Sri Lanka Hotel Guide

Amangalle, Galle, Sri Lanka Holidays

Amangalle, Galle, Sri Lanka Holidays

Sri Lanka Holidays Sustainable tourism (i.e., Green, eco) credentials of the hotel
To be edited. Link to the hotel website still to be provided.

Location
Amangalle of  Sri Lanka Holidays is located 116 km south of Colombo within the VOC Galle Dutch Fort (a World Heritage Site) at the sea-port of Galle.

Setting
Sri Lanka Holidays Amangalle is set within the massive fortress ramparts, Amangalla is an integral part of the 400 year old Galle Fort. If the VOC Galle Dutch Fort is the heart of the south western coastal city of Galle, Amangalle Hotel with floorboards that retain shine after 300 years & that had traded by the name New Orient Hotel for 140 years is the heart of Dutch Fort itself.

Ambience
The combination of Dutch architectural splendor & colonial-inspired contemporary furniture & décor set up a genteel turn-of-the-century ambience. You are surrounded by pristine walls, rich mahogany, wood and rattan planters chairs, antiques, old prints, writing desks, dining tables, polished aged-floors, crisp white linens, what’nots & a team of gracious, welcoming and warm hotel staff.

Accommodation
5 star luxury boutique hotel of Sri Lanka Holidays provide accommodation in rooms, chambers, suits & two storey garden house.
Seven bedrooms are located adjacent to Amangalla’s reception, on the ground level of the Middle Street Wing.
Six chambers are located within the Church Street Wing and face the Fort ramparts.
Of the four Garden Wing Chambers, three with balconies and one with a twin porch – all over-looking the treetops of the resort garden.
Of the eight suites, six are located in the Church Street Wing and two in the Middle Street Wing.
Nestles within the resort gardens is the two-storey house features a private terrace and balcony offering leafy, treetop view.

Recognizance
Tatler Hot Spa GuideUK 2008
Gallivanters Guide Readers Awards for Excellence Best Resort in India & Indian Ocean
UK 2006
Conde Nast Traveler Hot List – 3 flames US 2005
Zagat Survey Top International Hotels, Resorts & Spas Listed in Sri Lanka Notable Newcomers
USA 2006
Conde Nast Traveler Hot New Spas USA 2006
Diavaram Best Hotel in Sri Lanka – No. 1 Spain 2006
Conde Nast Traveller 1 of 60 Coolest Hotels UK 2006
Robb Report Best of the Best 2006 One of the Best of the Best Resorts USA 2006
Luxury Travel Magazine 2005 A List of Travel The World’s Best New Hotels Top New Hotel in Sri Lanka
2005

Location of Heritance Kandalama
Heritance Kandalama Hotel is located 160km away from Colombo, in the village of Kandalama of Dambulla [11km]. Dambulla is the heart of Sri Lanka Holidays Cultural Triangle, a major transportation hub of North Central Plains of the island.
Distances from Heritance Kandalama to surrounding Sri Lanka Holiday attractions
UNESCO World Heritage Site of Sigiriya Lion Rock Citadel: 28km
UNESCO World Heritage Site of Golden Dambulla Rock Temple: 10km

Setting of Heritance Kandalama
A magnificent setting: overlooked by the Knuckles hills, by the side of scenic ancient Kandalama irrigation reservoir, the grand hotel emerging from a light tropical jungle, adorned with carefully nurtured yet lush foliage, twists its way 968m along a rocky outcrop. In spite of the modern architecture, we are next to nature. The hotel symbolizes the best in Sinhalese ecological design you would witness throughout Sri Lanka Holidays.

Sri Lanka Holidays Sustainable tourism (Green i.e., eco) credentials of Heritance Kandalama Hotel: Aitken Spence, the owning/managing company of Heritance Kandalama Hotel claims.

When the project was first mooted and proposed in the early 1990s, it wasn’t many who believed 152 room hotel could be built with minimal impact upon the zone whose stability of the environment was essential to the climatic conditions of the agricultural district of Dambulla. Yet Heritance Kandalama was to prove that it was possible for large hotels to testify to allegiance to green concepts or the eco-orientation as the small hotels.
The entire building is constructed upon a platform held aloft by reinforced concrete columns so that the natural drainage of rain water of the Dambulla agricultural zone during the rainy seasons wouldn’t be fouled up.
Furthermore, Heritance Kandalama claims that it harvests rainwater and recycle water for gardening.
Heritance Kandalama hotel was awarded the “Green Globe 21 Certified Hotel” status, the first of its kind in Asia.

