Amangalla

The Dutch began this house inside Galle Fort in 1684, as the headquarters of their commanders, and the British later quartered soldiers in it, but its longest posting is the present one. Since 1865 it has been a hotel, at first for European passengers passing through Galle's port, and since 2005 an Aman. The Veranda runs the length of the house along Church Street, under a white front of arched windows, and the great hall keeps its Dutch name, the Zaal, while doing duty as lounge and bar. The rooms keep their original wooden floors and tall sash windows, and the beds are four-posters, some in dark turned wood under white-painted rafters. On the garden side a 21-metre pool lies dark green beneath a row of coconut palms, and holds a second row upside down.

Recommended for anyone who would rather spend their days inside a walled town than on a beach, and for families content with babysitting and a children's menu in place of a kids club. One of the butlers leads a walk through the fort's old churches and warehouses, and resident guests can then borrow a bicycle, free, and go round again at their own pace. Afternoon tea is on the Veranda or in the Zaal, with scones, clotted cream from the kitchen and jam from Nuwara Eliya strawberries. Late in the day the sun comes full onto the Sunset Balcony, at the top of the house. The sand at Unawatuna is five to ten minutes' drive away when the sea is wanted.

For dinner, the hotel will send a personal chef out to its ambalama, an island in a sea of rice paddies, to make roti under the stars and serve it by candlelight and flaming torches, a long way from the Dining Room's antique silver.