Please check the latest travel guidance before making your journey. Note that our writers visited these hotels prior to the coronavirus pandemic.
For romantics looking to combine relaxation, adventure, culture and wildlife, Sri Lanka is a winning destination. Our guide includes tucked-away pavilions with pools within reach of the Cultural Triangle’s World Heritage Sites, clifftop suites with 180-degree westerly facing Indian Ocean views, and grass-roofed suites in a sustainably focused hotel beside a vast cinnamon-fringed lake. Many have child-restrictive booking conditions and offer well-conceived experiences such as scenic picnics, cookery demonstrations, private boat trips, spa treatments-for-two and seaside sundowners. Whether you’re heading over for an intimate break or a honeymoon, here’s our pick of the most romantic hotels in Sri Lanka.
Ulagalla
Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka
A group of 20 chalets within 58 acres of private grounds is the setting for this superb eco-friendly hotel near Anaradhapura. A century-old pillared manor house – once the most important noble seat of the region – is at the heart of the hotel and infuses it with a sense of history. Beautifully renovated, it houses the lobby, restaurant and bar, and overlooks a pool and landscaped lawns peppered with mature trees presided over by a troupe of playful grey langur monkeys. Food is excellent and for a small charge, you can dine by the pool, atop an observation deck (also a great place for sunset cocktails) and in a wooded clearing amidst the rice fields.
From
£
168
per night
Rates provided by
Booking.com
Saman Villas
Bentota, Sri Lanka
Saman Villas’ setting – a sea-splashed rocky promontory in Bentota with far-reaching coastal and ocean views – is a country standout. Everything at this hotel is geared to romance and relaxation: think private dining, highly personalised service, roomy suites and a lovely spa. Designed by Jeevaka de Zoysa, a student of Geoffrey Bawa, the hotel is reminiscent of traditional Sri Lankan temple design. This is, and always has been, a sanctuary for honeymooners. Relax on sun loungers in the lush gardens eyeing the heart-stopping sea views or beside the Art Deco-styled pool – a true infinity pool – which gazes all the way up the coastline to Bentota.
From
£
302
per night
Rates provided by
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Kahanda Kanda
Galle, Sri Lanka
Kahanda Kanda is an artistically styled and couples-orientated boutique hotel in the Galle hills. Designed in corroboration with Australian architect Bruce Fell-Smith, nearly all of the rooms are freestanding villas, and the monotone-hued living and dining pavilions, richly decorated with coffee table books, artwork and artefacts from across Asia, are open to the elements to maximise the views and breezes. Its interiors are a lesson in elegant tropical style – timeless yet contemporary at the same time. Three villas have their own pools – tea-fringed Hibiscus offers far-reaching estate views whilst Dubu, a very private, antique Javanese joglo-for-two, is Sri Lanka’s most heavenly honeymoon haven.
From
£
145
per night
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Amanwella
Tangalle, Hambantota District, Sri Lanka
Amanwella’s pristine banana-shaped bay is easily one of Sri Lanka’s most scenic. Despite occupying a long beachfront, this contemporary hotel has just 27 suites, which are so spacious and serene that guests are rarely seen around the resort, whose tropical minimalism remains faithful to Aman’s philosophy of barefoot luxury. The main restaurant is a simple, pavilion-style building adjacent to the bar and the two share a terrace, which basks in superb sunset bay-view panoramas every evening. Private dining is also possible; choose from the beach club (which is usually open only for casual lunches), the palm grove or the beach.
From
£
590
per night
Rates provided by
Mr & Mrs Smith
Taru Villas – The Muse
Bentota, Sri Lanka
A relaxing villa-style hotel that’s one of only a handful of properties on Mawella Beach, a quiet and undeveloped coastal stretch near south coast Tangalle. The atmosphere is homely, convivial and inclusive; the lounge and dining area encourage conversation, although most rooms have private terraces for stealing away. Birds, monitor lizards, squirrels and monkeys visit the garden. The best room to book is the spacious master suite, with an ocean-facing bed and walled courtyard with plunge pool. The restaurant serves modern international cuisine sprinkled with Sri Lankan dishes and local flavour infusions.
From
£
239
per night
Rates provided by
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Wild Coast Tented Lodge
Yala, Sri Lanka
A chic safari lodge on the cusp of leopard-dense Yala National Park. Wild Coast was masterminded by Nomadic Resorts, an international team of designers who innovated the 28 caterpillar-like Cocoon tents where guests sleep. The vintage safari theme is gorgeous – plush leather furnishings, slender copper fittings, teak floors, porthole windows and soft-on-your-feet rugs. Inside, the tents are immaculate and spaciously designed with an open-plan sleeping and living area beneath a high-domed roof, and separate canvas-walled cubicles for the toilet and shower. The plush four-poster bed, the vast hand-hewn freestanding bathtub, sinks and fittings are crafted from cool copper.
From
£
566
per night
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Tri
Koggala, Sri Lanka
Tri combines simple, contemporary styling with sustainability, utilising local timber and recycled elements to infuse a sense of location. Its circuitously landscaped gardens melt the entire property into the verdant banks of Koggala Lake. At its heart is a cinnamon-clad water tower with 360-degree vistas and an ancient banyan tree that spreads its shade-giving boughs widely. Rooms are minimalist but luxurious and share superb views of the lake or paddy fields. Most are split-level and reached via staircases so they peep out from different levels of the lushly planted bank. The 21-metre swimming pool cantilevers out towards the lake, and next to it is a bar with deeply recessed lounge beds.
From
£
201
per night
Rates provided by
Mr & Mrs Smith
Thotalagala Plantation House
Haputale, Sri Lanka
A tea planter’s bungalow on the beautiful Dambatenne estate, Thotalagala was previously used by its Sri Lankan owners as a country retreat. With seven splendid bedrooms and a large table for communal dining, it is run along relaxed house party lines, with views that stop tracks. Its great asset is that the simple yet handsome black and white pebbledash house feels authentic, with original features such as fireplaces and panelling and furniture. The suites are divided between the original house and the seamless new wings, their white walls decorated with oil paintings and prints, plus cream rugs on polished wood floors and four-poster beds.
From
£
447
per night
Rates provided by
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Kandy House
Kandy, Sri Lanka
This nine-bedroom former manor house is one of Sri Lanka’s original boutique hotels, carved out of an understated 18th-century abode. Popular with honeymooners thanks to its over 12s policy, it’s surrounded by thick bird-filled jungle and sits just 20 minutes’ drive from Kandy. The Black Rajah room is a favourite for romance since it has a big granite tub-for-two and private terrace. All of the rooms are unique in their own way, decorated with antiques, vintage prints, wood carvings and jewel-hued silks. Evenings can be spent sipping arrack sours from the Art Deco-styled bar below the central courtyard or beneath fairy lights in the garden.
From
£
135
per night
Rates provided by
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Aditya
Galle, Sri Lanka
A chic boutique hotel with 16 subtly different rooms adorned with antiques from across Sri Lanka. Giant puppets from the nearby town of Ambalangoda peer down at you from the ceiling of the main staircase while colour is used to accentuate the many cushioned lounging nooks. The multi-levelled communal areas flow into one another and are open to the modestly sized pool and garden. The hotel overlooks Rathgama Beach, a salmon-orange coastal stretch where local villagers converge at sunset. Most suites are split-level and have king-sized beds and private balconies or verandas with oversized cold water whirlpool bathtubs.
From
£
256
per night
Rates provided by
Booking.com
Contributions by Fiona Duncan
This article was originally published by Telegraph.co.uk. Read the original article here.