The tide’s turning on this tiny island where a range of unusual accommodation is making many tip Alderney as the next big thing for an alternative short break.

I feel like a movie star on a private jet as I’m ushered out of the stuffy airport onto the 15-seat twin propeller plane heading to Alderney. That is until I realise that the passenger in the row behind me (the one breathing rather heavily) is in fact a dog.

The fact that dogs can fly alongside passengers is just one of many charming nuances Alderney seems to keep secret. Just 45 minutes’ flight from the UK, it appears to have retained much the UK has sadly lost.

Few residents bother to lock their homes or cars (crime is still such a rarity); there’s no traffic (the speed limit is 35mph); taxes are low (there’s no VAT, inheritance or capital gain tax); and many wild things (from children to chickens and the rather unusual blonde hedgehog) run freely in the streets and wild across the land.

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BACKGROUND

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• A taste of Jersey

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Most tourists come on day trips but there are plenty of places to stay, from plush hotels to campsites

BACKGROUND

• Ayush Wellness Spa, St Helier, Jersey

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But while many things remain unchanged and I begin to revel in the laid-back lifestyle, I’m relieved to see others have progressed – in particular the level and eclectic range of accommodation on the island.

No longer do you have to endure a Fawlty Towers experience to see the island’s impressive fortifications, uncrowded beaches and abundant birdlife. For now there’s an incredible array of new properties from designer hotels to converted fortresses where you can relax and kick back.

One such place is the Braye Beach Hotel, a 27-room designer hotel perched on the edge of a sandy beach and harbour. Rooms cost from £160 per double per night, but if you’re lucky you can snap up a special offer where guests staying two nights fly free from Bournemouth or Brighton with Blue Islands (a saving of up to £180 per person).

Here, in one of my favourite rooms (no. 26, decorated in hues of sandy browns and tranquil blues) you can stand on the balcony taking in stunning unblemished views across the bay.

OK, so I was spoilt. Not all have sea views but most are exceptionally spacious. Only some offer deep cavernous baths, king-size beds or four-posters, but all boast flat screen TVs, fluffy duvets, mini-bars and delightful touches such as a decanter brimming full of free sherry to warm you after a bracing walk across the adjoining beach.

Downstairs, on rainy days you can relax in the hotel’s cinema where two old blockbusters are screened each day, or eat in the restaurant which serves the freshest fish – lobster, crab, scallops and seabass – straight from the sea, cooked in rich, 24-carat yellow coloured Alderney butter.

Recent initiatives include wine tasting evenings in the cellar, painting or cookery classes where enthusiastic tutors will try to extract the budding artist in you. As on any part of the island, service is relaxed and friendly but efficient, if sometimes unorganised. There’s no spa but if you want a treatment the hotel will organise it for you nearby. If you want to fish or learn how to sail, just ask.

Many guests hire cycles - just 15 minutes of frantic hill peddling will bring you to the quaint cobbled streets of the capital St Anne where you can visit the museum to discover the island’s history or wander past pastel coloured cottages, many of which are converted farmhouses where up until 10 years or so ago, pigs and cattle used to graze around the backyards.

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