Wallawwa

At Wallawwa, wellness is a way to reset, reconnect and recharge before or after your travels. It is beautifully woven into your stay. Whether you’re landing in Sri Lanka or winding down before your return, their wellness offerings are designed to meet you where you are.

Take a break from the fast pace of travel and everyday life and step into a peaceful spa and choose from a menu of treatments that draw on ancient Asian traditions.

From deep tissue massage and Shiatsu to natural body wraps and facials, every treatment uses 100 per cent organic, handmade products infused with the healing properties of Sri Lankan teas.

It’s simple, grounding and focused on helping you feel better in your body.

Wellness here extends far beyond the massage table. They’ve partnered with Vikasa to bring you daily group sessions in yoga, meditation and sound healing.

These practices offer you a calm space to stretch, breathe and reset. It’s a gentle way to clear your mind and realign your energy.

And because what you eat matters too, Wallawwa’s wellness kitchen is built around nourishment and flavour. You can dig into jackfruit burgers, fresh island-inspired bowls and juices packed with real ingredients, designed to leave you feeling light, not restricted.

In today’s world, where life’s pace is fast and stress is often high, taking care of your wellbeing isn’t a luxury, it’s essential. Prioritising your health, rest and balance helps you show up more fully in life.

Even a short stay can make a big difference. At Wallawwa, you’re invited to slow down, take a deep breath and give yourself the space to feel well.

Discover Colombo in the most authentic way by a tuk-tuk and on foot. This experience offers you a close-up look at Sri Lanka’s commercial capital, where the old and new live side by side.

Ride through vibrant streets, walk through hidden alleys and learn about the layers of history, culture and everyday life that make this city so unique.

You’ll explore some of Colombo’s most iconic yet often overlooked corners. Visit vibrant local markets and old buildings. Step into spiritual spaces that reflect the city’s diverse cultural roots like the colourful Sivan Kovil Hindu temple, where you can witness a ‘pooja’ ritual.

Stop at the striking Red Mosque in the heart of Pettah, experience a quiet moment at Sambodhi Chaithya by the port and receive a blessing at the serene Kochchikade Church.

The tour is led by a host of Sinhalese and Dutch Burgher heritage, someone deeply passionate about history and architecture. His knowledge brings the city to life, from ancient legacies to modern-day stories.

His insights give depth to every stop and create a sense of connection with the places you visit.

Moving between locations in a tuk tuk is one of the most common and lively ways to get around the city and makes the experience even more immersive. You’ll hear the cheerful sound of the city, feel the breeze as you ride and learn about Colombo’s daily life.

This city tour is a window into Colombo’s spirit. You’ll come away with interesting stories and insights that will stay with you forever.

Wear light clothing, sunscreen and a cap, and keep your camera ready – you’ll want to capture the colours and surprises along the way.

In Sinhala, 'Wallawwa' (Wa-lau-wa) denotes an aristocratic manor house, and the Wallawwa at Kotugoda is the oldest of its kind in the region. Built in the 18th century in the rectangular, broad-verandaed Dutch warehouse style, it was first home to the Head Chieftain of Galle and later occupied by Lord Mountbatten and the Royal Air Force as a base for the South-East Asia Command during the Second World War. The original layout was preserved through restoration. Each of its eighteen rooms still opens onto verandas that ran the building's length two hundred years ago.

At 3.30 every afternoon, Wallawwa serves tea on its open verandas — the same galleries that wrap the manor house on both sides, the same hour the original owners would have observed two centuries ago. The tea is Ceylon, of course: a Sri Lankan hallmark since the 1860s, when a coffee blight forced highland planters to switch crops and James Taylor planted the island's first tea estate. It comes with biscuits and cake. The hour to five is unhurried. Bring a book — or don't, the gardens are conversation enough.

Between five and six every evening, Wallawwa pours a complimentary social hour on the veranda — a daily ritual featuring local rum, vodka, gin, beer, house wines, and one of the property's house cocktails. The local rum is particularly worth trying: Sri Lankan arrack, distilled from coconut palm sap and aged in halmilla wood, is one of the oldest spirits in the world, predating Caribbean rum by several centuries. Liquor isn't served on government-declared dry days, which fall on certain Buddhist holidays — a small but characteristic Sri Lankan rhythm. Otherwise, the hour belongs to you.

Negombo Lagoon is one of Sri Lanka's most productive coastal ecosystems — a vast brackish-water system fed by the Hamilton Canal, a 14.5-kilometre channel cut in the 15th century under King Parakramabahu VIII and re-dug by the Dutch in the 17th century to ship cinnamon to the port. You'll drift its mangrove channels in a covered boat — Red Mangrove stilt-roots forming the lagoon's living nurseries — past fishermen, swimming macaques (Sri Lanka's only swimming monkey), and resting water monitors. The journey ends at the Lellama, Negombo's vast fish market, where the catamarans land the morning catch.

Sri Lankan rice and curry — the country's national meal — depends on two things outsiders rarely see: the spice blend ground fresh that morning, and the clay 'chatty' pot in which each curry slowly cooks. These unglazed earthenware vessels have been used across the island for centuries, and Sri Lankan cooks insist that no metal pan reproduces their flavour. You'll spend the morning with Wallawwa's chef preparing perhaps three or four curries — a dhal, a seasonal vegetable, a fish or chicken — using vegetables he selects from the property's garden. The recipe book is yours to keep.