{"id":1891,"date":"2014-10-04T14:52:17","date_gmt":"2014-10-04T14:52:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/?p=1891"},"modified":"2015-12-24T10:12:57","modified_gmt":"2015-12-24T10:12:57","slug":"amangalla-and-amanwella-sri-lanka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/amangalla-and-amanwella-sri-lanka\/","title":{"rendered":"Amangalla and Amanwella, Sri Lanka"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Amangalla<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

The Sri Lankan outposts of Adrian Zecha’s Aman empire include a beach resort and a landmark property that embraces the same colonial-style luxury it did in its former life.<\/h2>\n

I clutched the guardrails on my Smartie-coloured tuk-tuk as we swerved past policemen, cows on roundabouts, cars, vans and hand-painted lorries, careering towards Galle Fort. Nothing had really prepared me for the chaos of Sri Lanka: this was, I soon discovered, how I’d be getting from A to B for the next 10 days.<\/p>\n

Still dizzy from the chaos, we reached the top of the hill at Galle Fort, and drove up a newly cobbled road, getting out at the foot of an elegant staircase flanked by two huge potted papyrus plants. The Aman group’s Sri Lankan outpost \u2013 the Amangalla \u2013 sits in the heart of the island’s iconic 17th century fort, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There’s an overpowering sense of grandeur here, with remnants of Dutch heritage, pillared verandas and Victorian tiles that made the epic journey, a long time ago, from Wandsworth.<\/p>\n

The Amangalla was originally the private home of hotelier and grande dame Nesta Brohier, and already possessed all the elements that Aman guru Adrian Zecha was looking for on the island. In his twenties, Zecha was living between Delhi, where he worked for TIME magazine, and Sri Lanka. It was during this period of prohibition in India that he first met Nesta and became a regular guest at her house, attending the most lavish parties and dinners alongside Indian and British high society. When circumstances put the property on the market, Zecha realised it was the perfect opportunity to establish a base in Sri Lanka.
Picture: Rosalind Milani Gallieni<\/p>\n

\"sri_lanka1\"The charm of Amangalla lies in how its life as a hotel today fits so well with its heritage \u2013 in fact, it is run now just as it was as a private home. Each morning, soft sunlight filtered through louvred shutters onto the rich polished timber floors of my bedroom. Outside, I could hear a gentle sweeping from the terraces around the green-tiled swimming pool, as fallen frangipani flowers were collected after the night winds. Later in the morning, immaculately saronged staff laid tables with white cloths and blue glass, and silver cruet sets cast from an original saltcellar found during the renovation of the home.<\/p>\n

Our “terrazzo dining” on those Wandsworth tiles was… eclectic. The first night we had chicken badum and a brinjal moju curry, with a watalappan coconut ice pudding to end. The spices had a few repercussions on our European digestive systems, so the beetroot carpaccio and mixed leaves with feta we ate the next day were something of a relief. We followed these with a pan-fried yellowfin tuna with asparagus, roasted fennel, and a black olive tapenade. My choice of an Arthur Metz Gew\u00fcrztraminer was a touch too sweet, but still a delight to find amongst the French, Italian and Australian whites.<\/p>\n

The morning check-out was a wrench \u2013 on the wallet as well as the heart. Manteesh, one of the staff, rushed up to give me a hug; he’d spotted my Italian name in the visitors’ book, and launched into a long description of his visit to Milan, and more specifically the bar behind La Scala and Via Brera \u2013 all in perfect Italian! Piccolo mondo!<\/p>\n

On our way to our next destination, Tangalle, we enjoyed the butler’s farewell “survival kit” of fresh water and home-made cookies, presented in an Amangalla cloth bag decorated with more frangipani flowers.<\/p>\n

