LOCATION: The largest private island in the BVIs, Peter Island lies four miles southwest of Road Harbour, Tortola, and west of Virgin Gorda.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: An unspoilt, private retreat on an otherwise deserted island. Cool, comfortable and unfussy - old-fashioned in the best possible way – Peter Island boasts a beguiling beach-front restaurant where the buffet and fresh-grilled food are delicious. Golf carts trundle around, but out of the sun in the evening the distances hardly require them.

THE FACTS: The resort is a 30-minute boat trip from Tortola, to which American Eagle flies daily from San Juan (Puerto Rico), in turn now served by British Airways from Gatwick. Peter Island offers 52 suites – a mix of ocean view and ‘beachfront junior’ – three expansive villas and five beaches. Rooms offer all the usual facilities, but no TV - marvellous. The island’s population of five includes the resort general manager. Almost all the other staff cross from Tortola or Virgin Gorda every day. The last boat leaves around 11.30, meaning the restaurant and bar close ahead of the last boat, so this is not a place for night-time carousing. But a stroll back in the Caribbean night air, with nothing but the waves for accompaniment, is a delight.

WOW: A dusk arrival at the lamp-lit harbour of Peter Island is enchanting after a pick up from Tortola airport and bumping across the swell of the Francis Drake Channel, before dining at the Deadman’s Beach Bar and Grill – where the bodies of pirate crew stranded by Blackbeard washed up.

BACKGROUND: Privately owned property, with suites renovated as recently as 2009.

HOW MUCH: From £1,085 for five nights full board

Peterisland.com