Saman Villas

A note on reading this post, written about 15 minutes into writing it: if you're in a hurry and just want to check out Saman Villas, scroll down to the point where you come across a heading "Saman Villas" as I got side-tracked and have dribbled on about various other things for the next several paragraphs to follow.

Saman Villas (http://www.samanvilla.com/) was the first luxury boutique hotel to be established in Sri Lanka somewhere in the late 80s and quickly made a name for itself as a quality hotel, well worth the money. In the late 90s and early noughties - the "Golden Age" of the GLR (see post #3) or, arguably more aptly, the "Burnt out ends of smoky days" of the GLR - Saman Villas remained out of financial reach and so I never visited. I didn't even make it during my numerous trips home after I'd moved to HK and my spending power had dramatically increased, as by then there were many more new and exciting boutique hotels to see. So it was a with a lingering sense of a sort of overdue pilgrimage that I finally planned a trip to Saman Villas, in January this year.

I have to say, at the outset, that the place was lovely: beautiful setting on a headland right at the intersection of the Bentota and Induruwa Beaches; excellent service; a five-star chef; good spa; nice rooms and a stunning infinity pool. Given it's (relative) age and the crop of big-name luxury boutiques that sprung up around Sri Lanka, Saman Villas may no longer be the most chi-chi of the chi-chi, but it's certainly up there, and the gentle Sri Lankan warmth that the entire resort is imbued with makes it a very pleasant stay, ideal for a weekend getaway from Colombo.

Here's a picture to tide you over til I finally stop dribbling and get down to the review...

Travel Time from Colombo to Bentota

A side-note on travel time from Colombo. Saman Villas is situated on the outskirts of Bentota, a little village approximately 70km from the centre of Colombo. Bentota has long been a favourite destination of mine for a weekend junket, being so close to town and sporting a splendid bit of seaside frontage in the season - December to March. When I worked at the WLB in Colombo, I also had the privilege of using the WLB holiday bungalow on the Bentota Beach, which was an added attraction, as were the several interesting dive sites off the Bentota coast.

Anyway, back to the travel time: for most normal people, the journey from central Colombo to Bentota takes 90 minutes in the daytime in light traffic, closer to 2 hours in heavy traffic. These very same normal people would probably make the journey in 60 minutes should they decide to leave Colombo in the wee hours of the morning, say around 1am and drive at the legal speed limit of 70kmph. My ex-colleague and current-friend, The Cable Guy, is not normal people: he once made the drive from Colombo to Bentota in 23 minutes. I'll say that again: 23 minutes. With three passengers (one calm i.e. inebriated, one screaming, one silently praying to the Baby Jesus) in his car. Which was a Toyota Tercel. A Tercel, for Bob's sake. A 4-cylinder, 1.5 litre sedan that probably threw out about 130 horses. I tried to better that record a few years later in a 6-cylinder, 2 litre, 280bhp twin-turbo beast of a Subaru Legacy B4 and could only do it in 28 minutes.

The Cable Guy is a legend.

The way things work in Sri Lanka

Another side-note on how things usually work in Sri Lanka. In my early days at the WLB, I was the Admin. Manager, which was actually a much more fun job than it sounds - all the security guards used to snap to attention and salute me as I passed since I was technically their "boss", I used to have the run of the WLB's 4WD vehicles at my whim and fancy, I got to turn down a dazzling array of bribes and incentives from various contractors plus - with my legal background - I got to negotiate all the WLB's lease agreements for branches etc., which included our long-term lease for the Bungalow in Bentota, which was technically owned by The Tourist Authority of Sri Lanka.

Negotiations ensued and I wore down the government bod with my annoying persistence until he caved in and agreed to another 20-year lease. At a fixed rent, to boot - I think I missed my true calling in life... I announced my triumph to the general joy of the WLB's executives, who had been quietly dreading actually having to pay for the beach holidays for a change, and the roster began circulating - in strict order of seniority, of course. To quote the Colombo DCEO in his New Year's greeting to all staff on 1 January 2000, "this is a hierarchical organisation and will always remain so" (in other words, "don't any of you forget it") - inspiring words to usher in the New Millennium.

