Zuri Zanzibar

By the hotel's reckoning, a swim at low tide on most of Zanzibar's beaches starts with a 500-metre walk to find the water. Kendwa, on the north-west coast, lies on a lagoon where the tide makes little difference, and Zuri Zanzibar has 300 metres of its beach. The developer says the plot had room for twice as many houses. It built 56, spread them through 12 hectares of palms and garden, and gave a quarter of the land to spices. Jestico + Whiles designed them for the climate, from materials to be had locally. In one bedroom the bed stands under a white mosquito net and thatch on timber rafters, and the louvred shutters fold right back onto a deck with a hammock in the trees. The hotel has also laid its own fast internet line to the mainland, the only hotel on the island with one, it says, which rather spoils the hammock as an excuse.

Recommended for couples, who have the jacuzzi suites, and just as much for families: children from four to twelve have a free activity programme, and the villas run to three bedrooms, the largest sleeping eight. Kayaks and paddleboards go straight off the sand, the coral reefs are just offshore, and Mnemba Atoll, for diving, is about 45 minutes out by boat. Every stay is half board. Dinner can be the chef's set menu at Maisha, by the pool, or a cooking lesson in the spice garden. At Bahari, the beach grill, the cocktails are made with sugar cane and served with the sunset, and the walk to the sea afterwards is no longer than it was at lunch.