Jetwing Vil Uyana

Before the hotel, this was abandoned slash-and-burn farmland. An expert team spent four years turning it into a man-made wetland whose lakes are filled entirely with harvested rainwater, and the wildlife moved in on its own: over 140 bird species have now been recorded on the grounds, along with fishing cats, jungle cats and rusty spotted cats. Sigiriya Rock Fortress, the fifth-century citadel on its 200-metre column of stone, stands 6.9 km away.

A dwelling for each habitat

The 36 dwellings are sorted by ecosystem rather than floor. Five Garden Dwellings (103 sq m) come with open-air lounges and pools; twelve Paddy Dwellings (115 sq m), finished in woven reed and rattan, put a private deck over working rice fields; Water Dwellings (115 sq m) rise above the lake with balconies over the ripples; and ten two-storey Forest Dwellings (195 sq m) hide in the trees, each with its own large pool. Inside all of them: air conditioning, a proper bathtub and an Illy coffee machine. The buildings are made from local wood, bamboo and thatch, with a clay-and-cement plaster that does away with paint altogether.

The hotel has become one of the best locations in Sri Lanka to spot the elusive slender grey loris.

That nocturnal primate is the estate's celebrity. A resident naturalist leads night walks under red-light headlamps through a dedicated Loris Conservation Area, and the hotel's Loris Conservation Fund built the area's first public library at the nearby Rangirigama Monastery.

Dinner beside the lotus pond

Apsara, the open-air restaurant, serves a la carte and set menus with the lake in front and Sigiriya rising in the distance; the Graffiti Bar sits beside a pond of blue lotus, and the Sulang Cafe makes a third venue. Seven Signature Dining set-ups range from the wine cellar to a table up in the treehouse. Four acres of the estate still grow paddy with village farmers, food waste feeds a biogas plant that runs two kitchen stoves, and you travel the grounds by electric buggy. Colombo is about five hours by road; the sunrise scramble up Pidurangala Rock is 10.5 km from the gate.