It has a spine of spiky highlands, a spread of delicious beaches and a climate with year-round holiday appeal. But what Mauritius does best of all is hotels, and that has much to do with the delightful Mauritians who work in them.

Cheap they’re not, however. Even a government tourism campaign confessed that “it costs more to get to Mauritius than any other paradise”, though it did add the punch line: “Thank goodness.”

You are splashing out for something special, so it’s important to select the right retreat. Our bespoke island hotel guide should ensure you find your personal take on the tropics.

All prices are for a week, with scheduled flights and transfers

FOR TRADITIONALISTS

Royal Palm

Nicknamed the Royal Calm, this is the island’s soft-spoken aristocrat, a sanctuary of good taste. The only sounds you’ll hear are cooing doves, the shush of the sea and the tinkle of a piano at sundown. Many guests are regulars, and most of the staff have served for at least a decade. It’s exclusive, but on the right side of snooty.

The setting is perfect, on a (virtually) private white-sand beach just a few minutes’ walk from Grand Baie, the closest thing to a resort on Mauritius. All the rooms are suites, and all will soon be renovated – the hotel is closed this month and next.

Drawbacks: the pool is small, and the staff may be too attentive for some – even the self-service breakfast buffet has waiters on hand to dish up.

Sample package: £2,176pp, half-board, with Beachcomber Tours (01483 445610, www.beachcombertours.co.uk).

FOR HERMITS

Le Prince Maurice

Hewn out of dark wood and volcanic stone, the island’s only Relais & Châteaux hotel is cushioned from the real world by 150 acres of tangled greenery. Its 89 suites, some facing the pretty little beach, some on stilts above the lagoon, are serviced by an army of 350 staff.

Le Prince has a magnificent pool and two à la carte restaurants, one of them floating on the water and approached by a boardwalk through the mangroves. The overall effect? Secluded, sophisticated, special.

Drawbacks: the staff can be a tad formal, the atmosphere rather aloof. Le Prince does accept children, but unless yours have the manners of church mice, don’t risk it.

Sample package: £2,271pp, half-board, with Cazenove & Loyd (020 7384 2332, www.cazloyd.com).

FOR BUDGETERS

Merville Beach

High air fares and a galaxy of five-star hotels mean Mauritius is not the spot for cheap packages, but the three-star Merville offers a good compromise. Among the first hotels here, it staked out one of the island’s best beaches, a long scimitar of white sand close to Grand Baie, which it shares with a few houses, but no other hotels. The better of the 166 rooms are the deluxe sea-facing ones in the Garden Court, and the best are the thatched chalets, ideal for families. The Merville also has a dive centre, free watersports and a good spa with outdoor massage tables.

Drawbacks: the architecture is grim, especially the main block, although peachy colours soften the impact.

Sample package: from £809pp, half-board, with Sunset Faraway Holidays (020 8774 7250, www.sunset.co.uk).

FOR ROMANTICS

Taj Exotica

The island’s only all-villa hotel sits on an expansive tree-shaded beach overlooking Tamarin Bay, and has been designed for outdoor living. Each of its 65 villas has an open-sided living room (with espresso machine, surround-sound DVD/CD and flat-screen television) giving onto a private garden with a pool and a double day bed.

You can take dinner in your garden, on the beach, at the end of the jetty . . .

Royal Palm

Legends even out on the water in a catamaran. Couples can also share an ayurvedic massage, followed by a private soak in a huge rose-petalled bath in the sublime spa. Add spectacular sunsets and a fairyland of lanterns at night, and everyone’s on their honeymoon here.

Drawbacks: the landscaping needs another couple of greening years. And the cost of all those lovely extras tends to mount up.

Sample package: from £1,889pp, B&B, with Elite Vacations (01707 371000, www.elitevacations.com).

FOR SPORTY SPA FANS

Paradis/Dinarobin

These sister hotels share the same five-mile beach in the island’s scenic southwest corner. If golf’s your thing, pick Paradis, where the coconut-fringed 18-hole course is just seconds from reception. Right next door is the smaller, less frenetic Dinarobin, which has a great new spa in a spectacular setting against the volcanic slopes of Le Morne.

Guests enjoy full squatters’ rights at both hotels – two resorts for the price of one.

Drawbacks: it’s a sprawling development, with people at every turn.

Sample package: £1,570pp at the Paradis or £1,805pp at the Dinarobin, half-board, with Beachcomber Tours (01483 445610, www.beachcombertours.co.uk).

FOR FAMILIES

Belle Mare Plage

This 256-room whopper really goes the extra mile to cater for little ’uns. For starters, it has an excellent mini club for children aged 2-12, with a full activity programme (including excursions for the older children) and supervised early meals.

Accommodation ranges from basic rooms sleeping two, plus a baby and a toddler, to fully serviced villas with space for six. Factor in gently shelving sands, oceans of swimming pools and a host of careful touches (buggy ramps, baby-listening, bonsai bathrobes), and this is parent heaven, with spa, watersports and golf for when you’re off duty.

Drawbacks: the onshore breeze sometimes kicks up too much sea for toddlers.

Sample package: £1,145pp, half-board, with Rainbow Tours (020 7226 1004, www.rainbowtours.co.uk).

FOR GLAMOURPUSSES

Le Saint Géran

The One&Only Le Saint Géran, to give it its full name, is known as the Sandy Lane of the Indian Ocean. It’s a full-on resort on a beach-fringed private peninsula, and such is the array of in-house activities, most guests never leave the hotel. Some barely budge from the sun loungers, having their lunch delivered and their sunnies polished by a lackey.

All the watersports happen on a sheltered bay, while tennis, golf and lively children’s and teens’ clubs are littered about the grounds. Le Saint Géran has a Givenchy spa, an Alain Ducasse Spoon restaurant and a gym with things you wouldn’t have a clue what to do with.

Drawbacks: the decor is looking a touch dated, with the next makeover not due until 2009.

Sample package: from £1,729pp, B&B, with Sunset Faraway Holidays (020 8774 7250, www.sunset.co.uk).

FOR SPORTSPEOPLE

Shandrani

Virtually all Mauritian hotels offer complimentary watersports, but Shandrani has raised the bar. In the southeast corner of the island, it offers five-star Padi diving in a marine park, kayaking, water-skiing and a sailing and windsurfing school. There’s a kitesurfing school now, too.

The nursery slope for all these activities is a mangrove-bordered, flat-calm lagoon, while the best beach faces the trade winds, with frisky surf. Shandrani also has a golf course, a spa and a kids’ club; outings are organised to nature reserves for hiking, mountain-biking, abseiling and canyoning.

Drawbacks: the 327 rooms are lumped in a series of unappealing blocks, and the hotel is close to the airport – a plus for convenience, but a minus for noise.

Sample package: £1,466pp, full-board, with Beachcomber Tours (01483 445610, www.beachcombertours.co.uk), including a massage and daily diving for certified divers.

FOR ALL-COMERS

Legends

The 200-room Legends, at the top of the island, has two big things going for it. First, plenty of land – a sleepy promontory all to itself, which gives the hotel a surprising feeling of tranquillity. Second, its architecture – the work of feng shui masters who have angled and shaped every last building with an eye for natural harmony.

Officially four-star, but worth five, the hotel works well whatever your age and interests. It has four restaurants, a 60-seat cinema, t’ai chi and yoga classes, a dive centre, tennis courts, a spa and a children’s club.

Drawbacks: it’s a long way from everywhere else.

Sample package: from £1,276pp, half-board, with Somak (020 8423 3000, www.somak.co.uk).

David Wickers travelled as a guest of Beachcomber Tours and British Airways