A ‘hotel away from hotel’ rises in the East
View(s):Curiously, some hotels on their websites, like to boast that they are “a home away from home.” That surprises me, as surely guests stay in a hotel to get away from home? I suspect that guests would soon take umbrage at paying for accommodation that seems just like their own home.
Fortunately, this hackneyed phrase is not used to describe Amaranthe Bay Hotel, which is actually not even like “a hotel away from a hotel.” It’s unique in the rooms it offers guests. Why? Because each room has a glass-walled Jacuzzi with a view. (However, you don’t get much chance to see the view while wallowing in the Jacuzzi since you’ll have to pull down the blinds so that guests strolling in the garden or glancing from their own room to yours, can’t see you.)
Water views: The hotel’s swimming pool and below left, the tranquil lagoon as seen from the room jacuzzis
Amaranthe Bay started life this year as Calamander Bay but had to change its name to avoid confusion with the established Calamander Unawatuna Beach Resort. It now has the same name as a Swedish heavy metal band, with which it has no connection, or a girl’s name of Greek origin. Amaranthe is also the name of a species of plant, or the colour purple.
Amaranthe Bay is the newest luxurious hotel to open near Trincomalee, an area where guesthouses are sprouting rapidly to cope with the growing demand for accommodation in the East. It is at Uppuveli about five kilometres north of Trincomalee and so can be reached by rail, road or even by air from Colombo. It’s not only the Jacuzzis that make the hotel unusual, it overlooks a tranquil lagoon, not the beach. This has the advantage of creating privacy for guests, and the beach is close enough as it fronts its neighbour, the Trinco Blu by Cinnamon Hotel (formerly known as Chaaya Blu).
Amaranthe Bay is at the end of the entrance drive to its neighbour, with a sharp left turn to its gates. The reception pavilion is bright and spacious with a high roof and a counter created from a wooden catamaran on a concrete plinth. The reception staff are relaxed and welcoming, appreciating that guests have probably had a long journey to get there. After a cool face towel and welcome drink, we were escorted by a charming guest relations lady to our room to fill in the check-in forms there.
Each bedroom is a generous 533sqft in area, cleverly laid out to take advantage of all that space. Our room was on the third level of a block of six rooms and, because it was on the top floor, had an A-shaped roof with a ceiling of polished timber. Its short entrance passage leads to a bright, white-painted room flooded with light from floor to ceiling glass walls and stunning views of coconut palms and the lazily-flowing lagoon. The floor too was of timber, as was the chunky furniture, creating an ambience of mature comfort.
The décor was refreshingly simple: no disturbing modern art on the walls, no bizarrely coloured strips of counterpanes or piles of gaudy cushions on the bed, just curtains of royal grey that when opened revealed a charming narrow balcony with wooden rails and wooden chairs overlooking the hotel’s garden, pool and the lagoon.
The bed, on one side of the room, has easy access to the bathroom where the shower is compact and has a square of pebbles in front of it. The bed faces a rectangular structure of white-painted beams framing a raised wooden platform. A rotatable flat screen television acts as a room divider and can be turned away from the bed so it can be watched in comfort from a long couch with lots of cushions. There is a vanity (or work) desk below a big mirror where a wooden counter has power points sensibly positioned for plugging in a laptop (WiFi is free).
At the other side is the aforementioned glass walled Jacuzzi, which are proving to be hugely popular. Actually, there’s no problem with Peeping Toms since the blinds ensure complete privacy. With a free-form swimming pool for bathing as well as the gentle charm of the lagoon, it seems unimportant that the hotel isn’t actually beside the sea.
We did, however, dine by the water. That evening a table was set up on the bank of the lagoon, lit by flaming torches, where we enjoyed delicious fresh crab curry in the peaceful glow of the full moon. It’s the perfect setting for couples on holiday. Breakfast the next morning was in the glass walled restaurant with views on all sides, western or Sri Lanka dishes on request.
In the garden of the hotel there are two thatched kiosks overlooking the pool with half-a-dozen brightly-coloured bean bags, a fun place to relax. Amaranthe Bay seems to be a timely addition to Sri Lanka’s eclectic places to stay, raising the standards of accommodation in the East – and at an affordable rate.
Amaranthe Bay Resort & Spa, No 101/17 Alles Garden Road, Uppuveli, Trincomalee; tel: 026 2050200; www.Amaranthebay.com