Maji

Villa Maji occupies an honest and likeable corner of the Koh Samui market: well kept, properly staffed, and priced so a group of eight can spend a week on the island without the budget dictating every choice. Maji is Swahili for water, and the pool is exactly where the villa’s gravity lies — broad, immaculately kept, and the natural axis around which the days arrange themselves once everyone has accepted that little more than swimming, eating and the occasional excursion is on the agenda.

Four bedrooms, each with its own bathroom, keep the morning routine civilised for a full house of eight. Open-plan living and dining flow through sliding doors onto covered terraces and the pool deck, in the indoor-outdoor idiom the Samui climate all but insists upon. The kitchen is set up for self-catering, though with restaurants a short drive away and dependable delivery across the island, the urge to cook three meals a day tends to fade fast. Daily housekeeping comes courtesy of the Sunshine Samui Villas team, on hand for concierge support throughout.

The five-night minimum runs a little longer than most Samui villas ask, which rather suits groups after genuine immersion in island time over a flying long weekend. For them, Maji is dependable value — a private pool, four en-suite bedrooms and steady housekeeping — that leaves a sensible daily budget for everything else.