Amanwella

Amanwella takes its cue from Geoffrey Bawa's tropical modernism: clean planes of concrete and glass, terrazzo floors, and very little between you and the outside. The thirty suites step down a coconut-planted hillside, each with a private plunge pool and a terrace facing the Indian Ocean.

A long, dark-tiled main pool runs above the beach, and the crescent bay below is usually empty apart from fishermen. The kitchen leans on local seafood and Sri Lankan rice-and-curry, served with almost no ceremony.

The far south is a quiet corner of the island but well placed for excursions: blue whale watching off Mirissa, the rock temple at Mulkirigala, Yala's western block, and the surf towns of Hiriketiya and Dickwella.