Detours: Rendezvous for two

The word 'romantic' peppers the pages of holiday brochures. Advertisers keen to tap the couples market apply it to any attraction that offers views of some kind of sunset or comes equipped with a spa.

Finding an idyllic spot to take your squeeze on Valentine's Day requires imagination. One attraction that ticks the boxes and might stoke some passion is Burgh Island Hotel.

Worthy of the presence of Bryan Ferry and Cary Grant, the hotel, built in 1929, owes its existence to millionaire Archibald Nettlefold. His art deco temple boasts a 'mermaid rock pool', a cocktail lounge with a stained-glass peacock dome and a parquet-floor ballroom. Glamour and bawdiness permeate the pages of the definitive Burgh guide The Great White Palace, by former fashion consultant Tony Porter, who once owned the island.

Once the haunt of pirates, smugglers and monks, the 10.5-hectare rock island lies off the coast of Devon in southern England near the seaside village of Bigbury-on-Sea. At low tide the island can be reached on foot - a 200-metre stroll across the shimmering sandbank. At high tide, the visitor typically rides the world's only 'sea-tractor', a stilted monstrosity almost as intriguing as the hotel itself.

In exchange for a case of champagne, the contraption was concocted in 1969 by Robert Jackson CBE, a pioneer of Britain's 1950s nuclear power station programme.

Despite the ardent attention of the wind and waves, the spot enjoys an 'English Riviera microclimate'. As the hotel's website blurb says, while sea breezes lend freshness to summer, storms inject romance and drama into winter.