Villa Kembali 10

The Bukit’s back lanes run between white boundary walls and stands of banana, and Villa Kembali 10 sits behind one of them: a two-storey house in white render with teak-framed openings and a pool set tight against a wall of rough coral stone. The water is the width of the plot, a strip of travertine beside it holding a pair of grey beanbags, and alocasia, heliconia and a young palm crowd in from the planted edge. The living room’s doors slide fully back onto that deck, so the pool is less a feature at the end of a garden than a room the house opens into. Nyang Nyang Beach is a short drive down the cliff road.

Inside, the plan is deliberately spare. A plastered bench runs in an L around two sides of the living room, built into the floor and topped with deep cream cushions and block-printed pillows, a rounded timber table in the middle of it. The wall behind is cut into timber-lined niches holding pale jugs, bowls and stoneware, and another run of shelves carries the television. Past a step up, the dining table is teak with woven-back chairs beneath two big wicker bells, and the kitchen follows the far wall in timber and pale stone: a gas hob, an oven, a tall fridge, a coffee machine and a black tap over the sink at a teak window full of leaves.

Both bedrooms are upstairs and both take a king. One has a plaster ledge above the bed holding two sculpted relief panels, three woven pendants hung at different heights and a wardrobe faced in cane; a doorway leads straight into its bathroom, where a round timber mirror hangs over a single slab of cast concrete. The other looks out through a wide window into the treetops, with framed line drawings on the wall and an aubergine throw folded across the bed. Its bathroom repeats the trick, a monolithic basin under an oval mirror against pale plaster, and a third washroom sits downstairs off the living room.

Villa staff clean daily, and a welcome drink, towels for everyone, fast Wi-Fi and a safe come with the house; you let yourself in, and someone is reachable at any hour. Breakfast, a driver from the airport, a car with or without one, a scooter, massage at the villa, a babysitter, a pool fence, laundry and surf or cooking classes all run through the concierge. Four guests in two matched king suites makes this a straightforward choice for two couples or a small family who want the Bukit’s beaches and cliff-edge sunsets without taking on a house they will not use.

Villa Kembali 10 is a small, exact house: white walls, teak frames, a bench you sink into and a pool a step beyond it. It asks very little of anyone staying. Spend the morning in the water, drive down to Nyang Nyang for the afternoon, and come back to rooms that have stayed cool all day.