For the second half of our Christmas 2021 holiday we moved along the southern coast of Sri Lanka from Amangalla in Galle to Amanwella in Tangalle; a car journey of about an hour.  Amanwella is an exclusive luxury beach resort on the side of a gently sloping coconut palm grove which flows down to a crescent beach and the hotel’s beach club.  The property was designed by the late Kerry Hill, taking influence from the late great Sri Lankan Geoffrey Bawa’s school of “tropical modernism” (think clean lines, open-sided buildings, high airy ceilings and wide but secluded spaces).  The stunning buildings greeted our arrival, along with a collection of staff including the GM and the man who was to be our ‘butler’, Indika.

Indika took us on a short tour of the hotel’s guest facilities which are all together at the top of the hill, above the bay.  There was a well air-conditioned library with surrounding fish ponds, a large restaurant building which always had its floor to ceiling windows open to catch the breeze, and a spacious bar/lounge building, again fully open to the light breezes coming off the ocean.

We took our breakfasts each morning on the verandah outside the restaurant, enjoying views of the hotel’s stepped infinity pool and the palm-fringed bay beyond.

After our short tour Indika took us in one of the hotel’s fleet of mint condition tuk-tuks (known locally as “Three Wheelers”) to room 110, our Ocean Pool Suite, which I had booked for US$6250 ++ for 5 nights B&B. (the taxes took it to $8012!).  This room or suite was actually a villa, because it was a detached building surrounded by a high wall for privacy.

Upon entering the unit we went down some steps and saw our private plunge pool, which, tbh, wasn’t the most inviting of scenes because of the ‘walled-in’ feeling. All room categories at Amanwella have a plunge pool.

At the opposite end of this front terrace pool area was a daybed, table and chair.  We then entered the room itself, through floor to ceiling glass doors/windows.

There was a very high ceiling, stone floor tiles, white walls and wooden window screens and doors.  As well as a super-king bed we had a day bed, armchairs, writing desks and a comp non alcoholic mini-bar.

The bedroom lead into the bathroom area, though they were separated by wooden screens.  There was a free-standing bath tub, twin wash basins, a shower room and a toilet. This area was also used for clothes storage, and as a dressing area.

The whole place looked fresh and new and it was spotlessly clean.  The only insect I saw in our room was a small firefly on the first night, which was cute rather than annoying.  There wasn’t a coffee machine or a TV, but wifi worked well (with a few interruptions).

On the other side of the room was a large verandah with 2 day beds, a table and chairs, and direct sea views.  But we couldn’t walk from the verandah straight onto the beach because there was a fence in between.  All Sri Lankan beaches are open to the public, so there has to be something to prevent the public wandering into the hotel grounds.  To get to the beach we just had a short walk further down the hill.

Arriving at the beach we came upon Amanwella’s Beach Club where lunch and dinner can be taken. It’s a smartly designed space with clean toilets and shower facilities.  A 100m walk beyond the Beach Club is the part of the beach where Amanwella has its sun loungers and attentive staff. So we never actually ate in the Beach Club, food and drinks were brought to us on the beach by the life-guard/service team.  One of said team, Mahesh, gave us outstanding service and help when we were at the beach.  He could see I wasn’t in the best of health and I confided in him that I had terminal cancer. On each day thereafter he went to the market before work to get some hard to get hold of tropical fruits, which are known locally to have incredible curative properties, which he blended into smoothies for me to drink!  One day he appeared with raw aloe vera, which he rubbed onto my skin, and another day he leant us his mobile phone so that I could make some arrangements for our helicopter charter back to Colombo (the hotel wifi works at the Beach Club but its signal doesn’t stretch to the sun-lounging area).  Although we tended to arrive at the beach at noon (mad dogs and Englishmen..!) Mahesh had reserved loungers for us in our favourite spot.  Mahesh is a lovely man and we enjoyed the opportunity for a relaxed ‘chat’ with a local about this and that.

Amanwella’s beach isn’t crowded, it has soft litter-free sand and ‘inviting’ ocean.  But be aware that the next land to our south is Antarctica, thousands of miles away, so the ocean has a lot of power and swell, there’s no reef protecting the island here, and the slope of the beach means there are some very strong rip tides. There are a few spots for snorkelling (over rocks, not coral), but I found the rips to be too strong for me, and Mr A had to rescue me from the water!  We would have been wiser to enter the water between the safety flags!

I mentioned that Mahesh brought food to our sun lounger spot. This is tuna tartare “bruschetta”, with my go-to tropical snack; salty fries.  Overall the quality of the food at Amanwella was better than at Amangalla, but it was more expensive, sometimes significantly more (eg. a simple oil and garlic spaghetti at Amangalla was LKR1025, but the same dish was LKR5000 at Amanwella).  On New Year’s Eve there was a compulsory gala dinner, at US$260 each.  We enjoyed cocktails and canapés watching some energetic local historical dancers before sitting down to a multi course dinner.

Whilst at Amanwella we sampled a couple of the ‘Experiences‘ mentioned on their website.  First, an afternoon safari to Uduwalawe National Park, a park famous for its large herds of elephant.  We only saw a few, with the largest herd being four animals, but it was pleasant being outdoors in the countryside.  We spent a total of 7 hours in a car, but had a lovely picnic lunch stop next to a lake, but it was a shame this wasn’t served until 4pm.

The second ‘Experience’ was a late afternoon “Floating Lounge” tour at the near-by Mawella lagoon.  We boarded a pontoon-type boat with soft furnishings upon which we could recline, while a local man punted us around and across a beautifully peaceful shallow lagoon teeming with birdlife such as pelicans, cormorants and kingfishers.  But the main purpose of this trip was to witness thousands of roosting fruit bats (aka “flying foxes”) on the far side of the lagoon, which, once the sun had set below the horizon, set off on their nightly foraging hunts.  It was truly spectacular!

Things were made even better on the floating lounge when our Butler Indika served up chilled wine and canapés.

Our package at Amanwella included daily afternoon tea, but we didn’t get to experience it because it was only served around the main restaurant, not on the beach.  That didn’t bother me in itself, but it reinforced an impression I gained during the holiday that there are too many inconsistencies between Aman hotels these days.  Our last Aman trip had been to Amanpuri in Thailand, where afternoon tea was served on the beach.  Other Aman resorts we’d been to offered before- and after-sun products in the rooms; not Amanwella.  At Amanwella we didn’t have any fresh fruit or snacks in the room, though fruit was brought to us when I asked. They said it was to avoid insect infestations.  Our greatest disappointment was that we didn’t get given the traditional “Amanjunkie” T-shirts, normally given to guests who’ve stayed at at least 3 different Amans.  This was our 12th Aman in the space of 4 years. Even when we were at Amankila in Bali, they ran out of T-shirts, but posted ours to us in England when they received a fresh supply.  And the presence, or lack of, room coffee making facilities may seem a trivial inconsistency, but I really prefer to wake up with a coffee at my own pace, I don’t want to wait for one to be delivered!  All Aman hotels are consistently expensive, so I expect consistent services and facilities!

Overall I’m scoring Amanwella 9/10; a very good score for a hotel, but below the 10/10 Aman resorts often get from me.