Sri Lanka Tourism Blog

Nature, Culture, Luxury… a Lifestyle!

The newest and most ambitious project of Jetwing Hotels, located within 5km of the ‘8th Wonder of the World’-Sigiriya- is the creation of a truly ‘Lifestyle Hotel’. Sigiriya, located within the cultural triangle of Sri Lanka is famous for its rich history and Sri Lankan heritage. Vil Uyana situated within view of Sigiriya rock, on the flatlands that stretch to the west, integrates into an ancient plan - a plan to irrigate, in the tradition of the Sinhala kings.

The introduction of a wetland on reclaimed agricultural lands within the Dry Zone, provides the unique backdrop for this exciting new property. Inspired from local and rural traditions.

A private nature reserve provides a haven for wildlife and a setting of peace and tranquility. The hotel is possibly the first in the world to construct a wetland system with lakes and reed beds to form a private nature reserve.

This has allowed for the first time in Sri Lanka for rooms to be built over water. Centered around water bodies are parklands and woodlands, designed for leisure; an extension of the ancient practice of planning gardens for pleasure.

A challenge has been overcome, for the conversion of Dry Zone chena lands formed by slash & burn agriculture, to a seasonal wetland (land that is inundated by water for part of the year). The colonization of the new habitats by local fauna and flora has been accelerated by the planting of reed beds and groves of trees.

5 acres of land was used to re-grow paddy using traditional methods of farming and harvesting, providing a new and exciting feature. Rooms have been placed within the paddy fields, thereby giving the guest a unique opportunity of participating in both the farming and harvesting if they wished; yet another first in Sri Lanka! The regeneration of the forested groves create a feeling of ultimate privacy and seclusion in the Forest Lodges, the largest of the Chalets.

The tastefully designed rooms boast space as its hallmark of luxury. Dine in the privacy of your room or ‘under the stars’ or simply relax and pamper yourself at the Island Spa with a range of treatments to choose from.

The many components of the ecosystem will be subject to continuous monitoring. The hotel is unique in building a research facility from inception. Comfortable accommodation will be provided to researchers locally and internationally, overcoming one of the key logistics hurdles to field work. The research center also has a library, a room for laboratory based work and a computer room. The guest will be a participant in the metamorphosis of tourism as a champion of conservation. The environmental awareness will be an important aspect of a new ethos.

As part of Jetwing’s responsibility towards local communities an English teaching program is being held in two Buddhist temples located near Vil Uyana. Namely, Rotawewa and Kimbissa. Unemployed youth now attend these classes where they are trained to read, write and speak English. Halfway through their 6 months training they will receive hotel craft training in a field selected from Hotel Housekeeping, Reception, Restaurant & Bar and Cookery. The objective of the initiative is to make them gainfully employable. Some of them will have the opportunity to join Jetwing while others can look for employment in other companies in Sri Lanka or even overseas.

Whether it is the nature lover in you or the task of ‘finding yourself again’ treat yourself to an experience…come be part of the lifestyle!

This prestigious property is scheduled to be opened in Autumn 2006.

25 Tastefully appointed Chalets set in 3 distinct ‘habitats’:

7 Water Pavilions 1030 Sq. Ft (Dining Deck 200 Sq. Ft)

6 Paddy Field Villas 1030 Sq. Ft (Dining Deck 200 Sq. Ft and Plunge Pool 200 Sq.Ft)

2 Marsh Villas 1030 Sq. Ft (Dining Deck 200 Sq. Ft and Plunge Pool 200 Sq. Ft)

10 Forest Lodges 2100 Sq. Ft (Private Pool)

Spread Over 24 Acres of Land

Location:

169 km from Colombo (About a 4 ½ hr drive)

153 km from the International Airport (About a 4 hour drive)

Louise Heal, last year’s winner of the IoS/Bradt Travel Writing Competition, assesses this country’s plans to boost eco-friendly tourism

Five hornets’ nests hung down from the cliff. As we reached the plat-eau below, one of the nests began to swarm; a black, irate column buzzing from cliff to ground, a little too close for comfort. “It’s OK,” my guide reassured me. “We can wait until they’ve calmed down.”

We didn’t have to wait long. The hornets returned to their cliffside home and we climbed the final steps to the top of Sigiriya, the fifth-century rock fortress in Sri Lanka’s Matale district. The views made the climb – and the close encounter – worthwhile. The green forests and grasslands here host the Sirigiya Sanctuary and Minneriya National Park, providing visitors with abundant opportunities to observe Sri Lanka’s wide variety of wildlife.

Eco-tourism is being seen as a way forward for Sri Lanka’s tourist industry, post tsunami. Renton de Alwis, chairman of the country’s tourism bureau, announced Sri Lanka’s environmental ambitions at the United Nations World Tourism Organisation conference last October, pledging to balance financial growth with ecological accountability by making the country a carbon-neutral destination. Further details on are due to be released at a meeting of the Pacific Asia Travel Association this weekend in Bangkok. A 10-year plan to transform Sri Lanka into an “Earth Lung” began shortly after the conference, with a tree-planting initiative that saw enough trees put in the ground to offset the greenhouse gases produced by last autumn’s England cricket tour.

I got a taste of the eco-conscious tourism that could be Sri Lanka’s future at the Vil Uyana, an “eco-luxury” hotel about five kilometres from Sigiriya, where my room was a two-storey villa with a private plunge pool. This hotel’s attraction lies not just in the level of luxury it offers but in its eco-credentials. Five years ago, Vil Uyana was an abandoned agricultural site, before being developed with the aid of, among others, naturalists from the London Wetland Centre. Its aim to conserve the local environment isn’t confined to asking guests to desist from too many towel changes; visitors are expected to separate wet and dry rubbish in bins in the bedrooms and the hotel has a recycling plant for water and sewage.

Guests at Vil Uyana also benefit from the talents of the hotel’s resident naturalist, Nadeera, who I joined on a bird-watching walk around a nearby lake. As we strolled together, grey parakeets flew overhead while we watched coots and moorhens pick their way around the lotus flowers floating on the water.

On another afternoon, Nadeera and I took a bumpy 30-minute jeep drive to Kaudulla National Park for a spot of elephant-watching. We had only been in the park for a short time when we came across our first sighting: a mother with two calves. All three were unbothered by our presence. Not so the lone juvenile male we came across, which indulged in a little chest-beating.

But I didn’t even have to leave the hotel to enjoy the wildlife. From my private pool, I could admire a whole host of birdlife amid the paddy fields and reed ponds. (There is also a crocodile that visits the restaurant pool.) And three of the trees in the grounds are home to thousands of fruit bats.

Peter Bishop of Tourism Concern, a UK-based charity, believes Sri Lanka’s ambitions for carbon neutrality might be achieved, but he thinks the responsibility, ultimately, remains with the individual tourist. “As tourists, we should question whether we are choosing hotels with environmental credentials that benefit local communities, and assess our carbon footprint while in Sri Lanka,” he says.

Destinations such as Vil Uyana can help us make that choice.