Mauritius

• Go in the summer silly! - Indian Ocean
• Lovers in Luxury - Maldives
• Feet first into the Maldives - Maldives
• No news, No shoes - Maldives
• My wedding pact with David Walliams - Maldives
• Push the boat out - Seychelles
• Relaxation Addict - Seychelles
• Mauritius the Delicious - Mauritius
• Mr Perma-Tan in Paradise - Mauritius
• Never seen you looking so lovely - Mauritius
• Island Iffy No Longer - Sri Lanka
• Having a swell time! - Seychelles
• Perfect, even for the world’s pickiest guest! - Maldives
• Do not disturb - Mauritius

AT THE HOTEL'S New Year's Eve party it's become something of a tradition that I get up and perform.

There is an incredible resident band at the One & Only Le Saint Geran resort in Mauritius with two or three players I would be proud to have in my own band. I don't have to rehearse with these guys ' they are so gifted. I just have to get up and sing.

It usually all happens off-the-cuff. They start a song and look at me as if to say: 'Do you want to come and sing?' So I get up and normally perform for an hour immediately after midnight. I do some of my own stuff, such as Missing You, Don't Pay The Ferryman, High On Emotion and, of course Lady In Red. I also perform other songs that will get people dancing ' Hotel California, Long Train Running and Hey Jude is a great way to end the set. We get everybody singing along then I walk off stage and through the crowd while they just carry on singing.

Last year, it was decided to do something different. The staff at the hotel asked if I would like to be involved with a combination of two things I love ' wine and music. I have a large wine collection and I'm very keen to increase my knowledge so I read everything I can about the subject and always sample local varieties when I'm travelling.

The night started in Spoon des Iles, Alain Ducasse's superb restaurant at the hotel. It was an intimate evening with just 44 people invited and it began with a champagne reception.

Working with the restaurant's sommelier, I chose a different wine for each course and introduced them with a short and, hopefully, informative, talk. My first choice was a 2005 riesling from Germany. I spend a lot of time in Germany and I find their wines incredibly complex.

Local specialities

There is a new generation of rieslings that are getting away from labels such as Black Tower and Liebfraumilch and all that ghastly stuff that was popular in Britain during the Seventies.

Some of the rieslings now are sensational. I chose one from the Rheingau region, which everybody adored. With our fish dish, I presented a Sancerre and the third wine came from Argentina, the country of my birth.

Argentina produces some terrific wines. I opted for a Malbec from Mendoza, which is a stonker.

My dessert wine was from a vineyard in Constantia, South Africa, which I have visited many times. Vin de Constance apparently used to be a favourite of European royalty and heads of state. Napoleon had it sent to him when he was in exile on the island of St Helena in the South Atlantic.

When the small audience were relaxed and merry, we left the restaurant and moved to another room where I performed one of my occasional solo concerts. It was a very special night.

As a family we have been going to Saint Geran since 1995, making a total of 15 visits. My children ' Rosanna is 23 and my sons Hubie and Michael are 19 and 17 ' have virtually grown up there.

We don't have a holiday home abroad. The reason is simple: I've always worried about getting a telephone call in the middle of the night telling me the villa roof has been blown off. And having invested in a holiday home you feel obliged, as many of our friends do, to visit the place again and again.

Lovely locals

Although we have been returning to Mauritius year after year, we do so because we love it rather than feeling compelled to go back. The funny thing is that when you have a place that is so familiar to you, you think about it all year, anticipating the holiday.

Every time the weather is bad at home, we just remind ourselves how great it will be when we are at Saint Geran. Recently I was driving my son to school and we noticed a section of the Wicklow Hills just like the profile of the mountains in Mauritius and this got us talking about our next holiday.

As a musician I spend a lot of my time travelling. This year I’ll be performing in Russia, Lebanon, Iran and Turkey. This makes the familiarity of Saint Geran an even greater pleasure. It’s an extraordinary hotel. I discovered it in 1995 following a recommendation from a travel agent.

At that time we were looking for somewhere to spend Christmas and New Year and we’ve been going there for the holiday season pretty much ever since. For a couple of years, we went skiing but rather than miss out on Saint Geran, we went there during the summer instead. July and August is winter in Mauritius, and this means the hotel has a different vibe but it is still extremely enjoyable.

Last year, we went to Saint Geran in summer and winter – life can be tough, can’t it? Saint Geran is the sort of place where you walk in and immediately feel comfortable. I guess that 90 per cent of staff have been employed there all the years we have been visiting the resort. What struck us on our first visit was the friendliness. It’s a multi-racial, multi-cultural, multi-religious society. The people are simply lovely.

Private peninsular

What’s particularly delightful about Saint Geran is that once you walk through the resort gates, you don’t want to leave. The whole place is on a private peninsular. We love watersports – everybody in our family water-skis, canoes and sails – so this place is perfect. If you’re not feeling energetic, Saint Geran is a great place just to relax. The complex has everything you need.

I was born in Argentina. My father was a diplomat, so the family moved around a lot. I have strong memories of Africa as a child, the sights and sounds of a vegetable market in Lagos were amazing. I also remember women wearing their colourful dresses and the bright reds and greens of the vegetables on display.

My children have inherited the travel bug. Even before my daughter Rosanna won the Miss World title in 2003 she had travelled widely. Since then, she has been given the opportunity to spend a lot of time in so many interesting countries, including China, which is one place I have not yet been to.

Favourite places, apart from Mauritius? I’ve spent a lot of time in Canada and I love it. Visit the lakes in northern Ontario because they are stunning.

I’ve done 25 tours in Canada starting in Newfoundland in the east and travelling right across the country to Vancouver in the west. It’s a gorgeous place.

France is in my blood. I’ve been there many times, I speak the language and enjoy it. I also love Germany. I’ve done a few tours in Russia. The Hermitage museum in St Petersburg is amazing, a real eye-opener.

I still have the hunger for travel. You’re on this earth for such a short time you may as well enjoy it while you’re here and try to see as many different places as you can.