Jetwing Vil Uyana

Style

Wildly successful

Setting

Sustainable Sigiriya sanctuary

It’s fitting that immensely eco-friendly Sri Lankan stay Jetwing Vil Uyana is a sanctuary for slow lorises, because on arrival you’ll be as wide-eyed as these rare cuties as you take in the biodiverse terrain (from marshland to lake to forest), embrace close animal encounters (even wild elephants peep in from time to time), and admire Sigriya’s soaring rock fortress in the background. You might serenely shut your eyes for Balinese spa spoiling, but you’ll be awake and alert for cave-temple trips, night safaris and getting tips on how to show the Earth more love through this nurturing nature reserve.

Facilities

Rooms

36 standalone thatched dwellings.

Checkout

Noon. Earliest check-in, 2pm. Both are flexible, subject to a charge (US$90 for checking in from 8am to 2pm or checking out until 7pm).

More Details

Rates don’t include breakfast (US$15 a guest).

Also

Unfortunately the layout of the resort makes it unsuitable for guests with reduced mobility.

Fitness Center

Free Internet Access

Laundry

Pool

On-Site Restaurant

Room Service

Spa

At the Hotel

Tropical grounds, farm, gym, library with books about Sri Lankan history and architecture, boutique, bikes to borrow for free, charged laundry service, board games, and free WiFi. In rooms: butler and local mobile phone for making contact, TV and DVD player, tea- and coffee-making kit, minibar, bottled water, sarongs and hats, slippers, umbrella, torch, ceiling fan and air-conditioning, and custom bath products. All except the Garden Dwellings have a plunge (or swimmable) pool and Bose sound-system, too.

Our Favourite Rooms

Your preferred room depends which element you feel most connected to. Each thatch-topped traditionally styled dwelling has a pinch-me view, but the biodiversity here means scenes that are leafy and lacustrine by turn, or beds facing the marshes or paddy fields. The Forest Dwelling has the largest private pool, the Water Dwelling has a stilted overwater balcony, and the Garden Dwelling doesn’t have a pool or sound-system if swimming and playlists are essential to your relaxation routine. And, if you don’t mind a langur monkey swinging into your open-air shower, you’ll have the most animal encounters in the Paddy Dwellings.

Poolside

The infinity pool sits behind the main building overlooking the lake, with loungers by the sides and very leafy views. It’s peaceful, yet bustling with nature, be it nosy peacocks, gliding brahminy kites, maybe even the – friendly – part-resident croc going for a swim (in the lake, not the pool).

Spa

Island Spa (open 8am to 8pm), which is indeed surrounded by a lily-strewn lake, brings in Balinese therapists to impart their homeland’s healing practices, alongside coconutty Sri Lankan body scrubs, Ayurvedic massages, shiatsu, Himalayan salt exfoliation, and spa mani-pedis. It’s set in walkway-connected overwater pavilions, and there’s a steam room, cold-water plunge pool, and Jacuzzi for further unwinding. A gym – with motivating lake views – is open for workouts from 6am to 8pm, and yoga classes can be arranged on request.

Packing Tips

Bring binoculars for snooping on shyer creatures, and maybe higher-grade photo equipment than a phone for some hang-on-the-wall holiday snaps. Leave space for spices (grown by a local family), hand-rolled organic tea, home-grown rice, sarongs, stone figurines, and more from the on-site boutique.

Also

If you’re unsure of the correct way to wear the sarong in your dwelling – don’t worry, there’s an instruction leaflet. Or you could ask your butler, who you can call any time on the local mobile phone provided.

Children

Calm, well-behaved older kids are welcome here. There are no dedicated facilities, but they'll enjoy the rambling grounds, family barbecues, spa treatments for smalls, and wild encounters.

Gallery

Food & Drink

Top Table

A treehouse alcove soundtracked by birdsong, a candlelit picnic on pouffes in the paddy fields, a barbecue on garden lawns, dining à deux in an open-air spa pavilion: Jetwing’s five ecosystems each have their own kind of magic for private meals.

Dress Code

The restaurant’s murals and frescoes will inspire you to dress in luminous gold hues with splashes of sizzling Sri Lankan colour.

