Tranquil MesaStila resort in Central Java has activities for all the family

About as central as it's possible to get in Central Java, Indonesia. And, as you'd expect from an alpine wellness retreat, MesaStila is well off the beaten track, being a good 90 minutes' drive from the Semarang, Yogyakarta or Solo airports.

A former coffee plantation set 700 metres above sea level, MesaStila (literally: "tranquil hill") comprises just 23 villas. A Dutch-designed mansion dating from 1928 serves as the clubhouse and the beautifully tended 22 hectares of grounds include enough shrubs to yield seven tonnes of coffee a year. A 19th-century railway station building arrived at the resort on the back of 40 trucks that had brought it, lock, stock and barrel, from Mayong, India, one dark and stormy night in 2001, to do duty as reception.

the villas, newly built but with traditional methods and materials, fall into four categories. Plantation Villas, a sort of deluxe studio, are the smallest, while the Bella Vista takes up an entire compound, and is suited to those who hanker for the delights of butler service and a private swimming pool overlooking mountains and lush rice terraces. Families should fit neatly into the Ambar (above) or Arum villas, which run to two or more bedrooms and include either a veranda or a balcony, from where you can take in the unblemished panoramas. All the accommodation benefits from traditional Javanese decor and antiques while the double beds are swathed in romantic-looking mosquito nets.

Here's a good, if blindingly obvious, idea: the entire chef's brigade were sent packing to their home villages and told to come back with characterful, flavourful recipes that focused on healthy eating. Spurred on by executive chef Arya Kusumaatmaja, the kitchen now produces dishes such as wild mushroom salad, curry crepes filled with vegetables and minced chicken, a low-fat beef rendang, lemon chicken and Surabaya beef broth. There's also a vegan menu and plenty of Western items. That a cornucopia of organic and sustainably derived produce is available not too far outside the resort's gates is an added bonus.