Sri Lanka - Jetwing Yala hotel

Fed up with the cold and misery of January in England I decided I would like a break somewhere hot, and plumped for Sri Lanka. My third visit to the country, but over a 30 year period so hardly obsessive. But one thing I didn't look hard enough at was the flight time. Especially the stopover in Dubai. Door to door I reckoned the journey out took 35 hours! Bus, two tubes, overground train to Gatwick, flight to Dubai, then flight to Colombo via the Maldives and a four and a half hour taxi drive to the hotel, the last part on a dirt road. What made it particularly long was a nine hour stopover in Dubai. I mean nice airport, but nine hours....

But the hotel was worth it. I had picked this hotel because I wanted both a nice restful and warm holiday along with the ability to go on safari. And the hotel is in the buffer zone around Yala National Park, with a 75 metre pool and next to a beach. What's not to like?

The room was very large, and cool.

The bathroom was far larger than the bedrooms in most hotels I have stayed in.

The shower was especially cool as it was open to the outside. It is the tropics. It is never cold. Although after a windy night one would find bits of thatch fro the roof in the bath, and on one occasion a dead grasshopper too. It is an eco hotel....

The balcony is more of a terrace. Lots of room.

With a view over the pool.

The main restaurant

Hotel surroundings

Not a sign you see at most hotels

As I mentioned, they have a 75 metre pool. And because, especially in the first week, the hotel was very underutilized, some days I had the pool to myself almost all day.

A little light refreshment was sometimes necessary

Only had one day of rain, but boy did it pour.

As I said, this is an eco hotel. So no lawnmowers for the grass between the pool and the rooms. Just cattle grazing

And sometimes the cattle got close up and personal when on one's deckchair.

While I didn't see an elephant wander through, I did see a lot of monkeys about the hotel - purple faced langurs.

The buffet breakfasts were extremely generous, and I probably (definitely) over indulged.

The hotel also has a fine dining restaurant