Make these places your home away from home on the island
After a few tough years, starting with the Easter bombings in 2019, followed by COVID, and then an economic crisis, Sri Lanka is back in a big way and near the top of everyone’s travel list right now. Visitor numbers have recovered quickly and 2024 is set to a bumper year for Sri Lankan tourism. So, if you’re planning your own trip to this little island (it’s 25% smaller than Scotland!) then you’ll be looking out for the best hotels in Sri Lanka.
We went on a three-week trip there in January 2024, starting in Colombo (sadly, our honest take is to skip it entirely), and then up to the ancient city of Polonnaruwa. From there, some serious R&R at Santani Wellness in Kandy, followed by the tea country around Ella, before finally hitting the south coast, with its long white sand beaches and swaying palm trees. We stayed at some excellent places along the way, so without further ado, here’s our round up of the very best hotels in Sri Lanka.
Amangalla
Amangalla is located on Sri Lanka’s south coast in the 17th century Dutch fort town of Galle, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Originally built as a private residence by the Dutch East India company way back in 1684, the building was home to the famed New Oriental Hotel from 1863, until Aman took over it over and opened Amangalla in 2004. As you’d expect from an Aman hotel, it’s a beautiful property with lots of original historical features and antiques. In the rear garden there’s a huge pool and daybeds, as well as a yoga pavilion and spa.
Our top tip is to take the free morning yoga class, followed by a swim, and then ask for breakfast on the poolside terrace – you’ll likely have it all to yourself. For dinner, we feasted on Jaffna crab curry, fish cutlets, okra curry, dahl, beetroot, and yellow rice. It’s worth straying from the local cuisine daily at 3pm, however, for afternoon tea, with genuinely phenomenal scones and a locally made strawberry jam. The restaurant is open to outside guests too, so it’s possible to pop by for a meal even if you’re just visiting Galle for the day.
Malabar Hill
Malabar Hill is located about 10 minutes inland from the coastal town of Weligama, on a 33-acre hilltop site that used to be a cinnamon plantation. In all honesty, Weligama wasn’t exactly our favourite bit of Sri Lanka, but it’s very much worth stopping off here for a couple of days if you can stay at Malabar Hill, as it’s a totally different world to the slightly chaotic beachside town. Just a few minutes out of town, the traffic dies down and you are suddenly driving through lush green rice paddy fields, and a sharp turn up a hill through thick forest brings you to Malabar Hill. Perched high up, it has some incredible views, an amazing 30 metre infinity pool, an open-air restaurant serving very decent food and just 15 rooms, all of which are standalone villas spread out across the crest of the hilltop, featuring private terraces with salt-water chlorinated infinity pools.
Read the full review here.
Anantara Peace Haven Tangalle
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. About three hours 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 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. The regular rooms are housed in several low-rise buildings that are spread throughout the gardens; 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. Around the hotel, there’s two huge pools, a semi-private beach, several
restaurants and an excellent Ayurvedic spa.
Read the full review here.
Eden Villas, Walatta House
We booked a couple of nights in a beautiful coastal home called Walatta House via Eden Villas and it made for the perfect break in between hotel stops. Eden Villas has a huge portfolio of luxury villas in Sri Lanka, from lakeside hideaways to modernist hilltop villas and ultra-glamorous beach houses. Each villa comes with a small team of staff, including a private chef, so you get all the benefits of hotel service but within your own private home with no other guests. Walatta House is located on the south coast, about 10 minutes from the town of Tangalle. It’s a beautiful modernist villa right by the sea, with an open-air main living area filled with tropical plants. On one side are three bedrooms, with the main master bedroom having fold-out glass doors that lead out to the gardens, where there’s a great pool and sun loungers. Follow a path down the slope from the garden and see a private gate that goes directly on to a beautiful beach. It’s one of the best beaches we saw in Sri Lanka, so to have it on your doorstep is a real plus.
Read the full review here.
Nine Skies
Nine Skies, located in Demodara just outside of Ella, is part of the Teardrop family of hotels, a collection of very small, charming properties found across Sri Lanka. Set on a working tea plantation, Nine Skies is in what would have been the old plantation manager’s bungalow and is over 100 years old. The property has retained the feel of a private house, with just five bedrooms, a small lounge with honesty drinks cabinet, veranda, plush gardens, and swimming pool. Nine Skies is well enough placed for a visit to Ella, to ride the train and for hikes, but it’s nicely off the beaten track too. There’s lots of books to enjoy, free bikes, phones to guide you across the different plantation trails, board games, and plentiful photography opportunities – so bed down and make this your home away from home in Ella.
Read the full review here.
Santani Wellness Kandy
Santani Wellness is Sri Lanka’s only purpose-built, fully-fledged destination spa and wellness retreat, located in the rural hills outside Kandy. Santani’s spa is at the heart of the experience, with a yoga pavilion, four open-air treatment rooms that look out on to paddy fields, a cedar wood sauna, a steam room, and a small thermal salt pool. There’s also a stunning, Insta-ready infinity pool just away from the spa complex. Go for one of the Mountain View Rooms – each one juts out into the landscape and has its own peaceful private terrace from which to admire the views. Inside, it’s all polished concrete and comfy fixtures, including a lounge area, a four-poster bed, and a rainforest shower. Food is excellent too and we loved both the traditional Sri Lankan dishes and the modern Sri Lankan seven-course tasting menu we had on one of the nights. Despite the ‘wellness’ tag, Santani is just as suitable for a few days relaxing as it is for someone who wants to indulge in one of its full-on wellness programmes, so we can highly recommend it for everyone.
EKHO Lake House
If you’re planning on visiting the ancient city of Polonnaruwa (and we recommend that you do), then the absolute best place to stay is EKHO Lake House. It’s the only real luxury option in the area (the Queen Mother once stayed here so if it’s good enough for her…) and has a lovely, peaceful location right on the lake, with many of the rooms having waterside semi-private gardens. Right next door is the Archaeological Museum, which also serves as the ticket office for the main ancient city complex – so make sure you head here first instead of going all the way to the main entrance without a ticket like we did! Everyone will also tell you that it’s cash only when buying tickets, but as of January 2024 they are now accepting credit cards. Once you’ve got that all sorted, the main entrance to the ruins (the city used to be the ancient capital of Sri Lanka 1000 years ago) is just a quick walk up the road. You can hire a bike from a guy opposite and then cycle around some very impressive ancient ruins and temples – arrive early at 8 or 9am and you’ll miss most of the crowds that arrive later.