My fiancée and I have just returned from a fantastic fortnight at The St Remy Plantation in Soufriere.

We wanted somewhere that was quiet, isolated and away from the crowds and St Remy certainly delivered. It is a renovated 150 year old plantation house set in hundreds of acres of greenery with a fantastic view over Soufriere and the surrounding plantations. It also has its own pool, gardener and maid.

The gardener, George, lives on the plantation in a cottage close by and keeps the fantastic gardens in bloom. He also cleans the pool very early each morning so it is free from leaves.

The maid, Fern, cooks, cleans and changes the bedding every day and is flexible on the hours that she is there.

We hired a Suzuki Jimny with Cool Breeze car hire in Soufriere. You can hire a conventional car, but a 4 wheel drive is better as some of the roads are bumpy. St Remy also offers a transfer from the airport on your first day. This is strongly advisable since the villa is hard to find and the road signs are few.

There is a supermarket about 30 minutes drive away (in Laborie) so catering was not a problem and St Remy has all the amenities you would find at home (fridge, gas cooker, toaster, kettle, iron and board etc) as well as a TV and collection of videos. It is particularly good for UK visitors since the power sockets are 3 pin UK style and the voltage is 230V, although there are a couple of transformers to convert to 110V for Americans. The owner of St Remy, Joan Devaux, also provided some food in the cupboards and fridge for when we arrived as well as popping by during our stay to make sure we were both enjoying it.

You can also dine at the Mango Tree and Ladera (where Bill Gates and David Bowie frequent) and these are 10 minutes drive away.

At night, the temperature drops to pleasant level so it is not too hot to sleep. We did not need plug in mosquito repellants since each bed has a net, although the occasional bite is unavoidable. You may need ear plugs during the night since the insects outside come alive after sunset and may keep you awake.

Disappointingly, we only had one lovely sunset, but we had 12 days of perfect sunshine.

For currency you will need either East Caribbean Dollars (ECs) or US Dollars. The exchange rate is approx 2.5ECs to 1 US Dollar and both currencies are accepted everywhere.

We loved every minute of our stay and were sad to leave. If you fancy getting away from it all and having all the comforts of home without having to share it with hoards of holiday makers, St Remy is definitely a winner.