The town of Tangalle was the now-familiar chaos of scooters, markets, banana bundles, coconuts and tuk-tuk toots. Inside the Amanwella beach resort \u2013 a term that seems too crass term for these palm tree gardens \u2013 there is a row of ten widely spaced wooden loungers with pristine white towelling covers and a large black yoga platform, prepped with mats and water bottles for 6pm sun-salutations. Each of the hotel’s ocean suites has perfect views, with private pools, wood-fitted bathrooms and panelling, shutters, baths and floors crafted from indigenous timber and stone. The top floor of the main house also gives a superb view over the Indian Ocean, giving you a wonderful sense of place.<\/p>\n

Despite its troubled past, the future for Sri Lanka looks dynamic. The new expressway already connects Colombo to the heritage hub of Galle and continues down to Matara, with Tangalle just 20 minutes away, and the half-built bridges, unmanned motorway exits and seemingly abandoned sites in vast green expanses we passed on our drive will all soon connect. The next phase will extend transport links all the way to Hambantota International Airport, the newly built airbase which saw its first test commercial flight landings at the end of 2012. Sri Lanka is definitely connecting the dots.<\/p>\n

Amangalla, 10 Church Street, Fort Galle, Sri Lanka
+94 91 223 3388
Amanwella, Bohdi Mawatha, Wella Mawatha, Godellawela, Tangalle, Sri Lanka
+94 47 224 1333
amanresorts.com<\/p>\n

