Anantara Peace Haven Tangalle is one of Sri Lanka’s premier beach resorts, with a picturesque location on the site of an old coconut plantation on the island’s wild southern coast
About three hours drive from Colombo airport, and 10 minutes outside the closest town, Tangalle, it’s a bit of extra effort to get to compared to the beach destinations closer to the capital but it’s definitely worth the journey. It really is a lot quieter down this end of the island with fewer hotels and fewer tourists, so if you’re looking for more of a peaceful, relaxing destination then Tangalle is just the ticket.
Anantara is the biggest hotel in the area, with 120 rooms plus 32 villas, but it’s spread over a large enough site that it still feels spacious. On arrival, a long driveway takes you away from the road leading into the lobby, an open-air teak pavilion fronted by a reflection pool with cloistered walkways on either side. A lounge area gives you the first view of the hotel grounds, with two huge swimming pools below and the coconut trees, beach and sea just beyond it.
The regular rooms are housed in several low-rise buildings that are spread throughout the gardens, with many featuring balconies and ocean views. They are smart, modern and comfortable and should be more than enough to keep most travellers happy. If you can stretch to it, however, we would absolutely recommend going for one of the private villas, as it offers a totally different experience.
After check in we were whisked to our villa in one of the electric tuk tuks that zip about the site. The villas are all located on the furthest reaches of the property so you already feel more peaceful away from the hustle of the main public areas, and each one has a huge living space as well as outdoor deck with its own plunge pool and sun loungers. From ours we could even glimpse the ocean and the waves crashing on to the sandy beach. The surrounding trees are a magnet for wildlife too and we had several visits from monkeys, peacocks and kingfishers during our stay.
Inside the room, it’s a nice mix of modern and traditional Sri Lankan design, with high vaulted ceilings, wicker armchairs, chunky wooden chests and tables, and local artworks contrasting with the smooth polished concrete floor and whitewashed walls. We also loved the window reading seat, piled high with cushions – the perfect spot for an afternoon cup of tea. The bathroom is almost as big as the main room, with a large walk-in closet, rainforest shower, double sink, and freestanding tub. The bathroom has its own direct access to the outdoor terrace too, so you can get straight from the pool to the shower. They really are fantastic rooms and, with the option of very efficient room service, you could easily spend a very relaxed day entirely in the villa.
There’s plenty to do around the hotel however. The long sandy beach is seconds away from most rooms and although the sea is a bit rough to swim in sometimes, it’s great for surfing or just chilling on one of the many sun loungers. Elsewhere there’s tennis courts, pool tables, a gym, kids club, and those two huge swimming pools; these do get pretty busy but if you head over for a swim before breakfast you’ll likely have the place to yourself. We particularly loved the open-air yoga pavilion which hosts two free classes a day, in the morning and the afternoon.
Speaking of such things, Anantara has a huge Ayurvedic Spa, which is one of the key features of the hotel. Multi-day wellness programmes are offered for longer stays but you can also choose individual treatments, which start with a free consultation with the resident Ayurvedic doctor. After an assessment they will recommend specific treatments at the spa and we also came away with a long shopping list of oils and powders to help alleviate our aches and pains. The therapists and treatments at the spa are fantastic, probably the best we had in Sri Lanka, so it’s well worth indulging in at least one traditional massage during your stay.
As you might imagine from a hotel of this size, there’s a fair few restaurants to choose from too, including the Italian restaurant Il Mare, perched high on a clifftop; the buffet restaurant Journeys; the Poolside Bar; and our favourite, Verala, which serves Sri Lankan and Japanese dishes from an open-air wooden dome right by the beach. There’s everything from sushi to Thai noodles on offer but we rated the fresh fish and vegetable Sri Lankan curries and kottu roti the best.
Breakfast is served at the largest restaurant, Journeys, and is a buffet-style affair with a huge array of global cuisines on offer from different stations. There’s one chef turning out eggs and omelettes; another cooking up hoppers and dosas; and even a dedicated juice station blending fresh juices to order. In between there’s piles of rice, curries, breads, cheese, meats pastries, fruit and even cakes – basically anything you could ever want.
As you can tell, there’s a huge amount to do (and eat) at Anantara and it would be easy to check in and not leave the property again until you check out (we suspect many do just that). There’s some good exploring to be done locally however, including the nearby Silent Beach, and some cute little beach shack restaurants such as the Cactus Lounge. Tangalle itself isn’t much to write home about but useful for a potter into town if you need supplies or an ATM.
We really enjoyed our stay at Anantara. It’s a beautiful location and although it’s a big hotel with a lot of guests, the size, design and atmosphere is kept pretty low-key and relaxed throughout. We really appreciated the quiet local area too, especially when compared to some of the busier places we visited closer to Colombo. So, if you’re after some serious relaxation time in Sri Lanka, there are few better places to rest your head than Anantara Peace Haven – the clue’s in the name after all.
Goyambokka Estate, Tangalle
anantara.com