The Owl and the Pussycat

The founders of The Owl and the Pussycat say they wanted a place with romance and dancing in the moonlight, which is more or less the plot of the poem. In Edward Lear's verses of 1871 the owl and the pussy-cat marry and dance by the light of the moon, with mince and slices of quince in between. Here the moon has the Indian Ocean to work with. The hotel stands at the water's edge at Thalpe, outside Galle, seventeen suites designed by the New York architect Uday Dhar, and Lear is never far off: there is a drawing room named after him, and suites called Suite Dreams and Suite E Pie, for anyone who found the poem not quite sweet enough.

We came on from Taru Villas at Mawella, further east along the same coast, for the second part of the trip. Beside it this is the sleeker hotel, a little more bougie and slightly more commercial, and very good at all of it. The day turns on the pool, which runs along the ocean's edge with its sun beds facing out to sea, and the cocktails beside it were good enough to take the afternoon. More are mixed under the coconut trees at the Beach Shack, a classic or one with a Sri Lankan twist, and the house cocktail is named after the hotel, which by now is no surprise. Of the room we remember mainly that it was comfortable, which after an afternoon of cocktails by the pool is most of what a room is asked to do.

The cure is on the same shore. The hotel arranges private yoga on a platform by the sea, morning or evening, and we went at sunrise, the morning after a few cocktails. With nothing beyond the platform but the Indian Ocean, it blew the cobwebs off and made a strong case for setting an alarm on holiday. For a swim in the sea, Mihiripenna, a sheltered sand beach, is 180 metres away on foot.

Thalpe is a little more built up than Mawella, so for dinner we went into Galle, fifteen to twenty minutes by car, and liked it. Inside the fort we ate a lobster curry that was probably the best we have ever had, on a trip that ran largely on food, which made it a crowded field. Anyone staying in has the hotel's terrace, out in the open by the sea, and Sri Lankan cooking with international accents.

Families can book the OTP Signature Two Bedroom Suite, which sleeps six and comes apart into two independent units, so the grown-ups can have the moonlight to themselves.