If you fancy the idea of getting away from package hotel resorts and all-inclusive deals, then renting a brand new super luxury villa at Cotton Bay Village on the North East coast of St Lucia, could be the ideal solution

Set along a rustic bay, in an undeveloped part of the island, Cotton Bay Village makes for a perfect 'get away from it all' location. There's no need to worry about getting up early to bag sun lounges here. The pace of life is relaxed and unhurried, with nature abundant everywhere, from Geckos and frogs running about the wooden walkways to humming birds in the surrounding trees.

These privately owned villas and town houses are occupied only part of the year and rented out the rest of the time. Unlike other package holidays, you are essentially renting a home, fully equipped with kitchen, lounge and en-suite bedrooms, ranging from four-bedroom properties to two-bedroom, not to mention an impressive penthouse suite.

Dedicated staff are available to assist with various things, whether you need a chef, maid or butler, who can arrange barbeques on the beach and sight-seeing trips as well as take care of the laundry and other daily household chores.

All accommodation has the luxury of a flat-screen TV, DVD and CD player with the option of renting DVDs via the concierge. Each boasts a designer kitchen and living room while the bedrooms are equipped with king-sized or zip queen beds.

Cotton Bay Village has two restaurants; The Beach Club 1461, an open-decked beach-front restaurant offering breakfast, lunch, brunch and dinner, and Piano Piano, an elegant fine dining restaurant with a superb cocktail list.

However, it is worth your while hiring a car to get out and about to local Rodney Bay and Castries for evening meals and daytime exploring. Cotton Bay Village is located within a remote part of the island and if you have a family, or like exploring, then village life can get a little tiresome.

An impressive swimming pool with surrounding decked areas is often quiet, with a smaller pool attached for kids, making relaxing at Cotton Bay easy.

Regardless of where your villa is located, the beach is only minutes walk away. Here you can enjoy walks around the curved bay and experience the island's ruggedness, complete with mangrove trees, sea grass and horses galloping past you from the nearby riding school.

Depending on your viewpoint, this natural, rugged bay can provide delightful views of wildlife and nature flourishing at its best although some people I spoke with would have preferred the beach to have been 'maintained' on a regular basis.

Away from the beach-front section, both up and down the bay, has noticeable construction taking place. Cotton Bay Village has been developed in and around nature, keeping many impressive trees and plants, thus attracting some amazing wildlife. I do hope future developments also take this attitude when building.

In an increasingly busy and very populated world we live in, Cotton Bay provides a peaceful sanctuary for people wanting to spend quality time with each other, or solitude for the solo traveller without noise and interruptions.

My favourite part of the village was the Casuarina Spa, newly built and very chic; beautifully designed with a gorgeous selection of treatments on offer.

Being treated as an individual is paramount here. The spa manager greets all clients and personally shows them around the spa, from the dry and wet treatment rooms to the indoor saline pool, and the colour therapy steam room. Nearly all the treatments are done with Elemis products.

For couples who want to have some joint fun, away from the usual 'couples treatments', Casuarina is the only spa in St Lucia to feature the Moroccan Rasul. You can have fun in the Rasul steam room, as you apply various muds and clays to each other's bodies.

There are chairs for you to sit on if you wish. Not only is the skin cleansed by these fantastic clays, they certainly revive you too! The steam room is in semi-darkness with fibre optic stars and moons beamed around the room.

A computerised programme is run so there is no one else in the room with you. A tropical rain shower commences after a suitable period of time, with the ceiling allowing thousands of rain drops to descend on you of varying size and pressures, washing away all the mud and clay. Fun indeed!

This venture is new, and as such needs the odd tweak here and there to make it even more special. Concepts have been thought out, and in most cases they work well. I think Cotton Bay Village will perform to perfection given time.

For more information, visit www.cottonbayvillage.com