Sapi

Six-bedroom Villa Sapi is a masterpiece of design on the peaceful island of Lombok. Bordered by the almost deserted Sira Beach against a backdrop of soothing seas, soaring peaks and sensational sunsets, it presents funky architecture, three-swimming pools plus a children's pool, a stand-alone two-bedroomed guesthouse, a tennis court, exemplary service and gourmet cuisine.

This is tropical living and barefoot luxury at its very best; a place where guests can truly escape. Villa Sapi is secluded and lusciously private but by no means isolated; prestigious neighbours include the Sire Beach Golf Club, Hotel Tugu and The Oberoi, and the coral-fringed Gilli Islands, with their superb dive sites, are just a short boat ride away.

Villa Sapi rests within an expansive coconut-grove garden and comprises a main single-storey residence with a swimming pool and a children's pool, plus a stand-alone guest pavilion with two more swimming pools, set well away from the main house. Also within the villa's grounds are a floodlit tennis court and a lumbung (traditional rice barn) massage pavilion.

The main building is entered via a timber pathway, lined with fire torches. This leads past a feature wall of bamboo and a cascading wall of water. Running parallel to the beachfront, the main building incorporates the living and dining areas, kitchens, four of the six-bedrooms, and the home theatre.

The guest pavilion is built into a manmade hill capped with grass, and presents an open-sided sitting area and two bedrooms, one of which is semi-subterranean. Both bedrooms are complemented by a deck and a private swimming pool.

Villa Sapi's living and dining areas lie below the soaring roof of an open-fronted pavilion. The sitting area is furnished with plentiful sofas and ottomans crafted in coconut shell veneer. In the dining area, an impressive wooden table eats 14. There's a second sitting area at the guesthouse, with six comfy chairs and a solid wood coffee table.

The villa's two kitchens are connected via a bridge over an ornamental pond. The guest kitchen, which is adjacent to the dining area, features a service bar crafted in resin and lit by three original ‘Campari Light’ suspension lamps, and is equipped with a Nespresso coffee maker and a five-burner gas hob and oven. Behind the guest kitchen is a state-of-the-art staff kitchen, fully equipped with professional appliances.

The extraordinary 'space-age' home theatre is wrapped in bamboo and appears to hover above the ground. With its sides of glass and heavy sliding door accessed via a solid stone step, this unique building features funky ceiling lamps and a polished concrete floor upon which ten bright beanbags are arranged for comfortable viewing. A large TV and DVD player fitted with surround-sound is positioned at the far end of the room.

A thatched lumbung (traditional rice barn) featuring ornate carvings and wooden shutters and furnished with two massage beds serves as a fan-cooled spa room in the garden. A washroom is positioned next to the lumbung, its curved roof planted with grass and its rustic shower, crafted from bamboo, open to the sky.

The main swimming pool extends for 21 metres between the beach and the main house. It is deep enough to dive into and has a springboard for that purpose. Sun loungers rest upon the grassy deck and a modern flat-roofed balé (relaxation pavilion) sits at one end. Running alongside the main pool is a shallow children's pool. Two more swimming pools serve the guesthouse on two different levels, both of them are bordered by small timber decks.

Dotted with dozens of towering coconut palms, the garden fronts onto the beach and is so huge that guests will have no problem escaping to private areas. A wooden structure in one corner of the grounds serves as an elevated, sheltered platform for watching tennis on the adjacent, floodlit court.