Read more: http:\/\/www.civilianglobal.com\/hotels\/review-aman-amangalla-amanwella-sri-lanka-adrian-zecha\/#ixzz2NJvglWt8<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  The Sri Lankan outposts of Adrian Zecha’s Aman empire include a beach resort and a landmark property that embraces the same colonial-style luxury it did in its former life. I clutched the guardrails on my Smartie-coloured tuk-tuk as we swerved past policemen, cows on roundabouts, cars, vans and hand-painted lorries, careering towards Galle Fort. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5186,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travelogue"],"yoast_head":"\nAmangalla and Amanwella, Sri Lanka - Rmgandco - \u00a0<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Amangalla was originally the private home of hotelier and grande dame Nesta Brohier, and already possessed all the elements that Aman guru Adrian...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/amangalla-and-amanwella-sri-lanka\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Amangalla and Amanwella, Sri Lanka - Rmgandco - \u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Amangalla was originally the private home of hotelier and grande dame Nesta Brohier, and already possessed all the elements that Aman guru Adrian...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/amangalla-and-amanwella-sri-lanka\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rmgandco - \u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/RMGPR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-10-04T14:52:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-12-24T10:12:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Amangalla-and-Amanwella-Sri-Lanka1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"870\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"370\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"RMG PR & Events\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@RMG_PR\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@RMG_PR\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"RMG PR & Events\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/amangalla-and-amanwella-sri-lanka\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/amangalla-and-amanwella-sri-lanka\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"RMG PR & Events\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/8454c9cd66ca582fca23fd360aa3b709\"},\"headline\":\"Amangalla and Amanwella, Sri Lanka\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-10-04T14:52:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-12-24T10:12:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/amangalla-and-amanwella-sri-lanka\/\"},\"wordCount\":825,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/amangalla-and-amanwella-sri-lanka\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Amangalla-and-Amanwella-Sri-Lanka1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"TRAVELOGUE\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/amangalla-and-amanwella-sri-lanka\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/amangalla-and-amanwella-sri-lanka\/\",\"name\":\"Amangalla and Amanwella, Sri Lanka - Rmgandco - \u00a0\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/amangalla-and-amanwella-sri-lanka\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/amangalla-and-amanwella-sri-lanka\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Amangalla-and-Amanwella-Sri-Lanka1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-10-04T14:52:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-12-24T10:12:57+00:00\",\"description\":\"The Amangalla was originally the private home of hotelier and grande dame Nesta Brohier, and already possessed all the elements that Aman guru Adrian...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/amangalla-and-amanwella-sri-lanka\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/amangalla-and-amanwella-sri-lanka\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/amangalla-and-amanwella-sri-lanka\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Amangalla-and-Amanwella-Sri-Lanka1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Amangalla-and-Amanwella-Sri-Lanka1.jpg\",\"width\":870,\"height\":370},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/amangalla-and-amanwella-sri-lanka\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Amangalla and Amanwella, Sri Lanka\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Rmgandco - \u00a0\",\"description\":\"PR and Events\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"rmgandco\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/rmg-logo-seo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/rmg-logo-seo.jpg\",\"width\":1800,\"height\":1563,\"caption\":\"rmgandco\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/RMGPR\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/RMG_PR\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/ros_milani_gallieni\/\",\"https:\/\/uk.linkedin.com\/in\/rosalind-milani-gallieni-797a20\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/8454c9cd66ca582fca23fd360aa3b709\",\"name\":\"RMG PR & Events\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.rmgandco.com\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Amangalla and Amanwella, Sri Lanka - Rmgandco - \u00a0","description":"The Amangalla was originally the private home of hotelier and grande dame Nesta Brohier, and already possessed all the elements that Aman guru Adrian...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/amangalla-and-amanwella-sri-lanka\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Amangalla and Amanwella, Sri Lanka - Rmgandco - \u00a0","og_description":"The Amangalla was originally the private home of hotelier and grande dame Nesta Brohier, and already possessed all the elements that Aman guru Adrian...","og_url":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/amangalla-and-amanwella-sri-lanka\/","og_site_name":"Rmgandco - \u00a0","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/RMGPR","article_published_time":"2014-10-04T14:52:17+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-12-24T10:12:57+00:00","og_image":[{"width":870,"height":370,"url":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Amangalla-and-Amanwella-Sri-Lanka1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"RMG PR & Events","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@RMG_PR","twitter_site":"@RMG_PR","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"RMG PR & Events","Estimated reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/amangalla-and-amanwella-sri-lanka\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/amangalla-and-amanwella-sri-lanka\/"},"author":{"name":"RMG PR & Events","@id":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/8454c9cd66ca582fca23fd360aa3b709"},"headline":"Amangalla and Amanwella, Sri Lanka","datePublished":"2014-10-04T14:52:17+00:00","dateModified":"2015-12-24T10:12:57+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/amangalla-and-amanwella-sri-lanka\/"},"wordCount":825,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/amangalla-and-amanwella-sri-lanka\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Amangalla-and-Amanwella-Sri-Lanka1.jpg","articleSection":["TRAVELOGUE"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/amangalla-and-amanwella-sri-lanka\/","url":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/amangalla-and-amanwella-sri-lanka\/","name":"Amangalla and Amanwella, Sri Lanka - Rmgandco - \u00a0","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/amangalla-and-amanwella-sri-lanka\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/amangalla-and-amanwella-sri-lanka\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Amangalla-and-Amanwella-Sri-Lanka1.jpg","datePublished":"2014-10-04T14:52:17+00:00","dateModified":"2015-12-24T10:12:57+00:00","description":"The Amangalla was originally the private home of hotelier and grande dame Nesta Brohier, and already possessed all the elements that Aman guru Adrian...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/amangalla-and-amanwella-sri-lanka\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/amangalla-and-amanwella-sri-lanka\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/amangalla-and-amanwella-sri-lanka\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Amangalla-and-Amanwella-Sri-Lanka1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Amangalla-and-Amanwella-Sri-Lanka1.jpg","width":870,"height":370},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/amangalla-and-amanwella-sri-lanka\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Amangalla and Amanwella, Sri Lanka"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/","name":"Rmgandco - \u00a0","description":"PR and Events","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/#organization","name":"rmgandco","url":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/rmg-logo-seo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/rmg-logo-seo.jpg","width":1800,"height":1563,"caption":"rmgandco"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/RMGPR","https:\/\/x.com\/RMG_PR","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/ros_milani_gallieni\/","https:\/\/uk.linkedin.com\/in\/rosalind-milani-gallieni-797a20"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/8454c9cd66ca582fca23fd360aa3b709","name":"RMG PR & Events","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.rmgandco.com"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1891"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1891\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rmgandco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}