It's hard work, thought Susan Hack, but someone's got to do it: Spend six nights in six over-the-top suites at six luxury resorts on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius

If heaven is that painless place where pleasures never pall, then Mauritian hideaways provide a close approximation; according to the Ministry of Tourism & Leisure, the average hotel guest stays two weeks and rarely leaves the grounds. A hotelophile, I'd been curious about Le Saint Géran and its equally famous sister, Le Touessrok, as well as the new Oberoi and a half-dozen other up-and-comers. This raised a question: Why of all the islands in the Indian Ocean has Mauritius evolved such a high concentration of astronomically expensive, absurdly luxurious celebrity retreats? The Seychelles' physical beauty, the Maldives' superior coral reefs, and Madagascar's biodiversity present stiff competition. And with ninety-seven hotels and resorts (ten more are planned) ringing a 110-mile coast, Mauritius is fast running out of its one great natural resource: beach.

True, it is one of Africa's rare success stories, counting among its laurels a peaceful transition from colonialism to democracy, a versatile economy, and a multicultural society with Hindus, Muslims, and Christians living in harmony. (Not bad for a little island five hundred miles east of Madagascar, dismissed by Caribbean exile V. S. Naipaul just after its 1968 independence as an "overcrowded barracoon" amid a landscape of "sugarcane and sugarcane, ending in the sea.") Mauritius also lies in the same time zone as Europe. This means that the French, who make up the bulk of its visitors, don't have to travel all the way to the Caribbean to sunbathe; nor do they have to sacrifice precious beach time for beauty sleep. Teeth polished to movie star whiteness, eleven-year-old daughter Sophie in tow, I decide to explore an alternative reality, spending six nights in six over-the-top suites at six resorts selected from the gossip sheets. I am looking forward to private butlers, designer spas (Givenchy, Guerlain, La Prairie, etc.), and menus designed by famous chefs (Alain Ducasse, Paul Bocuse). Ninety-seven properties requires a scientific process of elimination. I figure what's good enough for Whitney Houston (Le Touessrok), Sharon Stone (Le Saint Géran), Michael Douglas (Le Prince Maurice), Emmanuelle Béart (The Oberoi), and Nelson Mandela (the Royal Palm and Le Saint Géran) will be good enough for me.

Lacking sufficient funds for a private jet, I'm shocked to learn that the low-season economy airfare from Paris is a whopping fifteen hundred dollars. To keep things clubby, the Mauritian government bans tourist charters. Expensive commercial flights hold autograph hounds at bay while serving highfliers such as South African businessman Mark Shuttleworth (he of the twenty-million-dollar round-trip space ticket).