Finding the perfect hotel in Europe should be so easy. It’s not as if we’re asking for the earth: we want somewhere small, friendly (probably family-run) and reasonably priced, with double helpings of charm and character. Not such a tall order, is it?. Oh yes it is — because the best little bolt holes don’t necessarily have the budget to advertise, even if they wanted to. They can’t launch a high-profile campaign like the flashy five-stars. And anyone, travel writers included, lucky enough to stumble on one is hardly going to tell everyone else. They go all Gollum-like and overprotective.

Until now. Because we’ve shamelessly bullied our team into handing over their most cherished secret places, the little spots of holiday heaven they escape to when they’re not on assignment for us. 

Hotel Casamar (Llafranc, Costa Brava) is on paper, a modest two-star place with 18 rooms on a much-maligned stretch of coast wouldn’t warrant a second thought, let alone a booking. But Casamar is a treat, and the Costa Brava setting is spot-on. Turn left on the coastal footpath and it’s two minutes to the wide, sandy beach at Llafranc; turn right and a pine-shaded 20-minute stroll above a stretch of knobbly granite shore will bring you to the could-be-Andalusian fishing village of Calella de Palafrugell.

But it’s hard to prise yourself away from the lazy lunches and romantic dinners on the Casamar’s terrace. The family do everything right, from stylish cooking to contemporary fixtures — and it’s yours for a ridiculous price (assuming you can beat the Spanish regulars).