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One can only speculate about the origins of the name for this lovely bay in the Isles of Scilly - let's just say it might have been a bad day. It is more commonly associated with heart lifting seascapes and escape from the less admirable of life's little pressures. There is nothing enormously sophisticated about the cooking, but the cause of simple straightforward food is served well and, as one might expect those dishes, which have their genesis from the sea, are especially good. Dawn fresh crab, lobster and fish are hand picked form the local boats, supplies of fine meats, vegetables and fruits are brought in daily. In the evening you can dine al-fresco warmed by a patio heater, or indoors with a backdrop of breathtaking, uninterrupted views across the Great Pool and beyond - next stop New York!

A typical dinner could begin with char-grilled chicken Caesar salad, garlic croutons, parmesan shavings; roast Cornish goat cheese, Bryher tomato confit, balsamic oil or seared scallops, with new potato and bacon salad, chilli syrup. Then assiette of seafood, tagliatelle, tiger tail prawns, fish cream; roast rack of lamb, mint jus, sage mash, roast parsnip and carrots; char-grilled rib eye steak, fondant potatoes, tomato salsa, béarnaise sauce or vegetable risotto, grilled vegetables, parmesan. Finishing with: chocolate truffle cake, forest fruit coulis; glazed lemon tart, clotted cream or meringue, strawberries and cream.

A simpler menu is offered at lunchtime, with many of the dishes being available in large or small portions. There is an extensive bar menu, so lunch can be a flexible feast, and there are high teas for the children.

Tresco has to be one of the last great escapes in Britain, and at the Island Hotel you can do it in style. Colonial style to be precise, because that is the manner in which this hotel on the slopes above Old Grimsby Bay has been constructed. This is west coast of Scotland with weather.

A very awe inspiring maitre d' sets the tone in the restaurant, and if by any chance you have come down without a tie you instinctively feel uneasy, though there is no dress code as such.

A changing menu sets high standards and starters at dinner might offer a twice baked apple soufflé with celeriac salad and blue cheese dressing, or roast lamb cutlet with braised lamb shoulder and squashed lemon butter beans.

Amongst main courses expect to find poached fillet of brill in red wine with pommes puree and wild mushrooms, or pan fried pork loin with basil polenta, creamed anchovy and tomato sauce. Follow with warm port and cranberry figs and ice ginger parfait, or Eve's pudding with sauce Anglaise.

All this served against a maritime background of incredible splendour, and backed with a wine list that is as impeccable as the service. Be aware that the hotel closes for the winter.

We arrived at a lunchtime in September, exhausted and soaked after just under three hours on the flat-bottomed ferry ship that serves the islands, on the tail end of a hurricane not normally our preferred method of travel, but the helicopters were grounded. Hardly had we stepped through the very humble entrance than the energetic figure of manager Robin Lawson leapt forward with a welcome that made us feel it was all worth while.

Nor was it just confined to Robin; all the staff were friendly, bright and ever helpful throughout our stay, delightful people who became instant friends.

The setting is superb, just off the waterfront of the tiny New Grimsby harbour, with views from the upper rooms over the surrounding seascape, the old inn, with its careful modern attachments still retains its flavour of antiquity, yet offering notable levels of cuisine, comfort and care.

The sound of silence envelopes you, at night the stars shine with a brilliance and clarity that we had almost forgotten on our sodium-light-soaked mainland. The small waves lap on the sandy beach. It is paradise.

After a hot bath lunch was a priority. Not for nothing is fish and chips listed in their cuisine choices - it was the best; crisp, well-fleshed fish with succulent chips and mushy peas - the full monty. The Tresco beef burger was succulent and interesting in a way that so many others are not - the taste was there, the right degree of moisture, and some more of those chips.