Mustique

Mustique is not a resort island. It is a privately owned village of around a hundred villas, and staying in one makes you a temporary member of the world's most discreet club. Royalty, rock stars and the simply fortunate have been slipping away here for half a century precisely because nothing is on show: no paparazzi, no crowds, no schedule. Your villa comes with staff who anticipate rather than ask, a mule, the island's beloved golf buggy, to roam nine perfect beaches, and evenings that might end at Basil's Bar, the legendary bamboo institution on stilts over the water, where Wednesday jam sessions have featured names you would not believe. Days are riding, sailing, tennis, picnics at Macaroni Beach. Mustique is barefoot luxury in its purest, most unbothered form.