The Club - Cathay Pacific Marco Polo Club

September 2004

A Serendipitous Stay

Sri Lanka's small hotels combine culture and style with elegance, eccentricity and a hint of nostalgia By Edward Peters

It is impossible to stand on Taprobane - Sri Lanka's most exotically romantic pied-à-terre - and not be whirled away by a vortex of emotion. Within wading distance of the shore, this tiny island is capped by a sprawling five-bedroom, neo-Palladian mansion, the last habitation before the South Pole.

Built in the 1920s by Count de Mauny-Talvande, a French gentleman of leisure, its halls, anterooms, terraces and corridors have played host to a cornucopia of aristocrats, royalty and famous names over the years. After de Mauny died, the American writer Paul Bowles moved in, settling down to write his novel The Spider's House before his wife insisted on returning to Morocco. In the 1970s wild parties rocked Taprobane as the dissolute son of Count Balthasar Klossowski de Rola - better known as the erotic figurative painter Balthus - used it as his Asian base.

A period of disrepair followed, until Taprobane was renovated and restored to its former glory, providing a most unusual home away from home for the fortunate few who rent it each year. Some come on honeymoon, others simply to celebrate with a bunch of friends, revelling until the small hours, lazing in the pool and gardens, splashing ashore at low tide to explore, each and every one of them glorying in Taprobane's unique qualities, and relishing the memory long afterwards.

Capricious, eccentric, distinctive - Sri Lanka's alternative villas and hotels have sprung up in their dozens over the past few years. Not all have Taprobane's amazing history of course, but they do reflect the island's culture and ethnic mix as well as Sri Lankan's inherent affinity for quality rather than quantity.

Nowhere is this more evident than at Helga's Folly (helgafolly.com), a 40-room hotel in the hills above Kandy, whose owner Mrs de Silva Blow Peters, says she prefers not to be full with too many guests as "it spoils the family feeling". Nothing is remotely conventional here: every room is decorated differently, and the Folly contains a mixture of Buddhist paintings, centuries-old Dutch chests, furniture from the 1960s and a bevy of relatives' photographs amid a riot of colour. There is nothing so pedestrian as a television, far less a mini bar, and the chef shudders at the word "buffet". Everything in the kitchen is cooked to order.

The star attraction is, of course, Helga herself, who grew up here and may be induced to talk about her spell as a fashion model, her talented progeny or her dealings with some of the better known personalities who have graced the hotel - for example Peter Finch and Vivian Leigh, who embarked on a torrid romance while he was filming the classic drama Elephant Walk. Variously described as outrageous, extraordinary, flamboyant, eclectic - and by one awestruck guest as "Alice in Wonderland meets the Marquis De Sade" - Helga's Folly is certainly one of a kind.

At the opposite end of the scale, Galapita, near Buttala in the depths of rural Sri Lanka, is more "take a walk on the wild side". In fact, you need to walk over a precarious rope bridge to reach the resort, which consists of four pavilions built atop a large rock. Open-sided with clay floors and contoured driftwood for furniture, Galapita is "chez eco Robinson Crusoe", with "room temperature" showers and simple but delicious local food.

The surrounding forest is full of wildlife, and the rock pool just below the resort teems with fish. A short walk up river leads to a 1,500-year-old shrine; while slightly further afield is the holy city of Kataragama, a place of pilgrimage since prehistoric times. Yala, the island's largest nature reserve, abounds with elephant, bear, leopard, deer and sambhur, and makes a good overnight excursion. Closer to home, the Menik Ganga, or "River of Gems", flows past Galapita, and guests are welcome to try their luck at panning. An 18-carat cornflower blue sapphire is the best find to date, and, of course, the river provides its own brand of hydrotherapy - as invigorating but a lot less expensive than any designer-label spa.

Sri Lanka's boutique accommodation is by no means confined to the countryside. In the capital's swish Cinnamon gardens residential district, the 100-year-old Colombo House boasts a mere three guestrooms but bundles of charm. The two upstairs bedrooms share a private lounge with an open veranda, making them ideal for families. The whole place feels not so much like a hotel, but the well-appointed abode of a friend of a friend who has been kind enough to lend it to you for a few days.

