Sigiriya, Sri Lanka

Jetwing Vil Uyana

Price per night from$361.22

Price information

If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (inclusive of taxes and fees) available in the next 60 days.

Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (USD361.22), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

Jetwing Vil Uyana Photos

Style

Wildly successful

Setting

Sustainable Sigiriya sanctuary

Explore

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It’s fitting that immensely eco-friendly Sri Lankan stay Jetwing Vil Uyana is a sanctuary for slow lorises, because on arrival you’ll be as wide-eyed as these rare cuties as you take in the biodiverse terrain (from marshland to lake to forest), embrace close animal encounters (even wild elephants peep in from time to time), and admire Sigriya’s soaring rock fortress in the background. You might serenely shut your eyes for Balinese spa spoiling, but you’ll be awake and alert for cave-temple trips, night safaris and getting tips on how to show the Earth more love through this nurturing nature reserve. 

Smith Extra

Get this when you book through us:

A free ‘loris night trail’ experience

Facilities

Photos Jetwing Vil Uyana facilities

Need to know

Rooms

36 standalone thatched dwellings.

Check–Out

Noon. Earliest check-in, 2pm. Both are flexible, subject to a charge (US$90 for checking in from 8am to 2pm or checking out until 7pm).

More details

Rates don’t include breakfast (US$15 a guest).

Also

Unfortunately the layout of the resort makes it unsuitable for guests with reduced mobility.

At the hotel

Tropical grounds, farm, gym, library with books about Sri Lankan history and architecture, boutique, bikes to borrow for free, charged laundry service, board games, and free WiFi. In rooms: butler and local mobile phone for making contact, TV and DVD player, tea- and coffee-making kit, minibar, bottled water, sarongs and hats, slippers, umbrella, torch, ceiling fan and air-conditioning, and custom bath products. All except the Garden Dwellings have a plunge (or swimmable) pool and Bose sound-system, too.

Our favourite rooms

Your preferred room depends which element you feel most connected to. Each thatch-topped traditionally styled dwelling has a pinch-me view, but the biodiversity here means scenes that are leafy and lacustrine by turn, or beds facing the marshes or paddy fields. The Forest Dwelling has the largest private pool, the Water Dwelling has a stilted overwater balcony, and the Garden Dwelling doesn’t have a pool or sound-system if swimming and playlists are essential to your relaxation routine. And, if you don’t mind a langur monkey swinging into your open-air shower, you’ll have the most animal encounters in the Paddy Dwellings.

Poolside

The infinity pool sits behind the main building overlooking the lake, with loungers by the sides and very leafy views. It’s peaceful, yet bustling with nature, be it nosy peacocks, gliding brahminy kites, maybe even the – friendly – part-resident croc going for a swim (in the lake, not the pool).

Spa

Island Spa (open 8am to 8pm), which is indeed surrounded by a lily-strewn lake, brings in Balinese therapists to impart their homeland’s healing practices, alongside coconutty Sri Lankan body scrubs, Ayurvedic massages, shiatsu, Himalayan salt exfoliation, and spa mani-pedis. It’s set in walkway-connected overwater pavilions, and there’s a steam room, cold-water plunge pool, and Jacuzzi for further unwinding. A gym – with motivating lake views – is open for workouts from 6am to 8pm, and yoga classes can be arranged on request.

Packing tips

Bring binoculars for snooping on shyer creatures, and maybe higher-grade photo equipment than a phone for some hang-on-the-wall holiday snaps. Leave space for spices (grown by a local family), hand-rolled organic tea, home-grown rice, sarongs, stone figurines, and more from the on-site boutique.

Also

If you’re unsure of the correct way to wear the sarong in your dwelling – don’t worry, there’s an instruction leaflet. Or you could ask your butler, who you can call any time on the local mobile phone provided.

Children

Calm, well-behaved older kids are welcome here. There are no dedicated facilities, but they'll enjoy the rambling grounds, family barbecues, spa treatments for smalls, and wild encounters.

Sustainability efforts

This 28-acre private nature reserve is – whisper it – man-made, but you wouldn’t guess. Each of its five habitats teems with life, from rare slow lorises to shy fishing cats to the odd croc, who – aside from native fish species introduced into the lake – have moved in of their own accord. Having this on your doorstep makes for remarkable communions with nature; some creatures may even come right up to your balcony. And these are ongoing efforts, with tree plantings, in-depth research and a Community Wildlife Education Centre and Library built in a local monastery. To ensure harmonious space-sharing, environmental architect Sunela Jayawardena was called in to design the hotel’s pavilions. Their openness cuts back on the need for artificial lighting and ventilation, thatch roofs and clay walls insulate guest-dwellings, and those built over the lake are passively cooled. Water is collected from rainfall and waste is treated on-site, the hotel’s sister property provides glass water bottles from its own plant, and a farm sustains the kitchen. And, alongside buying spices from local suppliers, Jetwing’s Youth Development Project provides free training in hospitality and more to disadvantaged children across the island.

