020 7928 1199).
