'Absolutely faultless from the moment we arrived', Malcolm and Patricia Lewis's manor-house hotel (Relais & Châteaux) sits in landscaped gardens with a lake and specimen trees.

La Sablonnerie is currently closed. Please contact the hotel to discuss future dates. A horse-drawn carriage conveys you over a dramatic, narrow isthmus 80 metres above the sea to this 17th-century farmhouse on a tiny island with no airstrip, no tarmac road, and no cars.

A short uphill stroll from the boats in the harbour, the Chambers family run their unpretentious, family-friendly hotel in an 19th Century house set in expansive grounds.

Centred on a 17th-century granite house in flower-filled gardens, this well-run hotel offers a good choice of immaculate, individually styled bedrooms, casual and formal dining in bar and restaurant.

Arrive on Sark and horses Ronaldo or Willow can be there to collect you, with maybe an 1850s Ferrari Victoria in tow.