Treasure Island

Jon Watt explores the beauty within Burgh Island Hotel

Staring across the half a kilometre of tanned sand to Burgh Island off the coast of south Devon is like looking at a scene that time forgot. There’s almost nothing about this picture that suggests anything about it has changed in the last 70 years. On the thin strip of sand which connects the mainland to the 26-acre rocky outcrop, children play, dogs run and an ancient ‘sea tractor’ ferries people back and forth to the prominent, white-washed hotel on the island.

It is an image that the current owners of Burgh Island Hotel, Deborah Clark and Tony Orchard, have been working hard to re-establish and nurture. The original hotel on this island off Bigbury-on-Sea was built in 1929, and then modernised in 1932 when it was given its trademark clean lines, white paint and art deco character. However, when Deborah and Tony took over the hotel in 2002 they found that previous proprietors had removed, sold or damaged almost all of the original fixtures and fittings. It has taken them over seven years of painstaking and loving work to locate, buy, salvage and scavenge the plethora of authentic art deco fixtures and fittings which now bring the 24 bedrooms, two dining rooms, ballroom, bar and games room back to life. Without this authentic décor and accessories, Burgh Island Hotel would simply be an island accommodation; with them, it is a time capsule taking you back to 30s England, when one ‘dressed’ for dinner, moustaches were worn, cigarette holders used, gins and tonics consumed and when Agatha Christie was busy baffling the world with murder mysteries.

That the great crime novelist regularly stayed at the hotel and even wrote her Hercules Poirot novel, Evil Under the Sun, while staying on the island, has been one of the hotel’s most enduring fascinations - and it’s one the hotel has fully embraced with the occasional not-tobe-missed murder mystery weekend when everyone in the hotel has the chance to showcase their ‘little grey cells’.

However, while these authentic trappings are delightfully evocative, it’s the service, food, entertainment and isolation that really make Burgh Island Hotel one of the UK’s most enjoyable, relaxing, romantic and original getaways. With guests frequently trapped on the island by weather and tides, the hotel offers space, facilities and staffing that make the experience of being isolated a pleasure. One example that really sums up the whole ethos and experience of Burgh Island almost better than any other happened during my first breakfast on the island. I’d planned have a quick bite before heading out for a walk on the mainland. However, I awoke to find the tide in and decided to have a more leisurely breakfast in the rather idyllic surrounds of the light, airy Edwardian breakfast room. The only thing missing was a newspaper which I’d neglected to order. On enquiry, the kindly waiter said he’d see what he could do. Five minutes later, through the windows of the breakfast room, I saw the 40-year-old sea tractor battling through the waves. After a further 15 minutes my paper arrived, sea spray still clinging to its front page. The scene was complete.

Prices range from £300-£620 per room per night including breakfast and dinner

www.burghisland.com