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| Montpelier is a world away from real life | Image Source: express.co.uk |
Perhaps because it takes a bit more than a hop, skip and a jump to get there, the Caribbean island of Nevis remains gloriously unspoiled and off the tourist map.
My journey involved trains, planes and automobiles plus a water taxi to get across The Narrows, a two-mile stretch of water that separates it from St Kitts. This only added to the sense of anticipation that I was going somewhere special.
It is rare that a hotel has such an ambience. Set on a former 300-year-old sugar plantation it is colonial in style but not in attitude.
With 19 stylish rooms, decked out with dark wood floors, four-poster beds and Egyptian cotton linen, it certainly feels very intimate.
Sitting at 750 feet above the Caribbean in the foothills of Nevis Peak, Princess Diana chose Montpelier for its seclusion when she stayed for New Year with the young princes, then aged 10 and six, shortly after her separation from Prince Charles in 1992.
Montpelier actually has its own private beach, which is a 15-minute drive in the courtesy minibus and which I loved spending time at.
Once there I was well looked after, changing in one of the private cabanas, having a refreshing cocktail from the beach bar and tucking into my picnic packed by the hotel.
I watched prehistoric-looking black pelicans skimming the water then rising high before plunging into the sea to make their catch.
After a few days relaxing on the beach I was ready to explore and drove the circular road round the island. There are hardly any cars, so few, in fact, that there aren’t any traffic lights.
I was keen to go in search of a little of the island’s history so I took in a trio of fascinating historic sights.
Now a government building, The Bath Hotel, which opened in 1778, was where visitors were first lured by the curative powers of the volcanic springs (which reach 41C) ABTA No: V0211 that fl ow just below it. I also saw worshippers in their Sunday best
at the 17th-century St Thomas Anglican Church and the Hermitage guesthouse. Made of lignum vitae wood, the latter has survived every hurricane for more than 300 years.
For a little island that measures 36 square miles Nevis has a remarkable, if chequered, history.
Island expert Lynnell Liburd told me how Alexander Hamilton lived next door to the slave market in the capital Charlestown, himself an illegitimate outcast who was eventually sponsored by his community to go to America after being orphaned at the age of 11, and became one of that country’s founding fathers.
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| Nevis is a classic Carribean island without the crowds | Image Source: express.co.uk |
Perhaps because it takes a bit more than a hop, skip and a jump to get there, the Caribbean island of Nevis remains gloriously unspoiled and off the tourist map.
My journey involved trains, planes and automobiles plus a water taxi to get across The Narrows, a two-mile stretch of water that separates it from St Kitts. This only added to the sense of anticipation that I was going somewhere special.
It is rare that a hotel has such an ambience. Set on a former 300-year-old sugar plantation it is colonial in style but not in attitude.
With 19 stylish rooms, decked out with dark wood fl oors, four-poster beds and Egyptian cotton linen, it certainly feels very intimate.
Sitting at 750 feet above the Caribbean in the foothills of Nevis Peak, Princess Diana chose Montpelier for its seclusion when she stayed for New Year with the young princes, then aged 10 and six, shortly after her separation from Prince Charles in 1992.
Montpelier actually has its own private beach, which is a 15-minute drive in the courtesy minibus and which I loved spending time at.
Once there I was well looked after, changing in one of the private cabanas, having a refreshing cocktail from the beach bar and tucking into my picnic packed by the hotel.
I watched prehistoric-looking black pelicans skimming the water then rising high before plunging into the sea to make their catch.
After a few days relaxing on the beach I was ready to explore and drove the circular road round the island. There are hardly any cars, so few, in fact, that there aren’t any traffic lights.
I was keen to go in search of a little of the island’s history so I took in a trio of fascinating historic sights.
Now a government building, The Bath Hotel, which opened in 1778, was where visitors were first lured by the curative powers of the volcanic springs (which reach 41C) ABTA No: V0211 that fl ow just below it. I also saw worshippers in their Sunday best
at the 17th-century St Thomas Anglican Church and the Hermitage guesthouse. Made of lignum vitae wood, the latter has survived every hurricane for more than 300 years.
For a little island that measures 36 square miles Nevis has a remarkable, if chequered, history.
Island expert Lynnell Liburd told me how Alexander Hamilton lived next door to the slave market in the capital Charlestown, himself an illegitimate outcast who was eventually sponsored by his community to go to America after being orphaned at the age of 11, and became one of that country’s founding fathers.
Nevis is also where Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson, then a young captain, married Frances Nisbet in 1787 before being tempted away by Lady Emma Hamilton, then losing his life at Trafalgar in 1805.
Sugar brought Nevis great wealth in the early 18th century.
At one point it accounted for a fifth of the British Empire’s total sugar production. The British governor of the Leewards, based on the island, was paid an incredible salary of £200,000 a year.
All that is left of the sugar industry are a few converted mills like the Montpelier and some eerie remains such as those at the New River estate, the last of the island’s 99 sugar mills to close in 1958.
On another day I opted for the rainforest tour, which ironically was almost cancelled because of the rain. Our guide pointed out green vervet monkeys which, 20,000-strong, now outnumber the 12,000 human population, as well as hummingbirds and an array of trees from mahogany and mango to avocado and cashew.
Much of the local produce is used by the hotel’s executive chef, Stéphane Caumont, who gave me a fascinating insight into the workings of a busy kitchen during a 90-minute cookery lesson.
Trying to produce a gazpacho with citrus caviar is beyond me, involving too many implements and ingredients not in most cupboards, but I feel confident of subjecting someone to pan-seared red snapper with lemon-scented rice and island salsa.
Caumont’s elegant Restaurant 750 serves up a sumptuous set menu including local spiny lobster, or a more elaborate five-course tasting menu in the candlelit Mill Privée. Casual dining is available at the Indigo Grill by the pool.
I also tried rum tasting, staged in the 17th-century mill tower with the infectiously enthusiastic Mark Theron, which I would like to say was unforgettable, though to be honest my memory of the event remains a little hazy.
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