One & Only Le Saint Géran ★★★★★L

Everyone says that when you find “the one” you just know. For years I frantically pursued “the one”, each time considering “is this the one they were talking about? Was this the feeling they were describing? Did I know?” However, the fact that I was even asking these questions ironically reveals that I did not know. But here’s a story about a time I did know…

Elegantly gliding along the waves, my husband and I can spot the distant shore lined with palm trees if we look left, and if we look right, the horizon melting into the sparkling ocean. Unbelievable? You’re right, I lied about elegantly gliding along the waves, but the rest is the honest truth. This was during our first windsurfing lesson – suffice it to say we hadn’t learned the skill of elegantly surfing by that point.

After spending a few hours out on the water we built up quite an appetite, so back on the One & Only’s private peninsula, we joined our friends who had chosen to take a rather more relaxing morning sunbathing on the beach. They were ready and sat round a table at La Terrasse, seemingly floating in-between the pool and the Indian Ocean. In the evening, the candlelight would be reflected in the water whilst musicians entertained the guests under the gaze of the clear night sky and the glittering moon.

My husband decided to return to our room for a nap, whilst I thought I might check out the spa with my friend Vanessa that afternoon. On the way in the staff greeted us by name, and we went off to explore. Luckily there was space for Vanessa and me to have a massage in the hotel’s manicured relaxation gardens, which was an absolute delight! Meanwhile, I thought about my husband in our large Junior Suite. Would he actually be having a king-sized nap on the king-sized bed, or would he be enticed by the view into spending the afternoon reading a book on our private beach terrace? I guessed he might even have taken a shower or bath first in our roomy bathroom.

That evening, the couples were reunited at the Prime restaurant over prime Wagyu beef, a speciality of the One & Only. The sleek surroundings of the restaurant were the perfect way to start a balmy evening by the chic poolside bar sipping a sweet, coconut-flavoured cocktail. However, it was the stars that fascinated me and left me in a romantic haze, you could see so many of them sparkling!

Though we had already nearly finished our first week at the One & Only, though the staff already knew our names and the sommelier our favourite wines – the Burgundy list of course – there was so much more to discover. I was still going through the menu at the Indian Pavilion restaurant tasting some of the finest Indian cuisine on the island. My husband still had yet to try the smooth green of the hotel’s golf course.

The One & Only took my breath away - from the first day we met I knew. I had found the one. Nothing else could have matched my expectations of paradise so perfectly. Even better, there were culinary and activity surprises in store, which made the One & Only even better than I had predicted…