The car ride from Colombo to Tangalle was luckily nowhere near as adventurous as I was expecting. The new highway was great, well paved and shockingly everyone drove conservatively and smoothly. It allowed plenty of time to check out the beautiful countryside. Loved the warning for possible peacock crossing.
Once we were off the highway and closer to the resort, the driving got only a little more adventurous, but again, nowhere near what I was expecting.
Some cows chilling by the roadside.
And finally, pulling up to the resort.
There's a security guard who inspects each car and they gave a nice welcome gift.
Pulling up to the main entrance.
Welcomed by the beautiful courtyard.
What a gorgeous and relaxing lobby area.
These lovely ladies drum and do a welcome song for each guest as they walk-in for the first time.
Check-in isn't like any I've ever experienced, instead of sitting down at the computer, they actually escorted me to a nice lounge area around the corner.
Through this garden area.
And to this very relaxing and beautiful lounge overlooking the entire resort.
What a view!
The resort assigns a personal butler to each guest and a few minutes later, met mine, Isuru who completed check-in on an iPad and would escort me to my room and tell me more about the resort and get setup so I could contact him on Whatsapp anytime I needed or wanted to do anything.
What a gorgeous and relaxing place!
The short stroll with Isuru to my room.
Walking past the gym and spa building.
I booked my room through Virtuoso and had the instant upgrade to the premier ocean view room which turned out to be huge.
And beautiful, so incredibly relaxing and easily Four Seasons level quality.
The bathroom was amazing with a tub, rain shower and nice vanity area.
The desk area worked just fine when I needed to get some work done.
A lounge chair with a basket of fresh fruit and a nice welcome card.
Then the amazing balcony and view of the ocean.
Back to the bathroom for more views of it.
View from the bathroom outside, there is a privacy curtain in the bathroom that is activated with the touch of a switch.
After Isuru got me settled and booked my dinner reservations for the stay, I went to grab a late lunch. Walking past the pool area.
Perfect with a two tier infinity pool.
The pool bar and restaurant.
Great seating with views of the pool and ocean.
Starting things off with a mojito.
Then went with something lighter of a panzanella and chicken wing salad, it was super fresh and tasty.
Hello friend!
After lunch I continued exploring. Down the path from the restaurant towards the ocean.
View back towards the pool and main resort buildings.
Then down to the beach.
A beautiful beach with nice waves. Not a beach for snorkeling, but for lounging and listening to waves, it doesn't get much better.
After that, I headed up towards the pool to take a dip.
View from in the pool over the infinity pool ledge. It's beautiful in pictures, but stunning in real life.
After a swim, I headed back up to the lobby level to explore a bit more.
Display of different types of teas grown in Sri Lanka.
Then I went into the library building, a great and quiet place to work or read.
Then back to the lobby bar and a gin tonic for the late afternoon.
At 6pm everyday there is a sunset ceremony.
With a torch being lit and calls from the giant conc shell.
After the ceremony, I headed to my room to do a little work and shower up for dinner. Walking past the torch.
Heading to dinner it was beautiful to walk through the resort with it lit up nicely at night.
For the first night's dinner, I went to Il Mare the Italian restaurant for dinner, check out this post.
After a great night of sleep, I did wake up on the earlier side and enjoyed some Ceylon black tea along with a Sri Lankan cookie on my balcony to watch the rest of the sunrise.
Each afternoon, as part of the turn down service, they would leave a sweet treat. This cookie was really interesting with a slight curry outside, but semi-sweet inside.
Then off for a workout before getting the day started.
On my way to the gym, saw some of the peacocks walking around.
After the gym, I took a shower and went to start my Spice Spoons cooking class experience with the morning local market shopping experience with the chef, check out this post.
We got back around 9am from the markets and the cooking portion would be at noon. I decided to kill time by going to the beach and for a swim in the pool.
Along the beach are cabanas available to resort guests and can be made up with towels by the staff.
Since it was still relatively early, the pool didn't have many people and it was super cool when it started to have a monsoon style rain. It was fun to swim in the rain, but I also wanted to make sure my phone wasn't in the rain as well which allowed me a moment to snap a few pics.
How cool is that?!
After that, I headed back to my room to change and went to the amazing Spice Spoons cooking class, check out this post.
After the amazing class and lunch, it was time to take advantage of the beautiful resort and relax. I found a cabana with a perfect view of the ocean and just lounged/fell asleep for a bit.
After I woke up from my nap, I went to the pool bar to grab a drink and wake up a bit.
Then back to my room to do some work as people woke up back in the states.
For my second night, I had dinner at Verela a Sri Lanka and Japanese teppanayaki restaurant. Check out the food post here.
The next morning woke up and had breakfast at the buffet, the crows were aggressive with food if you weren't looking, this one grabbed my butter packet.
After brunch I headed to get ready for my tour of a cinnamon farm and Galle. Check out that awesome experience at this post.
After getting back from my day of touring, I did some work and went to dinner at the resorts buffet which was good, but I was too tired and didn't get any pictures.
For my final full day in Sri Lanka, I wanted to take it easy and just relax at the resort. After an early morning workout and breakfast, I started with lounging at the beach.
The waves made it incredibly relaxing to chill.
Then I moved over to try hanging out on the lower pool, it was nice but not as good of views as the upper.
Then lunchtime, starting with an espresso martini.
A bold visitor at lunch.
And an iguana crossing the path up ahead!
Pretty cool!
Waves crashing up against the rocks were spectacular, especially at sunset.
The sunset ceremony.
And the resort at night from the lobby bar.
For my final dinner I went back to Il Mare to sit on the balcony with the great views and food. That experience covered in the Anantara Restaurants post here.
The next morning I woke up and had coffee and a muffin on my balcony, but others wanted the muffin as well!
More peacocks on the way to the gym.
And like that, my time at Anantara Peace Haven was over and it was time to head to Colombo for my journey home.
Anantara Peace Haven Resort Tangalle is absolutely amazing, right up there with Four Seasons. Not only is the resort beautiful and detailed with guest comfort in mind, but above all the staff is so incredibly friendly and helpful. In luxury experiences, the real difference is when you feel welcomed and your needs are anticipated or great suggestions are timed to make sure you have a fantastic experience.
I was super impressed and would highly recommend anyone looking for a new place to visit, head to Sri Lanka and head to Anantara Peace Haven. I'm definitely bringing MsFlamingo back here!
Trip links:
- Colombo
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