Two days later, I noticed one of the telephone operators, who sat in a little glass box opposite my desk, suddenly sit bolt upright and look frantically in my direction, mouthing "I've got to pee". I must admit I was a little puzzled at this as there were three operators and when one of them wanted to pee they usually just went (to the toilet, not "went" as right there in their glass cage) without feeling the need to let me know of their movements (ha ha) first. She must have seen me look glassy-eyed as she then stuck her head out of the cage and said "it's an MP", which I have to admit made a lot more sense than "I've got to pee". An MP for me? Ok, put him through.

"Him" turned out to be a rather rough and ready "Her" speaking English of the "dawnt you noe" variety. The conversation went like this:

MP: "Hallo, this is Mrs ___, the Minister for ___and ___" (not just an MP, a junior cabinet minister - this is in the days when we just had Ministers and Junior Ministers instead of the seventeen strata of cabinet-minister levels we have now).

Me: "Oh. Hello Mrs ___" (I had never heard of her - a very junior cabinet minister)

MP: "You know that bungalow you have in Bentota?"

Me: "Yes..."

MP: "I woent it this weekend"

Me: "But it's our bungalow, we're using it"

MP: "Yes, but I woent it this weekend to take my family. Only 20 of us"

Me: (Getting side-tracked) "But it only houses 6 adults and 4 kids"

MP: "Note a probelem. We can share"

Me: "But anyway you can't have it, we're using it"

MP: "But it belongs to the government."

Me: "Yes, but we've leased it from you"

MP: (Bewildered at having been said no to) "But I am a Cabinet Minister".

Me: "I know, Mrs _, a Junior Minister. You still can't have it, we're using it, it's booked up by our staff all year"

MP: (Utterly flustered now and trying to save face) "Ah, you mean your staff use it?"

Me: "Yes, Mrs _, that's why we lease it."

MP: "Ah, I didn't gnaw that. Ok then, cheerio".

Me: "Bye now".

Big grins and applause from the three operators, who had all plugged in and were avidly eavesdropping (while irate customers gritted their teeth on hold).

That's actually an example of how things don't work in Sri Lanka. How things work in Sri Lanka is that I would have said "yes, ma'am" the moment she asked, cancelled the booking for the weekend (plus the following week to clean after the MP and her extended clan, drain the pool of pee, etc), given her the bungalow and then had to do the same for every single one of her MP pals each weekend thereafter...

Saman Villas


Ok, down to the point of this post - to talk about Saman Villas. As I mentioned earlier, Saman Villas is set on a piece of headland that rises on a little promontory at the juncture of the Bentota and Induruwa Beaches. This setting affords remarkable views for almost all of the villas, which are built on the Western frontage of the property, curving round the headland.

Being the West Coast, the location is perfect for seeing some amazing sunsets, the sky all blazing oranges and fiery reds as the sea turns from brilliant blue-green to inky black. On a clear night, the moon lights up the sea in a silver glow and the sky is dotted with stars - all the constellations out to be seen (for those of you who know what they're looking for - I wouldn't know the Orion's arse from the Big Dipper's elbow). The Bentota Beach is very pretty at night too, with the numerous beachfront hotels, restaurants and shacks setting out lit braziers along the length of the strand.

As you enter the hotel property, you feel like you're in someone's private driveway: Araliya (Frangipani) Trees blossoming everywhere, little lily-ponds dotting the place and an ancient tree providing shade across the entire courtyard:

The reception is located in lovely building a short flight of steps up from the central courtyard and the greeting is warm and traditionally Sri Lankan. Check-in procedures are quick and you are shown to your villa within a few minutes of arriving.

