Holidays in the Caribbean: Strictly Come Dancing judge Bruno Tonioli reveals his score for St Martin and Antigua
St Martin is a very unusual Caribbean island: half French and half Dutch.
The two halves of St Martin are quite different from each other: the French side is more sleepy, laidback and relaxed - full of little cafes and bars on beaches, while the Dutch side feels more busy with a casino, restaurants, bars and shopping malls. It is almost like having two islands squeezed into one. (Imagine the Isle of Wight half English and half French!)
Life's a beach: Bruno Tonioli at the beautiful La Samanna resort in St MartinActually the French 'half' is slightly bigger - the split is more 60-40 in France's favour. The population split is more even: about 40,000 live on the Dutch side, 37,000 on the French. It's extraordinary that you can have one small island like this (around 50 square miles) divided into two - a split that dates back to 1649.
I enjoy the divide. On the French side I think you can have the traditional tropical-island holiday, but if you want some action, there's plenty to do over on the Dutch half.
I stayed at the Orient Express resort La Samanna, which is on the French side. It has a cliffside setting overlooking Baie Longue beach, which is absolutely stunning.
The resort reminds me very much of St Tropez, with La Samanna offering South of France chic on the Caribbean.
The beach is particularly spectacular. It is private and must be more than half a mile long - a wide, white stretch of glorious sand, which is fabulous.
I was lucky enough to have a junior suite with a balcony. Every evening I would make sure I was on the balcony to enjoy the sunset.
From here, I had a cinemascopic view of this huge bay - every evening I watched a huge sun sink into the blue sea. The sunsets are almost worth the trip in their own right.
Cha-cha-charming: A covered terrace at La Samanna resort where Bruno stayed in St MartinAlong with the sunsets, another highlight of La Samanna was the food. What I like about hotels in the Orient Express group is that they each have their own very individual style - they don't conform to a group standard. La Samanna, for example, had a particular feel. The hotel has a wonderful beach bar - all white linen and French music: close your eyes and you can easily imagine you are on Pampelonne beach in St Tropez.
Something else you can depend on at Orient Express hotels is the quality of the restaurants. The Trellis was the hotel's excellent fine-dining restaurant with a sublime wine cellar.
My room was so lovely that on many nights I dined alone with my meal supplied by room service. It was a meal as good as anything you would be served in France.
More... Caribbean flotilla thriller: You don't have to be a pro to sail in the British Virgin Islands A very warm welcome: Barbados puts a giant smile on Steve Strange's Visage Making a splash: Stars and spas on a Dream Caribbean cruise to Barbados and DominicaBe warned, however, about the tempting French patisseries at breakfast. They are my one weakness. Reader, I succumbed - an indulgence that required about half an hour extra at the gym to work off those calories.
When I'm travelling, I'm a bit of a gym monkey: I have to keep my physique in peak condition so I go every morning. The gym has become a ritual for me - an indispensable ritual, particularly when the food is as enticing as it was at La Samanna. Those calories have to be burnt off. My holiday requirements are fairly simple: a lovely room with a balcony and a view, good food, a gym and ... a good book.
This time my holiday treat was Shantaram, a brilliant book by Australian Gregory David Roberts, an armed robber and heroin addict who escaped from an Australian prison to India. It's brilliant! I read it in a few days - it was unputdownable. I like leaving books that I enjoyed for future guests to read. I love hotels that have mini-libraries of other guests' books.
Legendary: The Curtain Bluff resort in Antigua is full of character and boasts a beautiful locationAfter La Samanna, I headed for Antigua and stayed at a place that I, again, highly recommend: the Curtain Bluff. This legendary Antiguan resort has been in business for more than 50 years. It's almost like a private club - lush, tropical, in a beautiful location with two beaches, and it has a wonderful colonial feel.
It's a place with incredible character. Having stayed there, I'm not surprised Curtain Bluff is one of those places that has a very dedicated clientele who come back year after year. Repeat customers are happy to book up to ten years in advance.
It has all the best old colonial qualities of the British West Indies - lush gardens, lovely beaches, plenty of coconut palm trees and fantastic restaurants. The hotel was created by Howard Hulford. His wife, who is still at the hotel, tells a story that sounds like the plot of a movie. Howard used to be a pilot and one day he flew over this bluff and announced: 'This is where I want to live.' So he built the hotel, and it's been going ever since.
I was invited to a cocktail party at the owner's house, a stunning property overlooking the sea, and it was absolutely wonderful.
On Antigua I also stayed at the Blue Waters resort located on the north-east corner of the island. It has lovely secluded beach coves, seven freshwater pools, 17 acres of lush tropical gardens and, best of all, it offers ultra-luxurious Cove Suites.
As a connoisseur of great views and spacious terraces, I luxuriated in both. I also appreciated the comfortable, stylish decor and the infinity pools. They offer the perfect retreat for a busy TV dancing judge.
This trip reminded me how much I love the Caribbean. On recent trips I've been to the Indian Ocean, which is fabulous. But there's something special about the Caribbean that I really enjoy. So, how many marks out of ten for each of the hotels I stayed at? No hesitation - if I had taken my little Strictly paddle with me, I would have raised it when I checked out of each and said: 'Ten!' Full marks all round.
I've fallen in love with the Caribbean all over again...
Getting thereElegant Resorts (01244 897515, elegantresorts.co.uk) offers two nights' B&B at Blue Waters staying in a Cove Suite, two nights all-inclusive at Curtain Bluff Hotel staying in a Deluxe Room and three nights room-only at La Samanna in a Deluxe Ocean View Room from £3,065. This includes return flights from Gatwick with British Airways and transfers.