This Hilton is on the edge of a huge, animal-filled national park

The hotel

Hilton Yala Resort, Sri Lanka

Hotel pool and villas surrounding it.

Check-in

You don’t just fall off the flight at Colombo’s Bandaranaike International Airport and tumble straight into the new Hilton Yala Resort. It is, after all, a five-hour drive away in the country’s far south-east, tucked away on the southern edge of Yala National Park. Much of the journey is on well-maintained freeways but the last few hundred metres are off-the-beaten-track bumpy along a potholed and rutted red dirt track, as befits a property that prides itself on being, well, off the beaten track. The hotel can arrange pick-up if needed.

The look

Muted colours bring the hotel and its environment together.

Designed very much with the environment in mind, it’s hard to believe there are 42 rooms, suites and villas hidden away here. Local stone has been used in much of the construction – to the point that it looks like the place has grown here rather than been built. To that end, the jigsaw-piece-shaped pool meanders around several pre-existing trees and rock formations. There is nothing flashy or garish about the place, just elegant low-rise, earth-coloured buildings. The muted stone-grey and brown, coupled with its no-fences policy, might explain why the local wildlife – elephants especially – often pop by for a visit. As such, there is a strict buggy-use service between the rooms and the main reception area.

The room

One of the luxuriously fitted hotel rooms, complete with telescope for some wildlife-watching.

The suites and villas are all eco-friendly and so elegantly, handsomely designed that I am torn between just standing there in admiration or running around, touching everything, pressing all the buttons, bouncing on the bed, firing up the huge LCD TV, doing lengths in the massive stone bath, using the rainforest shower, and taking every advantage of the fully automatic wash-it, dry-it, tuck-it-up-in-a-bow Toto Washlet smart toilet. I opt for the latter. The beds are sumptuous, the linen luxurious, and the bathroom amenities first class. Like the rest of the resort, the colour palette is of muted earth colours punctuated with restrained wildlife motifs and local artworks.

Food + drink

There is no in-room food service in a pre-emptive strike against the local wildlife (anyone who has had their room trashed by monkeys looking for food scraps will appreciate this) so everything happens in the main double-storey reception area. This building is a simple rectangle but inside it is gentle sophistication. The upper storey has massive windows which look out over the pool area and onwards to the Indian Ocean. It’s divided into two sections – Vanya cafe and bar and Dhira, the main dining area. The food ranges from Western-style plates through to classic Sri Lankan dishes (egg hoppers and curries) and what ebullient executive chef Jerome Tissera calls his “progressive Sri Lankan” cuisine (such as the excellent breakfast dish of coconut curry shakshuka).

Out + about

On safari in Yala National Park.

The resort is on the edge of the Yala National Park, a 979-square-kilometre wilderness full of free-range elephants, leopards, crocodiles, monkeys, mongoose, civet cats, and a cornucopia of birdlife. There is sunset dune walking nearby, early morning hikes in the surrounding bushland, and twice- daily game drives (at additional cost) into the national park proper.

The verdict

A thoughtful, sustainability-focused development which does its best to live harmoniously with its environment without guests having to give up on creature comforts. The food is excellent, with most of the ingredients sourced locally.

Essentials

Rooms from $US700 ($1040) a night (bed and breakfast). Hilton Yala Resort, Palatupana, Yala, Tissamaharama, Sri Lanka. See hilton.com
Sri Lankan Airlines flies from all major Australian cities to Colombo. See srilankan.com

Our rating out of five

★★★★

The writer was a guest of Hilton Yala Resort.

HIGHLIGHT
The amount of wildlife we see on the game drives thanks to the expertise of delightful head ranger Sajith Buddhika. Who knew that leopard pee smells like popcorn?

LOWLIGHT
Some of the restaurant service is a little slow, with unexplained gaps between an order and its arrival.