When you step inside the house, into the entrance hall, you instantly feel the quality of this holiday villa. The decor is warm, all in gentle reds, rusts, golds and ochres, the tones are of African earth and sunshine.

Pass through double doors into the house proper, to the left is a cloakroom with a wc and a marble- topped hand-basin under a large mirror.

The living area is a vast space with chunky, exposed ceiling beams supporting a high, sloping ceiling. The room is still spacious even with the eight Chesterfield-style sofas arranged around three coffee tables, small occasional tables and two big footstools. A large flatscreen TV sits in one corner. The style of the tables is Moroccan and the artwork complements the furniture, all in Saharan colours and shades of desert sand.

The pool terrace looks out onto the top aspect of the spectacular gardens. It's encircled by eight small eucalytus trees on one side and floral borders on the other. There are four sail-type shades and no less than 14 sunbeds! But the terrace is so big, even with all the loungers, it's uncluttered.

Behind the terrace is a decorative pool which hosts a display of dragonflies. The reflection off this water feature fans out on the wall behind and the whole scene is so pretty you could watch it all afternoon. The chlorinated swimming pool is turquoise, sparkly and inviting with the water being accessed by four shallow steps. The pool terrace has iron gates making it and the garden lakes inaccessible to unsupervised children.

Along with the gentle sounds of the stream and water feature nearby, birdsong adds a special dimension to this peaceful oasis.

The main house has six bedrooms, all with air conditioning and central heating. All the beds are 2m long. Two bedrooms (1 and 2) are situated on the ground floor off the living room, four are downstairs from the living room (3 to 6). Bedrooms 1 and 2 share a bathroom which has a spacious walk-in shower, granite-topped washstand with a brass bowl hand basin, and a separate wc and bidet.

Bedroom 1 is a double bedded room with direct access to the barbecue patio and garden. Bedroom 2 (shown here) is also a double and has an ornate headboard with matching bedside cabinets. Its view is to the outside canna lily border. Both bedrooms have white walls and African artwork, all in warm sandy and orangey tones.

The bar patio is outside the lower floor of the main house and has a jacuzzi and cabaña style beach bar with a fridge freezer, sink and kettle. There's a music iPod system behind the bar, a stone table and four chairs.

There is direct access through French windows from the bar patio, to two downstairs bedrooms 3 and 4. If you walk around the house from this patio, there is another, more formal outdoor dining terrace with seating for 14.

The dining terrace overlooks the pool which, especially when lit at night, provides a beautiful backdrop for any al fresco dining. From the bar patio, 16 steps take you up to the main entrance of the house with its vivid red bougainvillea around the front door.

From the living room, go downstairs eight steps, turn on a landing and down another eight steps to the rest of the bedrooms, the outdoor dining terrace and the bar patio at the end of the corridor.

To the right of the corridor are bedrooms 3 and 4, both twin bedded en suite rooms. Full of light and very inviting, their bathrooms are identical, having a bath tub with a shower over, wc, bidet and basin. Bedroom 3 has direct access to the bar patio through French windows. Bedroom 4 is built on the corner of the house so has access to both the bar patio and the dining terrace. Bedrooms 5 and 6 are on the left of the corridor and both are double en suite rooms. Bedroom 6 has direct access to the dining terrace and garden. Their bathrooms are very similar, both having full bathtubs with shower over, wc, bidet and marble topped washbasins.

From the living room take eight stairs up to a landing and then a further eight stairs to the top of the house, shown here. This is the highest room and has a good quality sofa bed for emergency guests. The sofa faces a big Sony TV and DVD player. As well as being a sleeping area when necessary, this is a sunny and very pleasant chill out zone. It's perfect for some time out from other people, or maybe you want to watch a different film from the rest of the  family downstairs.

Continuing with the decor of the other floors, the room has white walls throughout, cupola style ceiling and exposed wooden beams. A high window above lets sunlight flood in, but it has blackout curtains for a good sleep, or optimal film watching.

The self-contained cottage, a short walk from the main house, sleeps four and is ideal as sleeping accommodation for guests as part of a larger group, perhaps for a wedding or special party. The cottage, while of the same high standard as the main house, is in close proximity to the caretaker's house and shares a small swimming pool with it. Therefore it is only offered as overflow accommodation. One of the bedrooms is on the ground floor, the other is upstairs. There is air conditioning in all rooms, wifi and internet access.

The cottage comprises:

Living room: two two-seater sofas, flatscreen TV with English satellite channels and DVD player. Dining table for 6.

Upstairs bedroom: double bedded (en suite bathroom has shower)

Downstairs bedroom: double bedded (en suite bathroom has shower and twin hand basins)

Kitchen: fridge freezer, microwave, dishwasher, washing machine, electric oven and hob, iron and board

For little ones: 2 high chairs, 3 cots, 4 security gates for the stairs