Cradled in the Matara bay, Jetwing's Amaloh features lush lawns sprinkled with topiary, hammocks, and an invitingly pristine pool. We checked them out for a lazy weekend escape. It's about 10 minutes away by car from the popular Mirissa beach in case you're looking for some entertainment.
Ambience
With just about 20 rooms, Amaloh is very much a cosy boutique hotel. The architecture closely mirrors old Lankan ancestral homes, inviting in the sultry breeze and natural light. The space pairs a classic white wash with reclaimed wooden accents, giving it a charming beach house vibe. The lawns are hemmed in by the Matara bay, which is lovely and swimmable but doesn't feature a beach. Instead, you can take some stairs straight into the water, which is pretty surreal.
Vibrant swatches of handloom fabric make up most of the upholstery, and cast the space with a warm glow when the morning sun starts warming up. The suites in the main area feature gorgeous high ceilings, large wooden doors, and rather interesting bathing arrangements. You can choose to either take a long steamy dip in the bath tub, which is within the bedroom, or shower in the open plan bathroom separated by Old West-type swinging salon doors.
So essentially, this is a couples' set up because you probably wouldn't want to be soaping up in front of your business partner or sister. Or so we'd assume.
Service
The assistant manager was a real treat, making sure everything was to our liking with a rather toothy grin. The service staff too was great, despite a ponderously gloomy waiter (existential crisis? marital problems? it intrigued us the entire meal). The hotel really swings on this lazy beachside vibe, so we had to search a bit to find staff during siesta times, which we didn't mind because we got to explore the property.
Apart from that, we found them to be accommodating and helpful even when the hotel was full, which was commendable. All of our dishes arrived within a few minutes and the waitstaff knew their way around the menus too. We unfortunately didn't have time to try out the spa, but the prices were fabulous, with a 90 minute ayurvedic massage at Rs. 3500.
Food & Drinks
We visited on a poya so drinks weren't really an option, although they did make a pretty great lime soda upon request. In terms of food, we were greeted by a pretty spectacular specials menu featuring everything from fettucine to chilli crab, which got us slavering like piglets at feed time. Unfortunately, we didn't know that the full board menus were different (and less exciting). The food was still quite good, but not quite as gourmet as the specials menu.
We had some solid vegetable soups, followed by straightforward mains like nasi goreng and fried chicken. The nasi goreng was actually great, and had lovely fresh seafood and spiced rice in abundance. The fried chicken was less engaging, but we powered through to the dessert, some legit creme caramel. Mmm.
Dinner was served "German style" (I thought it was called family style this entire time), i.e a whole heap of dishes put forward that we could share and nibble in tandem. We got a selection of stuff from fried rice and chicken to spaghetti, fish and calamari.
Everything was fresh and well spiced, and felt very homely, as though we were unwinding in our own beach house after a day in the water and our faithful cook rustled something up for us.
Breakfast the next day was great, we opted for one continental and one Sri Lankan spread, both of which were served with fresh fruit platters and bread baskets. It was an incredibly filling meal and we had to laze by the pool for a while to settle down. We also genuinely appreciated that they happily served us breakfast past 10 AM.
Conclusion
We absolutely enjoyed our stay at Amaloh. Despite the hotel being almost at full capacity, we had plenty of privacy and even more space. The natural beauty of the place is undeniable, and nicely complemented by neat landscaping and architecture. It's a charmingly domestic sort of hotel, and we'd recommend the vibe for both couples and families.
