Rukgala Retreat

Rooms

The 8 rooms are spacious and airy, with a bright modern feel – overhead fans and mosquito nets are the only nods to colonial style. All have high beamed ceilings, creamy white walls and blond-wood bed frames and balconies. Floor-to-ceiling windows and glass doors swing open to views over treetops or verdant gardens. Colourful mirror frames dot the immaculate shower bathrooms.

On the top floor of the Main House are 3 double/twin bedrooms – these have long terraces with vistas to the lake. The Garden Cottage is a separate building: it has 4 bedrooms, each with a mezzanine floor accessed by a steep ladder with a single sofabed for a child, or for a separate meditation space. For groups or families, there's a quad room too: 4 large single beds on the Main House ground floor, with a small but sunny garden.

Features include:

• Air conditioning
• Mosquito net

Eating

All meals are included in the rates, pairing the best of Sri Lankan cuisine with innovative western dishes - most of them vegetarian, vegan or pescatarian. Ingredients are fresh, local and seasonal.

For breakfast, we had fruit platters and smoothie bowls, sprouted bread with avocado and spinach – and you can order eggs and pancakes too if you prefer.

Lunches were also super healthy with a Sri Lankan twist. We tucked into yellowfin tuna and roasted veggies followed by banana chocolate mousse; and there were platters of salads, beans and pulses too.

Dinner might feature chicken curry with gotu kola sambol (a herby coconut salad) or coconut roti, and a carrot, cashew and raisin salad too. Smoothies and fruit juices are on offer to keep you feeling fresh throughout the day.

Meals are sometimes shared communally on benched tables outdoors; or (as on our visit) taken separately on your own table.

Features include:

• Restaurant
• Room service
• Vegetarian menu

Activities

• There are daily morning and evening yoga classes in the open-air shala with a qualified instructor and plenty of props (mats, blocks, straps, cushions), plus a coconut for everyone after class
  
• The traditional spa is Ayurvedic-inspired and open to nature. Indulge in massages, reflexology, shirodhara and traditional steam baths
  
• Do laps in the pool or wild swim, kayak and paddle board in Victoria Lake. Rukgala can organise catamaran-fishing trips, picnics to nearby islands or evening boat rides, too
  
• Take a guided tour of the nearby Ashburnham Estate, an elegant tea plantation in the Knuckles foothills, with pretty gardens and waterfalls
  
• Walk to the temple and meditation caves at Bambaragala Monastery, trek through Knuckles Mountains National Park or stroll along ‘Coconut Ridge’ for evening sunset
  
• Kandy is an hour’s drive away: don't miss the Temple of the Tooth, a World-Heritage Buddhist site, and visit authentic craft and artisan markets to buy textiles, brassware, clothing and jewellery

Activities on site or nearby include:

• Cycling
• Golf
• Paddle boarding

Kids

Children over 16 are welcome, but be aware this is a retreat where guests come for peace and quiet and there's not much provision for families.

Family friendly accommodation:

Garden Cottage rooms have a mezzanine area where a sofa bed can be set up, though note this is accessed by a steep ladder. Otherwise you can book adjacent (but not adjoining) double / twin rooms.

For more family-friendly places, see our Kids Collection

Location

Rukgala is located near the village of Digana, between Kandy and Teldeniya, in the Central Province of Sri Lanka.

By Air:
Colombo’s international airport, north of the capital, is a 4-hour drive from Rukgala Retreat. Airport transfers are available on request.

If you want to hire a car and driver for your whole holiday, enquire through our Tailormade Tour Operator; they can collect you at Colombo airport when you land, drive you to the hotel, then drive you to your onward destination(s) after your stay, as well as taking you on all day trips etc.

Alternatively, Cinnamon Air flies a seaplane from Colombo to Kandy, a 40-minute flight to Polgalla airport. The hotel can arrange transfers from here. If chartered, the seaplane can land on Victoria Lake: the landing site is a 5-minute tuk-tuk ride from Rukgala.

By Train:
There is a scenic train journey of about 3.5 hours from Colombo Fort to Kandy station. The hotel can arrange transfers from here.

Detailed directions will be sent when you book through i-escape.