Palm Hotel
Ahangama, Sri Lanka
Last summer in a short window when we were once again able to carefully venture out about the island. We headed back to Ahangama, where we had spent our last weekend on the beach before the world changed. This time we opted for a quiet old coconut plantation Palm Hotel set just 5 kilometers from the beach with A-frame cabanas sprinkled amidst the palm trees. Their stunning two room suites (pictured below) weren’t yet available when we visited, so we opted for two A-frame cabanas, one for us and one for the kids.
Our cabana was perched on the edge of a rice paddy, just a few dozen hops through the grass and over a sleepy monitor lizard from the main pavilion. In the distance we could hear water buffalo being coaxed through the mud in the afternoon sun, while the wind rustled a plantation worth of king coconut palms above our heads. A sound that always reminds me of the rhythmic and calming sweeping of streets about South Asia. We spent the afternoon sprawled out on the warm polished concrete terrace of our cabin, playing board games, popping in and out of the pool and sipping rose-lime soda. At dinner, while we filled ourselves with ever more rice and curry, the sky opened up all around us to deposit an unimaginable amount of rain, as if from a choreographed sky full of buckets that often stops as quickly as it starts. We wound our way back to the warm light of our cabin for hot showers beneath the stars and fell into what must have been the softest feather bed I’ve ever slept in.
In the morning we devoured kurukkan roti with honey and jam, tropical smoothie bowls and cappuccinos before heading to the beach to get in just one surf session for Sam. While Paul and Peter played in the surf, Clementine and I hunted for seashells, which we now always try to deposit back into the sea when our search is over. A sort of open house tour without intent to purchase. Housing demand is high everywhere, it seems. We didn’t have the opportunity to use the completely decked-out Crossfit Gym at the Hotel on this short trip, but did try our balance on their slack line before the balance of not having too many gin and tonics at sundown one last evening. It was, without a doubt, one of the most relaxing and restorative weekend getaways we have taken in Sri Lanka. We mostly had the Hotel to ourselves, but I can’t promise that you will once the world opens back up again.
