Words by Kalpana Sunder
Sitting between the Indian Ocean and the Negombo Lagoon, Jetwing Lagoon boasts a restaurant and a few rooms overlooking the mirror-like lagoon. It’s a short drive from Colombo, as well as from Bandaranayake International Airport, which makes it the perfect stop when you arrive to Sri Lanka or just before you leave.
Driving into the hotel, the bold entrance pavilion with high ceilings catches your eye. With a welcome drink of tamarind and jaggery, you are taken to your rooms in a golf buggy, passing through an avenue of huge fig and frangipani trees.
Hotel
Originally called the Blue Lagoon, it was the first hotel project of legendary Sri Lankan architect Geoffery Bawa, known for his Tropical Modernism and revolutionary use of space, light and materials, with the help of a local artist Laki Senanayake, whose stark pencil drawings line the walls even today.
It was acquired by Jet Wing in 2009 and relaunched in 2012 as Jetwing Lagoon. After an extensive refurbishment and upgrade, under the guidance of Bawa’s protégé, Vinod Jayasinghe, this iconic hotel is now positioned as a wellness getaway with a wellness concierge team, experienced doctors and expert therapists, and daily wellness activities like yoga, meditation and heathy detox cuisine.
The look is minimalistic with red tiled floors, huge bay windows and timber furniture that blend the inside and outside seamlessly. The property is sprawling over seven acres with fig and frangipani trees, a large swimming pool, a restaurant and kingfishers flitting over the lawns. The air-conditioned library is a quiet zone where guests can relax with a cup of tea and read a book. Geoffrey’s pavilion overlooking the lagoon is used for wellness activities like meditation and yoga, and there are golf buggies to transport guests around the property.
The swimming pool, surrounded by frangipani trees, is the showstopper of the property and one of Sri Lanka’s longest pools at 100 metres. Choose to swim early morning or late afternoon as the Sri Lankan sun is fierce. Across the road next to the rocky beach, the hotel has another 25-metre pool.
Sustainability is the bedrock of all operations here. The resort uses solar energy like many other Jetwing properties which are committed to sustainability. The central hot water system of the hotel is operated completely on renewable energy. The biomass boiler is fuelled by sustainably harvested cinnamon wood, and operates 24 hours a day. The onsite effluent treatment plant treats 100% of wastewater generated through hotel operations. The Jetwing Youth Development Project is currently underway here as well, with youth from the area being trained in hospitality skills.
Room
The air conditioned rooms, with a harmony of light and space in calming earth tones and large glass windows, are over several categories from deluxe rooms to Bawa rooms and suites, and are either garden or lagoon facing. I stayed at the Bawa suite with a king sized bed and a long study as well as bay windows and sofa beds with ceiling fans, mini bar and a tea/coffee maker. The bathroom is huge, with a large tub, rain shower and a big dressing area.
Food and drink
The main Blue Lagoon restaurant, facing the lawns and lagoon with wooden tables and chairs, was built in the minimalist style of Bawa. One portion is air-conditioned. The detox menu is extensive besides the set menu at lunch and dinner, and each recipe has been extensively researched in consultation with their Ayurvedic doctors in order to get the maximum nutritional benefit.
I particularly enjoyed the range of detox drinks, from smoothies to fresh juices and detox beverages like Meditation with Gotukola, ginger, lime, king coconut and honey, and Herbal cleanser with gooseberry syrup, ginger, curry leaves, honey and a dash of melon. The food is made from local pulses, vegetables, rice and coconuts and uses a lot of local spices, from cinnamon and cumin to pandan and curry leaves. The complimentary basket of local breads with healthy dips and olive oil is a nice touch.
The local food is showcased in innovative ways to be healthy at the same time. Sri Lankan set meals with curries, Dhal curry, rice, sambols made from coconut, chillies and shallots, local favourites like Kottu Paratha (minced vegetables, spices with bits of parotta bread), vegetable chow mein, leaf porridge, string hoppers, coconut rotis (coconut and wheat pancakes) and finger millet rotis.
Spa and wellness
The Ayurvedic spa is the hallmark of the resort. The Lagoon Wellness Experience is crafted around five key pillars: mindfulness, nutrition, movement, rest, and community. The treatment starts with a consultation with the Ayurvedic doctor who asks you to fill in a questionnaire to understand your body type and then prescribe a treatment. The massages use Ayurvedic oils made from locally grown herbs. The treatments are offered in different packages like relax and rejuvenate, detox and revitalise and de-stress and energise , as well as sleep-focused retreats, and comprehensive weight management plans, using massages with Ayurvedic oils or herbal powders, steam baths and traditional fermentation.
The wellness retreat packages include meals and beverages and daily 90-minute treatments and other activities. There are also specific treatments for eye and hair care and shoulder and neck. They also offer an Ayurvedic pharmacy, cookery demonstrations, and awareness programmes for a deeper understanding of this traditional science.
I had massages with Ayurvedic oils as well as a body scrub with olive oil and sea salt followed by a body wrap of neem leaves and four kinds of barks ground into a powder mixed with milk. My skin felt as soft as a baby’s, post the treatments and my body incredibly light and energetic.
To do
There’s a lot to do for those who want to look beyond the resort. A boat trip to the extensive Muthurajawela wetlands and mangroves is highly recommended; it has a prolific bird life and is a short boat ride from the resort. Negombo town is the little Rome of Sri Lanka with many churches, the most beautiful one being St Mary’s church, with frescoes on the ceiling.
The Dutch canal is another beautiful attraction, and you can take a boat trip on it too. Don’t miss visiting the 200-year-old Angurukaramulla Buddhist Temple with its six-metre-tall statue of Buddha, and sculptures and murals that depict Lord Buddha’s journey, as well as Sri Lankan legends. The ruins of the old Dutch fort and the bustling fishing market are also worth a visit.
Factbox
Getting there: Fly into Colombo and take a taxi from there or get picked up by the resort. The property is 16 km from the international airport.
Bed and breakfast for double occupancy starts from USD240. Package rate – USD180 per person per day.
Address: Jetwing Lagoon, Pamunugama Road, Thalahena, Negombo, Sri Lanka
Phone: +94 31 223 3777
Email: resv.lagoon@jetwinghotels.com
Website: jetwinghotels.com
Hotel photography courtesy of Jetwing Lagoon.
