Hotel Ta Cenc, Sannat

Little-known and often ignored by tourists, Gozo offers a curious mix of the enticingly exotic and the reassuringly familiar: palm trees, Arabic-style honey-coloured stone houses, lemon groves and the ubiquitous prickly pear all contrasting wonderfully with the red GPO phone boxes and little Dixon of Dock Green police stations!

It is an astonishingly green and fertile island too, and is perfect for exploring on foot. The spectacular coastline is awash with hidden creeks, coves and tiny beaches and the views are simply breathtaking. Inland, you’ll find ancient hill villages, Romanesque churches, bamboo and lemon groves.

The Hotel Ta Cenc has an inimitable setting, scattered across the Ta Cenc cliffs, just near the town of Sannat. This is the highest point on the island, and the views from the hotel’s 400 acres of ground sweep across the entire island to the sea, even taking in Malta and Comino.

The hotel offers a private cove, two enormous swimming pools, aromatherapy bath, a fitness centre, tennis courts, beauty rooms and tranquil gardens. The building itself has been built on one level to blend in sensitively with the natural surroundings, and guests are accommodated in individual air-conditioned stone bungalows, each with its own terrace or small garden.

The rooms are spacious and all are equipped with satellite television, minibar, safety deposit box, air conditioning/ heating, direct dial telephones, a trouser press and en-suite bathrooms with hairdryers. Meals are usually served al fresco on the patio under a 200-year old carob tree.

{HIDE}Little-known and often ignored by tourists, Gozo offers a curious mix of the enticingly exotic and the reassuringly familiar: palm trees, Arabic-style honey-coloured stone houses, lemon groves and the ubiquitous prickly pear all contrasting wonderfully with the red GPO phone boxes and little Dixon of Dock Green police stations!

It is an astonishingly green and fertile island too, and is perfect for exploring on foot. The spectacular coastline is awash with hidden creeks, coves and tiny beaches and the views are simply breathtaking. Inland, you’ll find ancient hill villages, Romanesque churches, bamboo and lemon groves.{UNHIDE}