JANUARY 2015

Many warm thanks to you, Hugh, for arranging a splendid New Caledonia trip.

In every way from start to finish, this was a highly successful trip -- easily our best in all the pacific islands so far. All the arrangements you made worked completely seamlessly, and our whole travel package was very well organised. Chateau Royal Beach Resort & Spa is, we are convinced, the top choice in New Caledonia's most desirable area for many reasons:
1) the luxury suites with big balconies are amazing, immaculate, modern, with top notch fully equipped kitchens,
2) the views especially from the upper floors are superb,
3) the restaurants in the hotel are excellent -- especially the 5 star Le Taom,
4) the hotel is ideally located, as it's just sufficiently away from the main public Anse Vata beach area, but within a very easy walk to everything, including the splendid selection of restaurants,
5) the hotel's own beach is immediately in front of the hotel and thus private, and
6) there's a nice benefit of having another top hotel (Le Meridien) right next door, as it also offers very high quality dining, including the amazing L'Hippocombe, where we had a 7 course Christmas Eve dinner that we'll remember forever.

While we spent a full 8 days in N.C., we ran out of time to do everything we wanted to -- there is simply so much on offer. This is a very wealthy French island (you'll be amazed at the airport alone) that does not feel snobbish in the least, but rather just gives you the feeling of being friendly, modern, safe, and very well run. The fact that you hear French all around you just adds to the great feeling of being on an exotic overseas holiday, even though people certainly speak English in all the places you'd expect.

Thank you again, Hugh, and we'll certainly be contacting you for any future pacific island journeys and give our recommendation about you to our friends.

Jarmo S