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A trip to the Caribbean islands hits the right note for Katie Wright, as she takes part in a choir workshop

I have to admit, I am nervous. Uncharacteristically so.

I will happily belt out Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance With Somebody to a pub full of strangers without hesitation when karaoke is on offer. But at 10am on a Monday, standing with 14 other choir newbies in our practice room at The Club Barbados Resort & Spa, I find myself quivering in anticipation, even though there’s no audience in sight.

This is the first of four daily sessions, a preview of the choir workshop that will be launched this year as part of the resort’s all-inclusive offering, led by British vocal coach Mike King and his wife, Carol.

Within minutes, my nerves have melted away, as Mike, who’s worked with the likes of Boy George and Florence Welch, eases us in gently with a few meme-me-meeee warm-ups and a lesson in breathing from the diaphragm.

Next, we’re split into four sections – I’m in the altos – and get straight to work on Al Green’s Let’s Stay Together.

I had been dreading some kind of strict, Simon Cowell-esque instructor, but Mike is warm, energetic and encouraging and we’re soon crooning away in four-part harmonies, beaming and bopping along to the soulful tune.

I’m amazed at how quickly we pick up our respective parts and start to sound pretty good (if I do say so myself). Within two hours we’ve also mastered the basics of Bob Marley’s classic, One Love.

On day two, we tackle Rockin’ Robin and Rihanna ballad Stay (we had to include one of the Bajan pop princess’s ditties), which leaves two days of finetuning before we perform our four-song set for guests in the club’s main bar.

But why, you might ask, would you want to spend two hours a day indoors when you’ve flown 4,000 miles to bask on a sun-drenched Caribbean island?

“It’s been written about a lot, how singing benefits people physically and mentally,” Mike says. “I’ve had people come to Barbados who are suffering from bereavement and they leave feeling energised because they’ve got something off their chest. It’s good to let that emotion out.”

I couldn’t agree more. I thought the rehearsals might feel like a chore but they fly by, and my fellow singers and I can really feel the mood-boosting endorphins flowing. “We don’t take it too seriously,” Mike adds, “But at the same time, I want people to improve and feel like they’ve achieved something at the end. And they’ve still got time to relax.”

They certainly have. I spend half my afternoons reclining on a lounger in the resort’s lush, bougainvillea-filled gardens, the other half discovering what the rest of Barbados has to offer.

The island was unscathed by the hurricanes that hit other parts of the Caribbean last year, but its east coast is continuously battered by strong Atlantic currents, so swimming is out of the question. The west side is where the best beaches are found.

According to Barbadian law, not one square inch of sand is allowed to be privately owned, no matter how many millions you spend on real estate. Every beach has to be publicly accessible, even the bay in front of the uber-expensive Sandy Lane resort (near where I’m staying), where Rihanna is rumoured to have a holiday home. You’ll have to clamber over tree trunks and wade through the surf to get there, though, and the beach isn’t much to write home about.

My advice? Take a taxi 10 minutes down the coast to Gibbes Bay instead, which is reached via a track (not signposted) next to a house called Dudley Wood. The stony path may not look promising but at the end of it you’ll find calm, azure waters and a stunningly serene stretch of beach, the soft white sand framed by dangling tropical foliage.

With no bars or cafes on this unspoiled cove – and no other sunbathers when I visited – you’ll have to bring a picnic, but elsewhere, the island has a lot to offer. For upmarket eats, book a table at the Lone Star restaurant at Alleynes Bay (Simon Cowell loves their shepherd’s pie, apparently) or for relaxed fare, head down to Oistin’s fishing village on the south coast, which is transformed into a street food emporium every Friday night.

Locals descend in droves for a freshly-

According to Barbadian law, not a single square inch of sand is allowed to be privately owned, no matter how many million dollars you spend on real estate