Food and Drink

Photos Jetwing Vil Uyana food and drink

Top Table

A treehouse alcove soundtracked by birdsong, a candlelit picnic on pouffes in the paddy fields, a barbecue on garden lawns, dining à deux in an open-air spa pavilion: Jetwing’s five ecosystems each have their own kind of magic for private meals.

Dress Code

The restaurant’s murals and frescoes will inspire you to dress in luminous gold hues with splashes of sizzling Sri Lankan colour.

Hotel restaurant

Jetwing Vil Uyana’s fine-dining spot Apsara is set in an open vaulted pavilion with a floor-to-ceiling mural depicting an elephant battle, painted by a local artist; but there are lake views (and a glimpse of Sigiriya Fortress) to look at too. Delicately plated dishes are a mix of western, Asian and authentic Sri Lankan flavours, made using homegrown produce or ingredients sourced very close by – think lots of fresh fish and coconutty sweet treats. And, it might look exceedingly grand with its thatched pavilion resting on sturdy red pillars, but Sulang is a more laidback café for light eats and snacks. If you’re taken with the exotic flavours on show here, you can either try the farm lunch experience, where you’ll pick fruits and vegetables to eat in a typical village dwelling on the on-site farm, or learn more each Saturday evening, when executive chef Mahesh invites a local villager down to share some culinary know-how during a live cooking session as you eat.

Hotel bar

Rather than tags and neon scribbles, the Graffiti Bar has a more historic kind of wall decor, with frescoes inspired by those at Sigiriya. It’s intimate, candlelit and set beside a pond adorned with floating blue lotus flowers, so it’s also something of a romantic when it comes to spirit sipping, cocktails in coconuts and arak tastings. Abstainers can try the many high-end Sri Lankan teas on offer (the good stuff that usually gets exported), from cinnamon chai to butterfly pea to a natural tea-bag that looks a lot different from a Tetley. And, to keep nights flowing smoothly, the hotel has a stocked-to-the-rafters wine cellar decorated with repurposed antique railway sleepers, where special meals for two can be held on request.

Last orders

At Apsara, breakfast is from 6.30am to 10.30am, lunch from 12.30pm to 3pm and dine from 7.30pm to 10.30pm. Graffiti Bar stops pouring at 11pm.

Room service

Dine in your dwelling till midnight.

Location

Photos Jetwing Vil Uyana location
Address
Jetwing Vil Uyana
Rangirigama
Sigiriya
21120
Sri Lanka

Jetwing Vil Uyana sits in Sri Lanka’s radiantly green hinterland, surrounded by lakes and tropical lushness, just a 15-minute drive from Sigiriya’s towering Lion rock fortress.

Planes

International travellers will need to land at Colombo’s Bandaranaike International Airport, and then either book the four-hour transfer to the hotel (US$145 each way) or take a half-hour flight to Sigiriya Airport (a 10-minute drive away) with Cinnamon Air.

Trains

Habarana is the nearest station (a half-hour drive), which has connections to Colombo. Transfers can be arranged for US$30 one-way.

Automobiles

Driving in Sri Lanka is possible, but not hassle-free – you’ll need to verify your licence before arrival, stick to the left side of the road, avoid driving at night, and carry ID. It’s easier and not overly expensive to hire a local driver, so you can sit back and enjoy the scenery. But, if you bring hire wheels, there’s a secure carpark on-site. For pootling about the property there's a fleet of golf buggies you can call on when needed.

Other

Make an entrance and touch down on the hotel’s helipad.

Worth getting out of bed for

Set inland, at the heart of Sri Lanka’s cultural triangle, Jetwing Vil Uyana has five distinct habitats to explore, each alive with tropical flora and fauna: emerald gardens, marshland, paddies, lakes and bamboo forest. Borrow one of the hotel’s bikes for a whip round, or wander the more leisurely 1.5-kilometre nature trail to spy crimson rose butterflies, soporific fishing cats, brahminy kites, langur monkeys, and maybe even the odd crocodile or elephant. Perhaps even wilder is the soaring ‘Lion Rock Fortress’ of Sigiriya, a Unesco-protected site from the fifth century, set atop a nearly 200-metre granite pillar; to get a better view climb up neighbouring rock and former monks’ residence Pidurangala, which also has Sri Lanka’s oldest brick Buddha statue tucked into it. They’re not the only high art around here, with Dambulla Rock Temple close by; this sanctuary has been built into an outcrop 160 metres up, and is littered with historic Buddha statues and lined with around 1,500 murals. And, more ancient wonders lie further afield, with dagaba shrines and one of the world’s longest surviving trees at Anuradhapura, and the ruins of an 11th-century Kandyan kingdom at Polonnaruwa. Kandy, a city settled in the 4th century, has a temple dedicated to the Buddha’s tooth alongside floating sacred sites and lush botanical gardens. These ancestral feats of architecture and engineering are matched in spectacle by the wildlife; at Minneriya National Park, ‘the gathering’ sees hundreds of elephants congregate between June and September; dolphins and whales frolic off the eastern coast between March and September; and leopards thrive at Wilpattu National Park to the northwest. On property, Rangirigama Lake is home to around 120 bird species, making the skies a natural theatre, with the resident naturalist as your narrator; and on the loris night trail, you’ll gently trek into the forest to seek out the shy wide-eyed creatures, rarely found elsewhere on the island.

