While the house has some of the characteristics of the grande old dame up the road — travertine marble bathrooms, polished staff in slick uniforms, outdoor furniture designed by Francis Sultana and a curvaceous pool that perfectly reflects three stately old Mediterranean stone pines — it was designed to be different. According to Philippe Perd, Hôtel du Cap’s managing director, who helped with the conception of the villa, it was made to be “the very antithesis of it. We wanted somewhere authentic, classic, Provençal — very discreet. Somewhere an actress could come with her whole family, or a CEO hold a board meeting in style. A place that didn’t shout but was polished in every way”.

From the outside, the six-bedroom main house and its three-bedroom cottage look like many a typical Provençal farmhouse, with rough stone walls and terracotta roof tiles. But inside every space and detail has been carefully reconfigured to create the most unpretentious and dreamy family holiday home.

There are 207 original contemporary pieces of art in the villa

There are six bedrooms in the main house

The interiors have been styled by Countess Douglas

No expense was spared, Perd says, admitting that the windows alone set them back half a million euros. The interiors, created by Countess Douglas (a member of the Oetker family), are pared back but in the most sumptuous way possible. Curtains, of the loveliest linens, are embroidered; cushions are fashioned from fine silks; elegant light fittings are by Porta Romana, some fitted with alabaster shades; the walls have creamy natural-lime finishes; and the floors are polished Périgord stone.

And then there’s the art. Each of the 207 original contemporary pieces, Perd says, was personally chosen by the countess’s art consultant daughter Marie-Catherine Douglas so there are no quaint Provençal artworks here. Instead, in the living room a trio of Takashi Murakami pumpkins hang next to a quartet of Ugo Rondinone neon etchings. In the bedrooms clever riffs on David Hockney’s Splash paintings reflect the blues of bespoke rugs by Vandra and Tim Page. Above the hand-beaten tin-topped bar hangs a giant lemon slice in shiny resin by Frank Brechter. It’s like you’re in the most tasteful modern art gallery imaginable but can sleep in it too.

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As you get the entire place to yourself, you can dictate precisely how you want to live, with whom and what you want to eat at whatever time of day, whether that’s a giant mille-feuille with raspberries for breakfast or lobsters barbecued over wood at midnight. There’s a wine cellar that can be filled with bottles of your choice (and opened with the hotel’s sommelier, if you want to learn from a master). A new underground spa and cinema have been dug out beneath the villa so 12 of you can put your feet up and watch any film you fancy. Or when it’s cooler in winter (unlike the hotel, this house is open all year) you can saunter down and have a sauna before breakfast or perhaps a massage or facial from a Dior-trained therapist.

Alternatively, as one family did this summer you can take over Villa La Guettière for three weeks, bring your own staff, treat it as a private fiefdom and try to escape what Somerset Maugham called “a sunny place for shady people”. All you’ll need is access to a well-stocked bank account: it’s €64,000 (£55,400) a night (excluding food, wine and activities), with a minimum booking of one week. And if you get bored with your own friends and family you can nip up to the grand hotel for some entertaining people-watching. Fitzgerald, I suspect, would have approved. Lisa Grainger

oetkercollection.com

Villa Caldera, Santorini, Greece

Villa Caldera is perched high on the rim of the crater of Santorini

The view from the volcanic cliffs of Santorini ranks among the most spectacular in the Mediterranean. When the island erupted about 3,600 years ago, its centre sank and the largest of the fragmented walls of the caldera became the croissant-shaped town of Thera.

That eruption devastated the Minoan civilisation and is a possible source of the myth of Atlantis. Today a civilisation that is in its advanced Instagram age has turned Santorini into a Greek icon. Cruise ship passengers gawp up at the dazzling whitewashed villages clinging to the cliffs, while those on land look down from their plunge pool eyries or preen for TikTok.

Returning for the first time in almost 40 years I was astonished to see how the tourist accommodation has spread like lava, joining up the major settlements, which were still just about recognisable as fishing villages back then, and filling every corner of the island with Airbnbs.

With its garden and large pool, Villa Caldera is an oasis of elegant luxury

Villa Caldera, however, is a haven perched high on the rim of the crater, from where you can gaze towards the other islands and along the steep-sided whaleback of a promontory to the village of Oia, where the hordes gather at sunset.

This is a bling-free house and so much classier than the newer white boxes and ersatz cave dwellings that are its neighbours. Built 30 years ago by a Texan industrialist, the whitewashed double-storey house is managed by Mandarin Oriental as part of its growing Exceptional Homes portfolio. With its wooden shutters and garden of mature trees, cacti and vines around a large pool, it is an oasis of elegant luxury.

