During my stay at Olhuveli Beach and Spa Resort in the Maldives, I couldn’t resist indulging in a few treatments at the resort’s Sun Spa.

Located near to reception, the spa is an oasis of calm with quaint wooden bridges and walkways over ponds leading to private spa pavilions. The whole area is concealed behind thick vegetation and is bursting with flowers and birdsong – much nicer than my local beautician’s. Here it is quite different…

The spa rooms are stunning. Each pavilion has a toilet and separate changing area and the large covered room has two treatments beds and an open-sided back wall that leads into a private outdoor garden area with fountain, shower, bath tub and lovely plants.

Whilst perusing the spa menu – and there is an impressive choice of massages and treatments on offer – the staff kindly bring some herbal tea to enjoy and are happy to make recommendations. Eventually I opted for the Jet Lag Recovery massage as I was aching a little from the flight. At $70 US this hour-long full body massage was pure bliss - it involved a deep tissue massage using essential oils and a little bit of back and neck cracking which really woke me up and I felt fantastic afterwards! So much so, that I immediately booked in for an Ayurvedic Dosha massage at 6pm the next day.

This is definitely the best time to enjoy a treatment - the sun is setting and therefore you get to hear all the birds singing in the trees which is very therapeutic! I would also highly recommend Santha, my spa therapist, for Ayurvedic massages as she was very firm (without it being painful) and very professional. At $85 US this massage also lasted an hour and involved lots of deep tissue massage and more cracking of the back, neck, shoulders, fingers and toes. I felt as if I could walk on air afterwards!

There’s one thing that sets Palm Island in The Grenadines aside from all other Caribbean resorts – it has a mobile phone free beach!

Offering the perfect escape from the humdrum of modern day life, this resort is proud to point out that in addition to no usage of phones or Blackberries on the beach that there are also no TVs or telephones, so you can totally chill out without any interruptions at all.

We stayed in their new Sea Feather Villa, which included a living room, dining room, kitchen, king-size bed with en-suite bathroom and shower as well as splash pool and private golf cart. The villa also had a second bedroom with its own bathroom which suited us perfectly as we were holidaying with my sister and her husband.

The villa’s terrace overlooked the ocean so many a game of backgammon was played here at the end of the day whilst enjoying an aperitif! I was equally impressed that the kitchen came stocked with tea, coffee, cereal, fresh fruit, snacks, a bottle of champagne, some house wine, selection of spirits, soft drinks and beers – it was very accommodating indeed!

Palm Island is very laid back and activities are low-key and generally focused upon the sand and the sea. So, a few days into the holiday after enjoying all the lovely food, we were definitely in need of some exercise and chose to walk around the island on one of the three suggested hiking trails that you can take. The views are wonderful and you can even see some of the other islands in the distance. There were also bikes available at the hotel, but I must admit they took a bit of getting used to, so I would definitely recommend walking instead.

We booked a trip on the Captain Yannis to the Tobago Keys and, as there was only the four us on board, it felt like a private charter. We snorkelled off the boat and, aside from lots of brightly coloured fish, also saw a turtle, ray and a reef shark! All in all, this was a totally relaxing and chilled-out holiday and I for one can’t wait to return.

When holidaying with my family I have learned the hard way, that it makes life a lot easier to book all-inclusive. Wanting an action-packed beach holiday to keep my two energetic sons busy whilst at the same time needing great value for money and facilities for grown ups was a tall order, but we got it right when we booked our holiday at Almond Beach Village in Barbados.

It is situated on an old sugar plantation and spread over 32 acres of landscaped gardens. Seeing the beautiful white sand beach for the first time was breathtaking and as for activities there was a separate children’s area and no less than ten pools around the property. There were also four floodlit tennis courts.

As a real foodie I was pleased to discover that there was a great selection of dining. Unlike so many all-inclusive resorts the food was not all buffet and the cocktails were strong! Being a bona-fide beach-loving family, the beach BBQ was a definite highlight, with fantastic food whilst watching the sunset go down.

The water sports were fantastic as well and all free. We would especially recommend the reef fishing, although this does get quite busy so would recommend booking it shortly after arriving.

My husband and I had researched the island before choosing Barbados and what sold it to us was the warm climate, combined with cooling trade winds - the perfect weather for children to play outside. We also chose our holiday dates to coincide with the Barbados Sports Camp. The first of its kind for 2007, it offered coaching for children aged 9 – 17 from international sports men and women, absolutely free of charge.

The Barbados sports camp offers a unique opportunity for both local and visiting children to learn from sporting legends and to ask to questions about their incredible careers. The emphasis is firmly on fun, playing sport and making new friends and my two boys aged nine and eleven couldn’t stop talking about how much they enjoyed themselves.

Located at University of the West Indies sports ground just outside Bridgetown, the camp offers football, netball and cricket lessons on weekdays and places are available to book for up to a week per child. Again, book early as there are a limited number of places available per day. It’s hard to believe that children can attend the camp for free! The sports stars offer their time in aid of SPARKS, a charity which supports medical research into children’s diseases.

With international sportsmen and women like Mike Gatting, Alan Hanson and Sir Geoff Hurst amongst others all participating in the Barbados Sports Camp 2008 runnning from August 5–29, my family already knows where we’re heading this summer!

Visit the Barbados Sports Camp website for more information.