There are five categories of villa and you would do well to choose carefully, depending on the level of privacy you want. Most of the stand-alone villa buildings feature two rooms - one up and one down. The upstair room (to which you gain access through a completely separate entrance to the room below) is categorised as a Superior Suite and features a covered sit-out deck. The room below is either a Deluxe Suite, with verandah and garden fronting on the sea, or a Deluxe Suite with Pool which features a fantastic 7-metre plunge-pool in addition to the verandah and garden. The downside of this arrangement is that the Superior Suite's deck above looks out over the Grand Suite's garden (and pool), which does tend to impinge on one's privacy if one is occupying the room downstairs, as we were. Having got used to other boutique hotels in Sri Lanka, where most rooms offer absolute privacy, it did feel a little uncomfortable looking up and seeing a couple in the room above, sitting out on their deck and being able to see you in your garden / pool below...

The Grand Deluxe Suites and the Saman Villa offer complete privacy.

We had a Deluxe Suite with Pool. The suite is entered through a doorway leading to a private walkway that continues on to the suite's private garden and pool area. The suite featured two entrances - a main door off the walkway and a french window off the attached verandah. The interior was large and spacious, with bedroom, living room, dressing-room and bathroom. The interior living room was generously proportioned, as was the dressing-room, which featured plenty of wardrobe space as well. The bed was large and comfortable, with master lighting controls within easy access. The bathroom was fantastic featuring an indoor-outdoor shower and a bathtub in an area as large as a small apartment.

Bedroom and Living Room

The Bathroom

Indoor-outdoor shower

Furnished with a dining table and day-bed, the verandah was also spacious and led out to the garden and pool area. The garden included a pair of deck-chairs with a parasol to keep the sun off, and the pool (as previously mentioned) was a 7-metre beauty, much more than a mere plunge-pool. The pool fronted onto the Bentota Beach and the view was superb. I confess I spent most of the weeekend in the pool, sipping Hendricks gin (the Gin of Gins, IMHO) and staring off into the wild blue yonder (when I wasn't frantically grabbing for my camera to shoot frame after frame of the Brahminy Kites circling overhead).

Looking out at the Bentota Beach from the Plunge-pool

The Grande Deluxe Suite from the Pool

A view of the verandah and walkway

We booked on half-board basis, which meant bed, breakfast and a choice of either lunch of dinner included in the rate (very decent at USD 275 per night for Sri Lankans and Resident Foreigners). The chef was kind enough to give us the run of the a-la-carte menu for dinner (instead of restricting us to a set menu), and it has to be said that the man was a five-star genius behind his apron: the food we had for dinner each night was absolutely superb, from the starter to the main course to the desert. The rack of lamb I had on the first night was so good it almost moved me to tears, and by the time I had tasted his desert I just had to call Chef Rizwie to compliment him... The quality of the cooking was consistent through all the meals we had at Saman Villas and the only complaints I had were in the abysmalness of the coffee (barely more than mud-coloured water) and the fact that it was served with powdered milk (sweet, cloying disgustingness) instead of the real stuff direct from the cow. We had all meals bar one in our suite and the service was provided with a smile despite the fact that the staff had to make three separate trips as each course was prepared by the kitchen.

We took all our own liquor as well as our own wines and were not charged any corkage.

The spa at Saman Villas turned out to be pretty good, too. Staffed by experienced local therapists, the spa offered a decent choice of treatments at a decent price and the quality of the massage was also quite good. The spa was set in a very serene environment, flowing water and shady trees combining to create an air of tranquility throughout. Our room rate included a free 15-minute head-massage for two, and the spa was very accommodating in changing this to a half-hour back massage for one person when I decided to opt out of my head-massage.

The Spa

The communal area of the resort features a stunning infinity pool looking out over the Indian Ocean, with plenty of space for sun-bathing and general lounging about, as well as a large open-walled dining space. We had breakfast in the communal area on one occasion but took all other meals in our suite.

All-in-all, Saman Villas was a great stay. The service was outstanding - friendly, obliging, warm and sincere; the food was stellar; the rooms were very good; the spa was excellent; and the setting was lovely. I would heartily recommend the resort with the caveat that you do need to choose your suite carefully depending on the level of privacy you want.

The coffee really does need to improve too and I mentioned as much to one of the co-owners, Uncle Orange Juice (there's a story behind that name...), at the Golf Club and he has promised to sort it out...