Local restaurants

There are few other eateries in the near vicinity, but you could try the Viewing Gallery (named for its leafy scenery) or Chinese restaurant Lu Lin at sister stay Jetwing Lake (a 30-minute drive away), with its temptingly steamy dumpling baskets and elevated far-Eastern fare.

Reviews

Photos Jetwing Vil Uyana reviews
Ben Lippett

Anonymous review

By Ben Lippett, Tip-sharing top chef

It’s hard to tear your eyes away from the myriad worlds you pass through on the drive from Colombo to Jetwing Vil Uyana. So much of travelling in Sri Lanka is defined by time spent in the car. It’s never boring, with the longest drives averaging three to four precious hours, every minute spent watching the landscape change as you drift out of the hazy smog of Colombo and towards the tropical mist of the Hill Country. The city is electric, it’s full of colour and life, but after a few days we’ve had our fill and it’s time to head to calmer pastures. 

Mrs Smith and I arrive just after 11 in the morning, and as we unfold ourselves from the car and take a breath, it’s immediately obvious that we aren’t in Kansas (Colombo) anymore. Everywhere you look, wildlife. Lush green rice paddies, yawning trees and thick canopies, and water, water everywhere! A light mist of tropical rain lays an atmospheric veil over the lake at the property. Any other day, rain would bother us, but miraculously, not here. Bee-eater birds dive-bomb and skate along the glassy surface, as we’re welcomed by sarong-clad staff holding an adult party bag of sparkling wine, small spiced sweet treats and perfectly warm local tea. It’s a seriously strong start.

We sit in the library, which is suspended over the lake, with plump sofas each looking out across the water. We sip our wine and count our lucky stars as the sun beats through the rain clouds. This surely can’t get any better. Then we meet our butler (it got better), a charming man who’ll be our go-to for everything and anything during our stay, a standard at the hotel. We blush a little as we sip our wine and realise that we’ve managed to tick the I-have-a-butler box without even trying. 

We’ve been given a room on the rice-paddy section of the hotel’s grounds. I say room, but this is a sprawling, luxurious wooden dwelling that would easily dwarf most inner-city apartments. Two sunloungers sit proudly on a terrace straddling a plunge pool just below the steps to the front door. Inside, a cavernous, triple-pitch ceiling, rustic Sinhalese-style teak floors, woven reeds and bamboo, a giant stone bath, a shower beneath a skylight and an enormous bed cocooned with gossamer netting. You will grow to love these nets, since despite your best efforts, jungle critters will invade your space. The room is cleverly designed — from any vantage point, you cannot see any other people or dwellings, just the endless green of the rice paddies. We have glorious privacy and complete peace. 

We call our butler (still not used to it, still blushing) and order two beers and some light lunch to the terrace. Sit still for five minutes at Jetwing Vil Uyana and the wildlife will reveal itself. As we sip our beers and dunk ourselves into the pool, a family of monkeys swing through the trees and land on the roof. It’s exhilarating. The grounds are full to the brim with peacocks, monkeys, bats, herons, fishing cats (a kind of big cat) and if you’re lucky, elephants. Later that evening, after a day of sun worship, we jump onto a tour of the estate to look for slender loris, a small, nocturnal primate. An onsite safari is a hell of an offering and wandering through the dusky forest, soundtracked by a chorus of tree frogs, is a beautiful way to start an evening. 

After our loris-hunting, it’s time for a drink. We return to the library to sip ice-cold martinis made with local gin, before a spectacular dinner of crab curry, sambols, dhal and red and white rice. It’s generous and utterly delicious. Afterwards, we stumble back to bed, and it goes without saying that we sleep like two well-fed rocks.

Sri Lanka is a country of gorgeous sunrises and as we have jet lag on our side, we lean into the early starts. The next day, we’re up at the crack of dawn to clamber up the ancient Sigiriya rock fortress, a short tuk-tuk ride away and a beautiful place to watch the sun come up. Exercise complete, we arrive back just in time for breakfast, and oh boy, this is breakfast: crispy egg hoppers, fish curry, red-millet porridge and fresh bread with wood-apple jam, enjoyed with pots of Warwick Gardens tea. 

The rain returns briefly and in the interest of posterity and for you, cherished reader, we of course had to take the spa at Jetwing Vil Uyana for a spin. It was predictably brilliant — a couple's massage, body mask and steam for an astonishingly good price helped to while away the drizzly afternoon. Our stay fell across New Year’s Eve, and despite the party put on by the staff, after all our safari-ing, spa-ing, monkeying around, eating, drinking and deep, deep relaxation, the pull of the plush bed was so strong and the room such a sanctuary, it's the first time we haven't seen midnight. Drifting off early felt pretty damn special. It says a lot, really. 

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Price per night from $333.00

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