The ultimate tropical beachfront playground, 7-bedroom Villa Tievoli faces gorgeous Natai Beach – 10 kilometres of pristine sand less than half an hour's drive north of Phuket airport. This superb modern villa is fully staffed and features multiple entertaining, lounging and dining areas. Suitable for extended families, weddings and events, the villa comes with a spa, sauna, steam room and beauty salon for on-call pampering, a 25-metre infinity pool and a large sea-facing garden. Fill the days with paddle boarding or kayaking and catch the kaleidoscopic sunsets every evening from the sleek poolside bar.

It's getting harder to find in Thailand, but in the Natai Beach area the landscape remains rural and people lead a quiet, traditional way of life.  Natai – whose soft, white, virtually deserted sands stretch for 10 kilometres along the shores of the Andaman Sea – lies in the south-west of Phang Nga province, just over the bridge from Phuket.  Even at the height of the season there are just a sprinkling of people on the beach, and absolutely no commercial activity.  The rickety old pier that you can see from the villa is probably 100 or more years old, once a launching point for transporting tin (the main industry in the region before tourism).

You can drive for miles along the road that runs parallel to the beach, and at one point you'll reach a public pier where, in the late afternoon, the locals come to relax while fruit and snack vendors set up their stalls.  If you're on the search for dining outside the villa, you could try the well-regarded Aleenta resort or the Iniala resort. Otherwise, the villa manager can direct you to some of the excellent local seafood restaurants where you'll get to sample some authentic Thai flavours.

The nearest town is Kokkloy, about five kilometres away, where you can find basic provisions and banking services.  It's a typical Thai town, lined with shop-houses, that so far remains free of any tourist activity.  Those wishing to indulge in some golf, shopping or sightseeing can drive over the bridge to Phuket.  It takes about an hour by car to reach the main resort areas and Phuket City.  For diving and snorkelling, day trips to the Similan islands may be arranged, with boats launching from Khao Lak, about 45 kilometres to the north (mid-October to mid-May only).