Anassa

An ultra-luxe 5* beachside spa resort, which is also truly family friendly: a place which - if you can afford it - warrants the trip alone

This is the best position on the island: a secluded (and protected) hillside spilling down to the blue waters of Latsi bay, with the unspoilt Akamas peninsula on your doorstep, and barely a building in sight. Lush flowering gardens leap up around you; every whitewashed balcony is draped in bougainvillea, every olive-shaded dinner table is lit with flickering candles.

As you'd expect in a resort of this size, there's a wealth of facilities, from an all-ages kids' club to an award-winning 'Thalassotherapy' spa, not to mention 2 pools, 4 restaurants and a purpose-built Orthodox chapel for private weddings. Best of all, the service is genuinely 5*, with a 1:1 staff-guest ratio, and concierges who can magic up a speedboat or an elusive medicine at a moment's notice.

If you can stir yourself, there are cruises to turtle beaches, jeep tours to cedar-shaded monasteries, catamarans to sail, wines to taste, waters to ski, even floodlit tennis courts. But chances are you'll do as we did: laze on the beach, pop a mask on to spot swarms of silvery fish, stir yourself for grilled sea bream at lunch, and again for raspberry cocktails at sunset, before tucking into exquisite French cuisine, or Cypriot mezes and dancing.

Highs

• Seven days of this and you'll be truly decompressed; 14, and the real world may as well cease to exist
• Bedrooms and suites are big and airy, with pampering marbled bathrooms and (in some cases) lofty sea views, plunge pools or both
• You need feel no guilt at leaving your children in the kids club: besides an Aladdin's cave of toys, there's beach walks, stone painting, water polo and much more
• The beach, just a few paces away, is long, safe and private, with warm clear waters and all manner of sailing craft (though if you're nit-picking, the sand is rather coarse - definitely not sandcastle material!)

Lows

• There's no getting away from it: it's expensive, especially the meals and extras - but sometimes the best is simply worth paying for at any price
• At 172 rooms it's far bigger than most i-escape places, but cleverly spread around the hillside so you don't see more than a slice of it at any one time
• Cyprus is extremely hot in summer: come at Easter, May half-term or October if you can (but if not, there are lots of shady areas to escape to)
• Couples in search of a quiet romantic break should try and avoid school holidays; even with a separate pool and family restaurant, it inevitably feels busy with children
• At busy times, beach sunloungers are in high demand