A house first.
A hotel second.

The house was not built to be a hotel. It was built to be lived in, which is why the rooms are odd sizes and the garden is where it is.

When we started taking guests, we did not change much. We put in better beds, rebuilt the bathrooms, and left everything else more or less alone. The terrace stayed a terrace. The kitchen stayed a kitchen — the same one breakfast comes out of every morning.

People do not come to Diu to be processed. They come because it is slow. Running the house any other way seemed like missing the point.

So there is no check-in queue and no laminated folder of rules. There is a number you can call, and someone who answers it. If you want the beach before anyone else is on it, we will tell you what time to leave. If you want to do nothing at all for four days, that is a completely respectable plan and we will keep the coffee coming.

The island does the rest. It always has.