Located less than two hours’ drive south from Colombo, the Villa Bentota is a small, smart, and private hotel on the South-West corner of Sri Lanka. Our pick of Bentota’s many fine resorts, the villa has just 15 individually designed rooms and suites ensuring a peaceful stay and attentive service. The property was converted from a local ancestral home by Sri Lanka’s famous architect Geoffrey Bawa during the 1970s, and subsequently became the island’s first boutique hotel. Now experiencing a new lease of life, it has been recently refurbished and extended, and features a new swimming pool, beautifully-reworked gardens, a celebrated restaurant, loungers dotted throughout the grounds and complimentary WiFi. Rooms have been re-designed and given a chic makeover, and are equipped with air-con, huge beds, rain showers and a TV.