Bella Luce Hotel

The street names are in French but it’d be a long swim to Normandy, and it may be a British Crown dependency, but those blue telephone boxes are a sure sign it’s not exactly England either. It might be this fish-nor-fowl aspect that prevents Guernsey from fitting into any of the travel industry’s simplest narratives. But it’s no bad thing if it keeps a place like Bella Luce a little bit of a well-kept secret.

It may be off most people’s idea of the beaten path, but there’s nothing provincial about it: Guernsey’s status as a “low tax jurisdiction” means that many of its residents have a taste for life’s finer pleasures. Not that you have to have offshore accounts — just that Bella Luce, with its twenty-three plush, contemporary bedrooms, is in the same class as the finst small hotels in England, France and beyond.

That’s partly to do with the lodging, and partly to do with the setting, in a 12th-century manor house — but it’s largely a matter of the restaurant, which serves modern British cuisine at its most refined, whether or not a Union Jack technically flies overhead. Meanwhile a lounger-lined pool and an inviting little spa are a reminder that Guernsey is a bit of a retreat — and not just for your money.

• 23 Rooms
• Style: Contemporary Classic
• Atmosphere: Quiet

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