Villa Takali

Villa Takali is a private beachfront estate at Pacific Harbour on Fiji's main island, let to one party at a time. Two and a half acres, five suites, sixty five metres of sand at the bottom of the lawn, and a full resident staff. There is no reception, no other guests, and nothing shared with anybody. For the length of your stay the whole place is yours.

The house was built as a home rather than as a rental, which is why it is laid out the way it is. Five separate buildings under deep thatched roofs, connected by a colonnade, arranged around a twenty five metre infinity pool that runs towards the ocean. Ten thousand square feet of it. Heavy dark timber, white plaster, lily ponds, frangipani and coconut palms. Everything opens. The sun sets over the water in front of you.

Guests tend to describe the same thing: a group large enough to want its own corners, and a property big enough to give everybody one. People read in the library, swim, take the far end of the beach, and reconvene for dinner.

THE STAFF

Tukini has run Villa Takali for years and is the reason a great many guests come back. He meets you, arranges everything from the shark dive to the birthday cake, and makes the cocktails that appear in more reviews than almost anything else. Iva looks after the house. Ben is the chef.

EATING

Ben cooks whatever you feel like. There is no menu to commit to before you arrive and no schedule to keep once you are here. You say what you want the night before and it appears: three meals a day with canapes and afternoon tea, or dinner only, or a packed lunch for the boat and nothing else. Breakfast is cooked to order in the sunken dining area. Guests keep coming back to the Eggs Benedict.

Ask for the lovo night and the staff put the whole evening together at the house. Kava opens it, the drink that accompanies almost every Fijian welcome. Then a meke, which is storytelling danced and sung. Then the lovo itself, cooked in the ground over hot stones and lifted out in front of you. The lovo costs nothing extra.

Ben will be in touch before you travel to talk about what you like, what you cannot eat, and what the children will actually touch. Every dietary requirement is catered for. There are degustation menus too, and a bonfire barbecue on the sand, neither of which costs extra.

The bar is stocked and staffed. Non-alcoholic drinks are included in the rate. Alcohol is charged on consumption at close to wholesale, and since there is no facility for cash on the estate, a bar deposit is taken at booking and the unused portion is refunded after you leave.

Meals and the chef are charged per person per day, at a set rate for adults and a reduced rate for children.

WHERE EVERYBODY SLEEPS

Five suites, six bathrooms, fourteen guests.

Master Suite. Approximately 185 m² in exclusive use. Super king bed under thirty foot ceilings, ocean views on three sides, a private walled garden with a six person jacuzzi, and its own lounge. The bathroom has an infinity tub, a walk in shower and dual vanities. A sofa takes a child, and the dressing room is large enough, and air conditioned enough, to take a cot.

Upper Suite. Approximately 60 m². Super king, living area, and a panoramic balcony over the estate and the ocean.

Lower Suite. Approximately 81 m². The same layout as the Upper Suite but at ground level, walking straight out to the ocean, with a private walled lounging area and an outdoor shower.

Centre Suite. Approximately 46 m². Super king, or two twins if you prefer, with its own staircase and a balcony over the whole property.

Teenagers' Suite. Approximately 53 m². Four bunks and a trundle sofa bed, sleeping up to six, with dual vanities and floor to ceiling glass onto a private outdoor shower. It sits in its own building, which is the point: it suits teenagers who want to be away from the adults, and younger children who have an older cousin or a nanny with them.

Extra children can usually be accommodated on rollaway beds, and a cot is available. Tell us who is coming and we will work it out before you arrive.

THE REST OF THE ESTATE

A twenty five metre infinity pool with a hot tub. A floodlit multi use court for tennis and basketball. A putting green. A cinema with a one hundred and twenty inch screen and a library of over eight hundred films, which earns its keep on a wet afternoon. A fire pit on the sand. Sonos through the main areas, with music and television in every bedroom.

The sea in front of the house is calm, sandy bottomed and almost always empty. There is a two person sea kayak and a stand up paddle board on site, and a small reef within paddling distance for snorkelling.

Pacific Harbour is the adventure end of Fiji. The Beqa Lagoon shark dive goes out from a few minutes down the road, and there is white water rafting on the Navua River, zip lining, waterfalls, island barbecue trips, and an eighteen hole Robert Trent Jones Jnr golf course five minutes down the road. Tukini books all of it.

GETTING HERE

Villa Takali is two and a half hours and 140 km from Nadi International, and forty minutes and 40 km from Suva. Return airport transfers are included in the rate.

There is a helipad and a runway three minutes from the estate, so the journey from Nadi can be done in twenty minutes by air if you would rather not drive.

The estate sits inside a gated community with twenty four hour security, next to Nanuku Resort, though Villa Takali is entirely separate from it and privately owned.

WHAT IS INCLUDED

The rate covers the whole estate for up to fourteen guests, all taxes, return airport transfers, the resident staff, daily housekeeping with an evening turn down, laundry, high speed wifi throughout, air conditioning and ceiling fans throughout, in room safes, non-alcoholic drinks, and the use of everything on the property.

Not included: meals and the chef, charged per person per day at a set rate for adults and a reduced rate for children, and alcohol, charged on consumption.

Smaller parties, longer stays and quieter months cost less.

Three nights minimum.

No pets. Smoking outside only.