Master of Ceremonies is the brilliantly Jeeves-like Sunil who, with his wife Kumudu, cooks, cleans, provides a fair dose of local information and generally keeps Colombo House running. Browse around the library-cum-music room, put your feet up in the garden in the shade of the frangipani trees (there's also a picturesque pavilion where you may dine if you wish) or snuggle up on the outsize double bed in your room with a DVD - whatever you do, the pace rarely rises above the utterly relaxed.

Anyone who has ever stayed at The Dutch House, or Doornberg, on the hill overlooking the old fort and city of Galle, will have happy memories of evening cocktails. The drinks cabinet, which occupies almost all of one wall in the drawing room, is more like a wardrobe, and when its doors are thrown open a battalion of bottles glows seductively from within. There are only three double rooms in this 17th-century former Dutch sea captain's home, but if staying alone, you may peruse the extensive and catholic bookshelves and settle down with something to read or, because the Dutch House tends to attract guests who are as well informed and well-to-do as they are well heeled, it is an easy matter to fall into conversation.

Set around a croquet lawn, fringed by an infinity pool that seems to be suspended in the jungle. Doornberg has a timeless quality that is reflected in its bedrooms, where mosquito nets shourd the beds, and easy chairs and tubs just made for wallowing impart a true sense of luxury. The hotel's transport fleet consists of a single vehicle - a beautifully restored 1934 Rover drop-head coupe - which all guests should ride in at least once for the sheer fun of it.

The one thing that the Dutch House doesn't do is dinner, but help is at hand in the shape of its sister property. The Sun House, a six-room boutique hotel across the road. In the great tradition of all really good restaurants, there is no set menu; the chefs simply choose whatever is freshest in the market and conjure it into something amazing, taking their inspiration from the cuisines of Thailand, Provence and, of course, Sri Lanka. Think bamboo shoot salad, smoky aubergines in lime sauce, chilli-roasted mahi-mahi fillet in lemongrass sauce and Cajun shark steaks with mango salsa. Guests can eat wherever they fancy, be it in the dining room, on one of the verandas or in the garden under the spreading branches of a stately mango tree.

The Sun House was built in the 1860s by a Scottish spice merchant who wanted to have a good view of the comings and goings in the harbour, and has gone from being a family home to a bank to its present incarnation. Like all of Sri Lanka's best boutique accommodation, it fuses great taste with comfort and that signature magic that can only be described as serendipitous.

Best of the rest
It would be quite possible to spend several months in Sri Lanka and never go anywhere near a regular hotel. Tucked away in delightful locations, whether urban home-stay or eco getaway, the island's boutique properties are distinctively individual and almost as varied as its flora and fauna. Here are half a dozen more bed and breakfasts where you can rest and relax:

Havelock Place Bungalow, Colombo
Six bedrooms and a pleasant garden with a plunge pool located down a secluded cul-de-sac: Havelock doubles as a gallery for work by local artists.

The Privilege, Wadduwa
Consists of up luxury villas whose balconies are cooled by ocean breezes; the smart set's weekend retreat from the metropolis, www.lanka.net/privilege/index2.html

Club Villa, Bentota
Surely, one of the few hotels in the world with a working railway line passing through its grounds, the Club - designed as a private home by the celebrated Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa - is one of Sri Lanka's more idiosyncratic accommodation offerings.

Ulpotha, Embogama Village
The ultimate natural resort. Not luxurious in the accepted sense of the word, but a back-to-nature retreat that is amazingly sociable as well as healthy.

Taru Villas Taprobana, Bentota
Owned by one of the country's leading fashion designers, this beachside, nine-room, Mediterranean-influenced mini-hotel is a sheer delight from start to finish.

Apa Villa Thalpe, Galle
Run by Nikki and Bob Harrison, this is a welcoming cross between a private villa and a boutique. Regular guests rave about the dining room.

For more information and bookings contact www.asiahotels.com/hl/Sri_Lanka.asp