The room was simply furnished, with three beds (no fold-down beds, thank goodness!), a dressing table, a coffee table and chairs, and a huge built-in wardrobe and cupboard. All the furniture was hardwood and very well-made; the balcony was quite large, as we were in a corner room, with a table and chairs and a view out over the pool to the sea. The shower was massive (all three of us could have used it at once had we been so inclined!)

Our favourite daytime bar was the swim-up pool bar in the Paradise Pool (it had an access bridge from the sun terrace as well), although most evenings were spent in the main bar of the Paradise Beach, reached down a flight of steps and overlooking the private beach - it was lovely and cool at any time, but especially at night.

The beach is accessed either through the main bar or by another flight of steps, which lead you onto the hotel’s private beach, but you have to go onto the public beach to enter the sea; at this point, you will encounter the "beach boys," whose sales tactics can be overwhelming at first. We found it best to be firm almost to the point of rudeness, although once we had actually bought something, we were more or less left alone.

There is a PADI dive school attached to the hotel for any divers or would-be divers out there – the coral reef is about 1 mile offshore and is stunning. There are also glass-bottom boats available from the beach (Ksh600), which will take you almost to the reef but which will also allow you to snorkel inside the reef and to walk about on the sandbar about 800 yards offshore (knee-deep water at this point – my daughter though that was sooooo cool!). This is a good alternative if you don’t want to dive.