If Pablo Escobar and Victoria Beckham built a holiday home together, Villa Santé would be it. With its sleek minimalist design, crisp white decor with wood accents and beams, the house is a beautiful coastal getaway. Right on the Kalpitiya Lagoon, the villa has easy access to both the tranquil beach (November to March) and kitesurfing (April to October).
Design, Interior, Ambience
A Hirante Welawande design, the villa appears to have been built on a little coconut plantation, with plenty of foliage and swaying coconut trees around. Your view opens with an architectural wink at Led Zepellin, a stark white stairway to heaven that leads to the rooftop and serves as a focal point for the entrance. Viewed aerially, the building holds a resemblance to a ship's wooden hull, which links in with the lagoon location.
As for your view, you get an uninterrupted vista of the lagoon and ocean beyond, along with athletic people kitesurfing and whizzing around the lagoon whom you can watch from the pool's vantage point. I waved, but none of them waved back, probably because they needed both hands to hang on, and not drown. Rude.
The infinity pool snakes around the side of the building, an azure oasis in the baking hot Kalpitiya sun. It's pretty easy to spend an easy couple of hours West Coast vibing, chanelling your inner Snoop Dogg with a bottle of champagne and some tunes.
The interior is a chic mélange of reclaimed antiques and comfortable upholestery, featuring plenty of oversize patterned cushions and snuggly seating. The attention to detail is commendable, especially the large selection of architecture, art, and culture reading material, and the large driftwood dining table on the mezzanine floor.
The details are what sets the place apart from your average luxury resort, from exceptionally comfortable bedding, to scented candles in the bathroom, and Maxwell & Williams silverware.
Our ground floor room was very well appointed, with plenty of natural light, windows opening out onto the lagoon, and an exceptionally comfortable four poster bed. The bathroom featured a rainwater shower, cement alcoves for towels and candles, and sleek his and hers sinks, which are convenient if your travel partner is messy with a toothbrush.
The bathroom amenities aren't extensive, but there were a few funky coloured glass bottles with stoppers in them. The only problem is that they weren't actually labelled, so I ended up accidentally slathering myself in thick shampoo thinking it was moisturizer. It took 20 minutes to get it all off. 20 precious minutes I could have spent napping by the pool.
We didn't get to explore the other rooms, but there are 5 in total, each of which features a different theme and style.
Service
Without much notice, we were still greeted with friendly Lankan hospitality and grace. The staff is pretty extensive, with a manager, chef, and a couple of waiters/ helpers. They appeared to be pretty shy, but were more than happy to cater to all our needs and specifications. We're sure they're more than capable of dealing with larger numbers too.
Dining
The dining was a slight glitch, as the staff didn't have much notice of our arrival and it was a Vesak weekend. This meant that it was almost impossible for them to source fresh seafood and produce. Despite this, they did a great job of somehow hustling groceries and whipping up meals for us.
We mostly opted for Lankan food, and the rice and curries were great. My favourite was the prawn curry dinner, a lovely concoction of local flavours, fresh lagoon prawns soaked in deliciously spiced curry. My photo above doesn't quite do it justice. We can't vouch for their Western cuisine as yet, as we didn't really try much of that. The breakfast eggs and toast was simple and looked stellar on those plates though.
Overall
Villa Santé is great for either a couples romantic getaway, or a large family holiday (it sleeps upto 10). It's honestly much better having the whole place to yourself, which we were lucky enough to experience. The feel is of a lovely luxury holiday home, as the service is warm, and the vibe is absolutely laid back. You don't have to dress up for dinner, you don't have to worry about much apart from your sunburn and waistline. A perfect West Coast holiday.
For prices and details, check out their site. For more photos, click on the camera icon at the top of the review.