Hotel Restaurant

Jetwing Vil Uyana’s fine-dining spot Apsara is set in an open vaulted pavilion with a floor-to-ceiling mural depicting an elephant battle, painted by a local artist; but there are lake views (and a glimpse of Sigiriya Fortress) to look at too. Delicately plated dishes are a mix of western, Asian and authentic Sri Lankan flavours, made using homegrown produce or ingredients sourced very close by – think lots of fresh fish and coconutty sweet treats. And, it might look exceedingly grand with its thatched pavilion resting on sturdy red pillars, but Sulang is a more laidback café for light eats and snacks. If you’re taken with the exotic flavours on show here, you can either try the farm lunch experience, where you’ll pick fruits and vegetables to eat in a typical village dwelling on the on-site farm, or learn more each Saturday evening, when executive chef Mahesh invites a local villager down to share some culinary know-how during a live cooking session as you eat.

Hotel Bar

Rather than tags and neon scribbles, the Graffiti Bar has a more historic kind of wall decor, with frescoes inspired by those at Sigiriya. It’s intimate, candlelit and set beside a pond adorned with floating blue lotus flowers, so it’s also something of a romantic when it comes to spirit sipping, cocktails in coconuts and arak tastings. Abstainers can try the many high-end Sri Lankan teas on offer (the good stuff that usually gets exported), from cinnamon chai to butterfly pea to a natural tea-bag that looks a lot different from a Tetley. And, to keep nights flowing smoothly, the hotel has a stocked-to-the-rafters wine cellar decorated with repurposed antique railway sleepers, where special meals for two can be held on request.

Last Orders

At Apsara, breakfast is from 6.30am to 10.30am, lunch from 12.30pm to 3pm and dine from 7.30pm to 10.30pm. Graffiti Bar stops pouring at 11pm.

Room Service

Dine in your dwelling till midnight.

Planes

International travellers will need to land at Colombo’s Bandaranaike International Airport, and then either book the four-hour transfer to the hotel (US$145 each way) or take a half-hour flight to Sigiriya Airport (a 10-minute drive away) with Cinnamon Air.

Trains

Habarana is the nearest station (a half-hour drive), which has connections to Colombo. Transfers can be arranged for US$30 one-way.

Automobiles

Driving in Sri Lanka is possible, but not hassle-free – you’ll need to verify your licence before arrival, stick to the left side of the road, avoid driving at night, and carry ID. It’s easier and not overly expensive to hire a local driver, so you can sit back and enjoy the scenery. But, if you bring hire wheels, there’s a secure carpark on-site. For pootling about the property there's a fleet of golf buggies you can call on when needed.

Worth Getting Out of Bed For

Set inland, at the heart of Sri Lanka’s cultural triangle, Jetwing Vil Uyana has five distinct habitats to explore, each alive with tropical flora and fauna: emerald gardens, marshland, paddies, lakes and bamboo forest. Borrow one of the hotel’s bikes for a whip round, or wander the more leisurely 1.5-kilometre nature trail to spy crimson rose butterflies, soporific fishing cats, brahminy kites, langur monkeys, and maybe even the odd crocodile or elephant. Perhaps even wilder is the soaring ‘Lion Rock Fortress’ of Sigiriya, a Unesco-protected site from the fifth century, set atop a nearly 200-metre granite pillar; to get a better view climb up neighbouring rock and former monks’ residence Pidurangala, which also has Sri Lanka’s oldest brick Buddha statue tucked into it. They’re not the only high art around here, with Dambulla Rock Temple close by; this sanctuary has been built into an outcrop 160 metres up, and is littered with historic Buddha statues and lined with around 1,500 murals. And, more ancient wonders lie further afield, with dagaba shrines and one of the world’s longest surviving trees at Anuradhapura, and the ruins of an 11th-century Kandyan kingdom at Polonnaruwa. Kandy, a city settled in the 4th century, has a temple dedicated to the Buddha’s tooth alongside floating sacred sites and lush botanical gardens. These ancestral feats of architecture and engineering are matched in spectacle by the wildlife; at Minneriya National Park, ‘the gathering’ sees hundreds of elephants congregate between June and September; dolphins and whales frolic off the eastern coast between March and September; and leopards thrive at Wilpattu National Park to the northwest. On property, Rangirigama Lake is home to around 120 bird species, making the skies a natural theatre, with the resident naturalist as your narrator; and on the loris night trail, you’ll gently trek into the forest to seek out the shy wide-eyed creatures, rarely found elsewhere on the island.

Earn or Redeem Points with World of Hyatt

This Mr & Mrs Smith hotel participates in the World of Hyatt loyalty program. As a member, you can earn and redeem points and enjoy exclusive benefits for qualifying nights. .