Four couples or groups of friends seeking a sociable villa in a stand-out Seminyak location will be happy to hang their hats at Villa Shinta Dewi. 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 metres 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. It doesn’t get better than that!