Mexico

We had flown into the tiny airport at Manzanillo swooping low, the runway almost an extension of the beach. Picked up by the estate's smart silver 4x4, we cruised through dusty Mexican towns, following the coast road north along the rugged Costa Alegre. An unmarked drive past a security checkpoint took us on to a dirt track and through a tangle of thick vegetation. And then there we were. The estate's manager, Maria, wearing a cool, flowing kaftan (available at Cuixmala's boutique), introduced us with a warm smile to Casa Alborada's staff, Pedro, Tita and Imelda, who were waiting to greet us with cold cloths and jugs of freshly made hibiscus juice. Sinking into the deep pink Moroccan-inspired day beds, we tried to take it all in.

Bedded into the hillside, all the rooms open on to a series of terraces, the pool - and the jaw-dropping view. The bedrooms, in contrast to the warm tones used outside, are startlingly white - white polished floors, walls and ceilings and built-in bed base and headboard. On to this pure canvas a shock of colour has been splashed; a deep blue bedspread in one, soft pink floral in another. The shuttered windows and doors a vivid cobalt. Style-wise it's an exotic mix of Moroccan and Mughal (giant elephant and cow statues, anyone?) and although the terracotta wash feels a little dated, somehow, beneath a harsh Mexican sun, it works.

The other villas cut into the hillside are Casa Puma, Casa Torre and Alix and Goffredo's house. All slightly different in style - Puma is more traditionally Mexican, Torre is currently under renovation with a stunning new infinity pool - what they all have in common is the view. A green sweep of forest flows towards the ocean - and silhouetted against the horizon, Sir James Goldsmith's clifftop retreat, La Loma, a bizarre blue and gold-domed Moorish extravaganza.(...)

Taking us on a tour of the estate, Maria pointed out the huge crocodiles lounging by the lagoon (native) and zebra (not) as we headed down to La Loma. "Laure had a whim for exotic wildlife," Maria explained. "Sir James imported three zebra; now there's a whole herd." This wild, untrammelled land is also home to endangered jaguar, puma, deer and rattlesnakes.

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