Villa Sorrento

Villa Sorrento turns its back on the lane and builds everything around a courtyard instead. Chalk-white walls run the full height of the plot, arches are cut through them, and in the middle sits a rectangular pool in pale paving with green-and-white striped daybeds built into the wall along one side. It reads as the Amalfi coast until you notice the cacti and the palms in the gravel beds and remember which island you are on. Bingin, Dreamland and Padang Padang beaches are four to ten minutes away on a scooter, Bambu Fitness is four, El Kabron is five, and the whole Uluwatu run of cafes and restaurants sits within seven.

The living wing opens onto that courtyard through tall arched pivot doors, and when they are folded back the distinction between inside and out largely disappears. Under a white ceiling ribbed with pale timber beams, a long built-in sofa runs along one wall with lighting concealed beneath it and a television on a floating oak shelf. The kitchen is fitted with cane-fronted cabinetry and a tiled arch above the hob, with a microwave, freezer and the full run of cooking basics, and an oak table seats six under Chandigarh-style chairs. Black ceiling fans turn overhead. There is a dedicated workspace too, and Wi-Fi quick enough to make a working week here entirely plausible.

Both bedrooms have their own arched doors onto the pool, which means you can go from bed to water in about four steps. Each has a queen bed on a solid timber base, an open oak wardrobe, paired abstract prints above the headboard and a ceiling fan. The two ensuites are the surprise: a freestanding bath framed inside a white arch, twin fluted basins set on a stone shelf, black arched mirrors and lanterns either side, and a black rain shower in its own alcove. There is a second shower outdoors as well, tucked against a curved wall by the daybeds, for coming back off the sand.

What makes the villa work day to day is how little you have to think about. Staff clean daily and keep the pool and garden in order two or three times a week, a welcome drink is waiting on arrival, and towels are set out for every guest. Beyond that, the concierge handles airport transfers, a car with or without a driver, scooters, breakfast, a private cook, massages at the villa, a nanny or a pool fence. Two couples, a small family, or a pair of friends working remotely between surfs will all find the layout suits them, with the courtyard doing the work a garden normally does.

Villa Sorrento is a small, precise villa that gets a great deal out of one courtyard. Arches, white plaster and striped cushions give it a holiday mood the moment you walk in, and with the beaches, the gym and half of Uluwatu’s kitchens within a few minutes, it asks very little of you beyond deciding when to get in the water.