Type of the Hotel and Star rating of Heritance Kandalama Hotel: A 5 star eco –oriented luxury hotel

Architecture & Interior deco of Heritance Kandalama
Architecture of Heritance Kandalama is succulently summed up by Geoffrey Bawa Trust, the custodian of the architectural conceptions of Sri Lanka’s foremost architect.
“Bawa’s work is characterized by sensitivity to site and context. He produced ‘sustainable architecture’ long before the term was coined, and had developed his own ‘regional modernist’ stance well in advance of the theoreticians. His designs broke down the barriers between inside and outside, between interior design and landscape architecture and reduced building to a series of scenographically conceived spaces separated by courtyards & gardens.
Geoffrey Bawa’s conceptions of adapting architecture to suit the environment has been most eloquently exemplified in Heritance Kandalama at Dambulla. Dambulla is home to Sri Lanka Holidays attraction of Golden Dambulla Rock Cave Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site protected by UNESCO sponsored Sri Lanka Cultural Triangle.

Accommodation at Heritance Kandalama
Heritance Kandalama consists 152 luxury rooms: Superior Rooms in the Dambulla wing; Luxury Rooms in the Sigiriya wing & Deluxe Rooms [some of the rooms bring in views of Kandalama lake and the low hills of Kandalama]
Suites that are ideal for the families provide all with ample space for relaxation.

Facilities at Heritance Kandalama
Dining: restaurants & bars
Kanchana Restaurant: buffet of wide range of wide range of Sri Lankan food, as well as the best of international cuisine.
Kaludiya Restaurant: fine dining: a global a la carte dinner in sophisticated ambiance.
Kachan Café and Kachan Bar offer a range of snacks, beers, spirits and wines.

Leisure and Recreation at Heritance Kandalama
Kachchan Pool is built in way so as to be seen bordering the ancient Kqandalama irrigation reservoir.
Kaludiya Pool is built upon the dark bed rock on which the structure of the building itself is built.
Activities in the area surrounding Heritance Kandalama
Nature trails, eco park, cycling, trekking
Hot air balloon trips, boat trips in the Kandalama lake.

Excursions off Heritance Kandalama
Rangiri Dambulu (Sinhala: Golden Dambulla) Rock Cave Temple at Dmbaulla located 10km east of Heritance Kandalama
Sigiriya Lion Rock Citadel located 28km north of Heritance Kandalama
Both of above Sri Lanka Holidays cultural attractions are UNESCO World Heritage sites located within Sri Lanka Cultural Triangle.

The Tea Factory, Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka Holidays

The Tea Factory, Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka Holidays

Sustainable tourism (Green i.e., eco) credentials of the hotel: to  be edited

Location:
The Tea Factory is located 160 km from Colombo 2200 m above sea level at Kandapola in close proximity to Nuwara Eliya.

Riolta Remarks
The Tea Factory is a one of a kind hotel. Tea Factory, a unique theme hotel is the ultimate hotel if your destination is Nuwara Eliya of Sri Lanka Holidays.

Setting
The hotel nestles among the hills with breathtaking panoramic views of the surrounding tea plantations.

Architectural innovation
The hotel wouldn’t be better named; it’s a genuine tea factory of colonial era converted into a 4 star hotel. The abandoned large building is ingeniously made use to design a hotel of international standing. The architectural innovation not only maintained the entire facade of the original building but also retained numerous other features such as old machinery, driving shafts and pulleys. The original section of boiler of the colonial era factory was converted into a modern kitchen. The 70 feet masonry chimney of boiler room of then factory turned into the chimney of modern kitchen. In the same line of innovation the sprinkler tank of the dilapidated factory was converted into the tank for the sprinkler system of the modern hotel, “The Tea Factory” of Sri Lanka Holidays.

Ambience
Residing at the hotel of colonial era ambience itself is a unique experience over & above the salubrious climate with colonial era environment of Ceylon still persisting in the Sri Lanka Holidays prime hill resort of Nuwara Eliya.

Accommodation
The hotel has 57 luxurious colonial style rooms with breathtaking views of the surrounding tea plantations. The rooms are fully provided with heating, TVs with satellite and local channels, a comprehensive mini bar, and coffee and tea making equipment. Each room is supplied with coffee, tea and a gift basket of fruit, biscuits, chocolates, mint and cashew nuts on a daily basis. Rooms are wheel chair accessible.
All the rooms come with rain showers and bathtubs with hot water. The view from the bathrooms make you feel as if you are a part of the picturesque natural landscape outside your windows. Each bathroom is tastefully supplied with a full range of custom made Tea Factory toiletries.

Acclaim
South Asian Architecture Award
Year 1996: South Asian architecture awards were initiated in 1995 to recognize the world of architectural excellence in the whole of South Asia.
Most Innovative Product
Year 1998: at the TTF fair Ahmadabad, India, The Tea Factory of Sri Lanka Holidays was awarded as the “Most Innovative Product”
The Tea Factory Wins RICS Award
Year 2000: Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, London The Tea Factory of Sri Lanka Holidays was awarded the prestigious RICS award
UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Merit Award
Year 2001: the UNESCO Regional Advisor for Culture in Asia and the Pacific awarded The Tea Factory of Sri Lanka Holidays, a merit award for the architectural innovation in conversion of a dilapidated tea factory into a luxury hotel complex.