That is the picture of Jersey described in last Sunday’s edition of the Observer newspaper, along with the inevitable mention of Bergerac, big yachts and – believe it or not – ‘rumours of a rampant swinging scene’.
The visiting journalists, invited by a local PR firm to sample the delights of The Club Hotel & Spa in Green Street, clearly failed to find their nirvana in a rain-sodden, down-at-heel St Helier.
Although they quite liked The Club – praising its friendly staff and elegant – albeit somewhat gimmicky – shiny new facilities, they found other Jersey hotels were either ‘big, posh and stuffy’ or ‘small, cheap and a bit mouldy’.
Lawrence Huggler, owner of The Club, who has spent up to £7 million over two years refurbishing the former Beaufort Hotel and building an award-winning reputation for its Bohemia restaurant, said on the whole he had been pleased with the article’s conclusions about his own establishment.
‘It says the hotel single-handedly turns Jersey into a chic weekend-break destination – and that’s just what we’ve spent the past two years trying to achieve.