Mr & Mrs Smith

The Wallawwa

Colombo, Sri Lanka

The short jaunt to the airport may be handy, but The Wallawwa boutique hotel near Colombo is so much more than a pre- or post-flight crash pad. Basking in its pindrop-peaceful rural setting and lovingly tended tropical gardens, the Wallawwa is a super-sensitive restoration of a 200-year-old manor house, where graceful original features have been spiced up with luxuriant interiors and a lush-as-you-like spa.

Need to know

• Rooms 14, including 12 suites.
• Rates Double rooms from $160.00, excluding tax at 26.71 per cent.
  Prices have been converted from the hotel's local currency ($160), via XE.com, using today's exchange rate.
• More details Rates include à la carte breakfast.
• Facilities Z Spa, two-acre garden, library, shop, free WiFi in public areas. In rooms: flatscreen satellite TV, DVD player (on request), games and local-brand toiletries.
• Poolside The stone-lined 16m pool is encircled by tropical trees and shrubs, and hidden out of sight of the hotel. There’s a shallow chill-out ledge and a grass and gravel terrace lined with cushioned loungers.
• Check-out Noon, but flexible subject to availability. Late check-outs up to 6pm are charged at 50 per cent of the nightly rate. Check-in, 2pm.
• Children Baby cots are free for kids aged under two. The window seat in the Garden Suite can sleep under-12s for US$30 a child a night, including breakfast. More...
• Eco-friendly Fresh water is pumped from the garden’s wells, and solar power is used.
• Also Book yourself in to the hotel’s Z Spa for a jetlag reviver. The coconut or sandalwood scrubs and sigh-inducing wraps work wonders for travel-weary bodies.

Food and drink at The Wallawwa

• Hotel restaurant Make a beeline for the Veranda for breakfast, all-day dishes and à la carte supper menus. This striped-walled space is filled with smart rattan furniture that spills onto a frangipani-shaded terrace. Cuisine is international with an Asian twist, and vegetarians won’t have any quibbles with the range on offer. Sri Lankan curries are a must – try the coconut and mustard seer fish or the cashew and green pea curry.
  
• Dress code Laid-back loungewear – anything from Mela Purdie should do the trick.
• Top table Lawnside tables on the sienna-stoned terrace are open to the skies, but for a real rush of romance, have your table prepped in the garden.
• Last orders Around 10.30pm for food, but fairly flexible (with advance notice) to accommodate late flight arrivals. Guests snooze early here, and the bar shuts at around 10.30pm.
• Room service The all-day menu is available 24/7, but for overnight orders when the kitchen’s closed, requests must be made the evening before.
• Hotel bar A roving bar serves tipples on the veranda, in the rooms or in the gardens until 10.30pm or when the last guest shuffles off to sleep.
  

Also worth knowing

• Weddings This property is suitable for weddings. More...

The Wallawwa Minuwangoda Road, Kotugoda, Katunayake, near Ja-Ela and Bandaranaike Airport, Colombo