Romance of a raging river

Few people succeed in finding their way to Royal River Resort, which is the way it should be. It's the kind of place that those who know about it like to keep secret. Set in lush wilderness with only four rooms around a pool fed by a gushing mountain stream, it is the perfect place for escaping life's cares.

Royal River Resort is in Kitulgala. It lies at the end of a road that leads off the A7 between the Kitulgala Rest House and the Plantation Hotel, inland from the river close to the 38km post. It is part of the group that includes Plantation Hotel and Haus Chandra in Mount Lavinia, but is so original in style it is unlike any other hotel in Sri Lanka.

The road to it, called Beli Lena Road, passes through a small settlement with a furniture workshop before narrowing and winding uphill through rubber and tea plantations. Overhung with gigantic ferns, it dives under kitul trees, straddles streams and then disintegrates, splitting into two separate surfaced tracks just wide enough for a vehicle's wheels.There, as all hope of finding the place is lost, at the base of a gully on the left of the trail, is a cluster of cottages astride boulders washed by a flowing torrent. Around a corner a door set in a short wall by a parking space for three cars, leads to the entrance foyer. This is a bijou pavilion containing a locked bookcase in which are displayed some books, including one called "The Sweet Success of Diabetes Control," by the late Dr. Anton Jayasuria. It was he who was the genius behind the creation of Royal River Resort.

Only someone with imagination and a flair for defying convention could have thought of taming nature to build such a thrilling, unusual hideaway. That something sensational is ahead is apparent from the dedication that must have gone into the elaborate landscaping. From the entrance pavilion a long path lined with blood red anthuriums descends through a hillside garden of exotic trees towards the sound of raging water. The mountain stream roars so much it drowns out conversation but that doesn't matter as absorbing the magnificence of the surroundings makes talking superfluous.

The path divides to give access to the rooms and to the heart of the resort: a six-sided swimming pool soaring above the boulders and rushing stream. Water spumes in from a spring on one side and tumbles out into the stream at the other. It is shockingly cool and gorgeously exhilarating, like swimming in fresh rain.

A cottage with two bedrooms - each with shower - and a balcony over- looking the river, has been built beside the pool. Walls of glass flood the rooms with light and room number 3 has French windows opening onto the pool. Both rooms have fireplaces, antique and modern furniture, and a certain fey quality. Magical is the apt, vogue term to describe them.Rooms 1 and 2 above, on the side of the hill, are more robust. Room 1, with a view of the pool and the hurtling stream beyond the tiled roof of the parlour below, has sturdy, chunky furniture. There is a contemporary, plain wood double bed and a complementary polished antique day bed. Oriental rugs and wooden panels adorn the cement floor.

Room 2, built above the kitchen, is blessed with the tantalising aromas of meals being prepared. Both rooms have showers in their attached bathrooms, and fireplaces set at knee height in brick chimneys. Curiously in this rustic haven far from civilisation, posters on the bedroom walls advertise performances by the Canadian Opera Company.

Below, the kitchen has a glass wall overlooking the pool so guests can watch the team of four immaculately garbed chefs at work. Everything is freshly prepared on demand from a menu of over a hundred items, at normal café prices. This is wholesome, not fancy fusion, food suitable for man-sized appetites. Meals are served in the parlour where glass-topped dining tables share space with plump sofas. In one corner there is an upright piano with notes appropriately a little bit out of tune. Faded but stunning surrealist paintings on wooden panels decorate the walls, adding a touch of the bizarre to this forest redoubt.

It is amazing that this small, isolated and defiantly inaccessible hotel functions with an alacrity rarely found in mainstream properties. Perhaps Royal River Resort is called Royal because the guest is King; certainly nothing is too much trouble for the young and eager staff. Equally amazing is that, at Rs 8,000 net for a double room, such an original, stylish and comfortable wilderness retreat is so affordable. Royal River Resort, tel: 036 492 0790 or 011 493 4923.