Mr & Mrs Smith

Casa Colombo

Colombo, Sri Lanka

This jazzed up 200-year-old Moorish mansion in Colombo’s southern Bambalapitiya quarter overloads the senses: hip, hedonistic and highly styled, the design-driven interiors were created by owner Lalin Jinasena, a protégé of the legendary Geoffrey Bawa. Here, personal domos (butler/concierges) tend to your every whim, and a spa and bubblegum-pink pool entice you to relax and unwind.

Need to know

• Rooms 12 suites, including one Royal Suite.
• Rates Double rooms from AU$150.06 ($146), excluding tax at 27 per cent.
  Prices have been converted from the hotel's local currency ($146), via XE.com, using today's exchange rate.
• More details Rates include a full western or Sri Lankan breakfast. There is a peak season supplement (24, 25, 30 and 31 December) of US$75 a person.
• Facilities Free WiFi throughout, library, spa, gym. In rooms: flatscreen TV, CD/DVD player, preloaded iPod, minibar and local toiletries. Corporate and Royal Suites offer business desks with MacBook, scanner and printer.
• Poolside Maximum use is made of a minimal space as a shady mango tree towers over a famously pink swimming pool in the rear courtyard. Curved glass sunloungers, canopied double day-beds and chrome elephant ornaments look on.
• Check-out Noon, but flexible, if a suite's available. Late check-outs until 7pm are charged at 50 per cent of the nightly rate. Earliest check-in, 2pm, or from 7am for 50 per cent of the room rate.
• Children Welcome: cots for tots are supplied for free, although extra beds aren't available for older children. Babysitting can be arranged for US$35 a child an hour, with 48 hours' notice. More...
• Eco-friendly Casa Colombo makes use of eco-savvy waste-water recycling and funds a local orphanage.
• Also An intimate outlet of Spa Ceylon Ayurveda pampers flight-flustered bods and minds. Smoking is only allowed in designated areas.

Food and drink at Casa Colombo

• Hotel restaurant Once the mansion’s grand hall, HVN is now Casa’s main restaurant, serving up a fusion menu of western and Sri Lankan cuisine. Expect dishes such as chicken with ginger and lemongrass, and grilled lobster. A fresco of meditating richis (gurus) dominates one intricately painted wall, with ornate touches including glass tables and a huge antique ceiling fan suspended from the gold-moulded ceiling. For alternative dining spots, check out alfresco ZaZa or T Republic.
  
• Dress code Cool, custom-made clobber to match the hotel’s bespoke surroundings.
• Top table We love the mood at ZaZa, where purple-seated, egg-shaped chairs beside cracked-glass tables overlook the hotel's stunning façade. At night neon uplighting adds rainbow appeal.
• Last orders Feast from early morning until you hit the sack; closing time is when the last guest saunters off to snooze.
• Room service A shortened menu of sandwiches, light bites and desserts can be chomped around the clock.
• Hotel bar Ok, so there’s no bar, but Casa isn’t alcohol free. Either bring your own with you, or the hotel can stock your favourite tipple on your behalf.
  

Also worth knowing

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

Casa Colombo 231 Galle Road Colombo 4, Colombo