Villa Tramontalba

Downstairs living areas are spacious, filled with art and books and with soft seating for everybody – you’ll find a large screen TV too. A separate dining room has a long table for convivial meals, but mostly you’ll be eating outdoors by the pool with views of the olive grove and the distant sea on clear days. Lounge on a deckchair, swing in a hammock, enjoy peace.

Bedrooms, a mix of modern and traditional, all have good quality linen, shutters and insect screens, blessed air conditioning and chairs for escapees who want a quiet read. Bathrooms, one with a bath the others with showers, are neat-as-a-pin with scented shower gels and soaps.

Rustle up meals in the well-equipped kitchen which has more than enough gear for 10, or pop into town for a choice of restaurants. Wander the pretty garden and help yourself to anything growing in the veg patch, including fruit. As evening falls you can light the barbecue, open the wine, celebrate.