Like many resorts on the west coast, Lou Moon is accessed down a dusty off-road track, winding through bush and past small fishing villages. But there’s a difference. While getting to budget resorts is usually a bumpy affair, the surface of Lou Moon’s track has been levelled at the owners’ expense. Even before you arrive, the place is making its intentions clear.

Inside, huts nestle among palm trees and rock gardens, and manicured lawns stretch down to Lou Moon’s killer app: a deep, serene private bay with a golden crescent beach. Lazing on a lounger or floating in the unusually calm waters, you get a sense of what Ghana’s coast could be with good, sensitive hotel development. It is close to perfect.

At the centre of all this is an open bar-restaurant built and decorated with local wood. Two huge cross-sections of tree trunk hang at the foot of the room, and gnarled palm roots are dotted around like abstract sculptures.

Rooms are elegant, flowing spaces, with four-posters and floor-to-ceiling windows in executive suites. The best accommodations are on the private ‘island’ (actually a small peninsula), but views are arguably better from the suites on the beach, which look out to sea. Cheaper rooms beside the restaurant are still good, but smaller and without views.

Food is a cut above. The short menu changes from one meal to the next, as the Togolese chef assess what is fresh from the on-site garden and local fishing communities. Seafood is naturally a strong point, and guests can often see staff walk across the lawn with the day’s special – a meaty grouper or a bucket of shining lobster.

Best of all, Lou Moon is one of a handful of hotels that produce a competent breakfast (see also Ko-Sa and Biriwa Beach). Orange juice and fruit appear unbidden, and there is a good range of egg dishes and a very respectable bacon sandwich.