Burgh Island Hotel

Burgh Island Hotel stands on a tidal island a few hundred metres off Bigbury-on-Sea in South Devon. The filmmaker Archibald Nettlefold built it in the Art Deco style in 1929, and from its first years it drew Noel Coward, Agatha Christie, Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson. It is Grade II listed. At low tide guests walk across the sand; at high tide the hotel's sea tractor carries them over.

The hotel is let whole. Exclusive use takes in all 25 rooms and suites, including the Beach House built as a writer's retreat for Agatha Christie, for up to 50 residents, and the island's own inn, The Pilchard, comes with it. Evenings open with drinks in the Palm Court under its glass dome, then move to the Grand Ballroom, where black tie is the rule and original Art Deco murals line the walls. The hotel's own figures put the ballroom at 70 seated and 85 for the evening party.

The events team plans menus, tastings, transport across the beach and parking on the mainland, and recommends period jazz bands, cabaret and murder-mystery players. The bar closes at midnight on party nights, with an extension available on request. It suits a wedding or a milestone house party for a guest list that wants the island to itself for a weekend.