The Last House

The Last House is a unique five-bedroom hotel or boutique hotel in Tangalle on one of southern Sri Lanka’s most secluded castaway beaches. As the architectural swansong of Geoffrey Bawa, this two-storey seaside villa is one of Sri Lanka’s most magical havens for a relaxing boutique beach stay. Day beds stylishly furnish pillared verandas, rooms are cooled by ocean breezes, and doors and windows in tropical hues frame views of the exotic garden and the ocean beyond.

The house is laid out in a horseshoe shape with two bedrooms on the upper floor of the main building and a further three located in an adjacent building beside a courtyard swimming pool. Space flows seamlessly between indoor and outdoor areas offering up plenty of places to relax privately or dine. The two upstairs balcony-wrapped bedrooms – a double and a twin – open onto a wide ocean-facing balcony and if booked together create a spacious residence for families and friends travelling together. The hotel can also be booked as a private villa so it works exceptionally well for multigenerational groups (sleeps 12 max.).

The staff are efficient, discreet and accommodating. The in-house chef serves up some of the region’s best Asian-fusion cuisine to order to tables within the garden or in the open-to-the-garden dining terrace. Such personalised service is to be expected and past guests comment on the hotel’s home from home feel. Mawella – the two-kilometre beach it sits upon – is another rarity as it feels barely touched by tourism and is now just one hour from historic Galle Fort and a couple of hours drive from Colombo Airport thanks to the southern highway extension.