SOME 58 KMS SOUTH OF COLOMBO,

the hotel sprawls over a coveted spot of Sri Lanka's south-western coast. Each room has a balcony or terrace and a sea view.

Across the roomy lounge and bar area, the backyard garden leads to a stretch of clean and golden beach. You can take a long stroll up to the mouth of the Bentota river or go explore the lonely lighthouse on a nearby rocky island or just take a dip in the calm waters! Enclosed by a reef, here a slit of the Indian ocean is your own private swimming pool! The reef can even serve as a peer for you to sit with a fishing rod.

The garden is large enough to offer privacy even when the hotel is full. Dotted with flowering frangipani trees, complete with a kiddies' pool, the sprawling green lawn is a good playground for kids. Even grown-ups can have a go at cricket here! For water sports they take you to the group's Club Inter Sports in Bentota Beach.

The covered rooftop of the pool-side bar is an ideal spot from where you can watch the sun setting on a white-crested sea turning gold at the end of a long tropical day.

Wedding packages offer the ceremony on a pontoon along with colourful and exotic shows of decorated elephants and Kandyan dances. Cosy candlelight dinner on room terraces are also arranged.

Daily activities and evening entertainment are a happy blend of vibrancy and restfulness. The calypso singer playing at dinner or the karoake afterwards in the bar lounge can be fun. The hotel in general gets quiet around midnight but on specific days of the week disco-nights are organised at the third floor hall, exotic with its wild Halloween decorations! The pervasive atmosphere is of homely comforts provided by a friendly and hospitable staff.