The house sleeps eight in four en suite bedrooms and has two floors of living space, plus a level with a dining area and then another level with a heated pool, loungers and a covered terrace, which is making me crave a book nap just thinking about it. It also offers a sauna, hammam, gym, TV den and a variety of indoor and outdoor sitting spaces. The owner of the villa is Greek and has filled it with art from the foundation of the Greek-French painter and sculptor Constantin Andreou and stylish modern furniture.

There are four en suite bedrooms in the villa, each filled with an extensive art collection

A clifftop path passes the garden, which is handy for early evening strolls, but does mean that lying by the pool isn’t private. Next door is a venue that hosted three weddings during the four days we were there. But, hey, you don’t come to Santorini expecting seclusion.

The rental includes a concierge service, a villa manager, daily housekeeping and breakfast prepared by a chef who can be hired for further meals. The food is fine but with so many excellent restaurants nearby you will want to eat out. Try the moussaka and lamb shoulder at Metaxi Mas, a popular traditional restaurant, and the fish tacos with a glass of terrific white at Vassaltis, a local vineyard with a dynamic owner.

But be sure to be on the villa’s roof terrace at sunset for cocktails, sea bream canapés and a fiery end to the day that is dramatic, even by the standards of the country that invented the word. Damian Whitworth

Villa Caldera costs from €3,520 (£3,050) a night and sleeps eight, mandarinoriental.com

Ultima Corfu

The Ultima Corfu villa has an infinity pool overlooking Corfu’s northeastern coast

JACOB ELWOOD

As you approach the rocky shoreline of Nisaki on Corfu’s northeastern coast by boat, tiered gardens spiked with cypress trees lead the eye up to the Ultima Corfu villa high above. Gerald Durrell wrote his Corfu Trilogy about his childhood years in the 1930s a little further along the coast in a lush landscape just like this one, although now the swallows swoop over infinity pools rather than herby scrub.

The panoramic views from here have been enjoyed by visitors for centuries. Just south across the Ionian Sea lies Corfu’s old town and the fortress the Venetians built there in the 16th century, then defended against Ottoman invasion in 1716. Looking across the water from your table at dinner, the distant twinkling might almost be torchlight.

All six suites have doors onto the sprawling outdoor terrace and sea views

JACOB ELWOOD

The interiors are comfortable and uncluttered

JACOB ELWOOD

These days the boats crossing the water below are heading to the snorkelling spots, pebble beaches and waterfront tavernas dotted along the coast. About 45 minutes from the airport by car, the house is the first in Greece from the Ultima Collection, which owns a selection of villas, chalets and hotels across Gstaad, Courchevel and Cannes. This one is at the most intimate end of its spectrum (what Ultima calls “barefoot”, although that wouldn’t be my definition of it).

It’s certainly unpretentious but it comes with daily housekeeping and is fully staffed with a house manager, chef, butler and spa therapist who make it their business to spoil you. While you’re being served champagne on arrival, your bags are being unpacked in the dressing rooms. After an impromptu dawn swim in the Ionian you’ll find a towel and robe waiting for you on the dock. If you fancy a massage or doing some exercise, a masseuse, yoga and Pilates instructor can come for sessions in the compact gym-with-a-view, as can helpers to assist with childcare.

Six suites — all doubles with en suite bathrooms, all with doors onto the sprawling outdoor terrace and those views — flow horizontally across the main house and a guesthouse. The interiors are comfortable and uncluttered, with natural wood and stone that echo the contemporary architecture, plus a grand piano. It’s ideal for multigenerational family groups to congregate by the stepped swimming pools, on the oversized sofas under the vaulted ceiling of the main room and in the cinema room.

There are tucked-away terraces for sunbathing in seclusion

JACOB ELWOOD

The mosaic-tiled hammam

JACOB ELWOOD

But there are also pockets of seclusion: tucked-away terraces for sunbathing or morning savasana under a pergola heavy with wisteria; a mosaic-tiled hammam; a hot tub tucked discreetly up the path from the primary suite (which has a bath with a view too).

Those who fancy it can join the chef in the kitchen for a class and roll their own pasta (I didn’t, which is probably why it was so good). Local and seasonal ingredients are featured in many of the dishes although menus are customisable, as is the wine cellar. We had a Greek roast cooked outside on the grill one night, an ornate tasting menu the next and seafood served between swims off the back of a boat on a private yacht day, hopping between secluded little coves for snorkelling and scuba diving, and a delicious Greek-style picnic during an afternoon’s exploration on horseback. Plus there’s the old town to potter about in and the house manager’s little black book of the best tavernas and local boutiques to explore.

But that’s only for guests who want to venture out. In a villa like this I wasn’t surprised to hear that just as many of them prefer to stay at home. Charlie Gowans-Eglinton

Ultima Corfu costs from €75,000 (£65,000) per week for up to 12, ultimacollection.com