Reef Villa & Spa

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  Guest Reviews

Reef Villa & Spa

Style: Contemporary Classic

Atmosphere: Quiet

7 Rooms

It’s not a design hotel, exactly — there’s not much about the Reef Villa & Spa that looks modern, or minimalist, much less futuristic — but its effect on the guest isn’t so very different from the one produced by its flashier cousins. Maybe the word is "theatrical"; from the entry, through the splendid old wooden doors, to the ornately figured timbered ceilings, to the exquisite collection of locally made furnishings and objets d’art, it’s an intensely evocative experience, no less consciously crafted than any superstar designer’s hotel.

It helps to start with a place as perceptually rich as this spot, on the island’s west coast, a short drive south of Colombo. Here the town of Wadduwa meets the Indian Ocean in a flurry of tropical gardens and sandy beaches. The cavernous suites with their soaring vaulted ceilings are spread throughout these grounds, each one feeling more than a little bit like its own private residential compound.

Like all the best beach escapes, Reef offers the opportunity to do as little or as much as you like with your time. The villas are worth shutting yourself in for a while, and the appeal of the spa and the swimming pool is obvious. But beyond that there’s yoga, the beach, tennis and table tennis, and all sorts of excursions from sailing to snorkeling to cycling. Just try and be back in time for dinner.