Charming Villa Ashita in Bali-Indonesia

Four couples or groups of friends seeking a sociable villa in a stand-out Seminyak location will be happy to hang their hats at Ashita.

Named after the beautiful king’s daughter at the centre of the Hindu epic, The Ramayana, this serene, four-bedroom villa is peacefully set in the secure upmarket Laksmana estate a few hundred meters from the beach, and an easy walk from some of Bali’s most iconic restaurants, sunset bars and boutiques.

Its space-enhancing layout – three pavilions positioned around a waterfall-fed swimming pool – provides a surprising amount of living space, including an open-sided upper living room with sunset terrace, poolside dining room below, second living room and an air-conditioned study.

While the master bedroom is magnificent, taking up much of the second pool-edge pavilion, those staying in the three guest bedrooms won’t feel they’ve drawn the short straw

The interiors are opulently furnished and feature Jim Thompson silks and rice-paper screens as well as glamorous marble-lined bathrooms.

This is a thoroughly grown-up fully-staffed villa, where you can relax by the pool, retire to the shade of the dining room for a leisurely lunch (prepared by the villa’s excellent chef – with a fixed price menu to make the choice easier), work out in the gym, enjoy sunset cocktails on the terrace, pop across the road to La Lucciola for dinner – and, with 24-hour butler service, still be pampered when you return to the villa in the early hours.