Location
The Wallawwa is conveniently located not only for Colombo Airport but also for seeing Colombo’s shops and sights, and exploring the busy fishing town of Negombo. The rural region surrounding the hotel is enhanced with old temples, and a good road connection to Kandy. This means that lowland tea estates and elephant sanctuaries are an easy day trip away.
Colombo offers a great, high energy contrast to The Wallawwa’s serene manicured gardens, and the city is a rapidly emerging cosmopolitan capital equipped with healthy food cafes, upscale restaurants, original shops and excellent contemporary art galleries. Colombo’s origins date back to the 16th century, and the city’s ageing colonial-era buildings, wonderfully contrast with the rapidly increasing shiny-new high rises.
Negombo, a well-developed west coast beach town, is a 30-minute drive from The Wallawwa. A vibrant centre of Sri Lanka’s fishing trade, Negombo has more than its fair share of Gothic churches, and its predominantly Catholic residents are testament to the town’s nickname, Little Rome. The town’s beach is a long, wide stretch of sand flanked by large hotels, while the lagoon and Muthurajawela Wetlands form an important wildlife reserve.