Hell-Ville is the working centre of Nosy Be — banks, supermarkets, the ferry port for the mainland, and a covered market where ylang-ylang oil, vanilla, rum and chillies are heaped on every counter. The streets still have rows of pastel colonial-era houses with deep verandahs, slowly tilting under tropical humidity.
It is not pretty in any sanitised sense, but it is the most honest face of the island. Allow a couple of hours: wander the market, drink a Three Horses Beer in a side-street bar, and pick up money or supplies before heading on to the beaches.