"Part Ian Schraeger, part Somerset Maugham..
...this 14 room hotel is in a seventeenth century Dutch merchant's house in the heart of Sri Lanka's historic, now hip, Galle Fort. Owners Karl Steinberg and Christopher Ong, exacting guests themselves, have trained the young staff to abandon Oriental bows for genuinely great service ...Ong oversees a daily menu of Asian favourites that draws deserved raves from across the island, particularly a Kung Pao Chicken that elevates the take out classic to haute cuisine. Dutch antiques fill the rooms, no two of which are alike..."
Cynthia Rosenfeld
CONDE NAST TRAVELER The Best New Hotels of 2005
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"A stylish and intimate home away from home" M&S Magazine
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"The best food on the island" Australian Gourmet Traveler |
"Galle Fort is itself an experience but now there is a hotel to match its majesty" Vogue USA
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"...an air of exotic romanticism... ...the scent of lillies lingers in the air as eccentric expats mingle over tea with young cosmopolitan professionals. Other guests lounge by the swimming pool in the central courtyard, which is lined on both sides by loggias leading to 13 guest rooms. Mouth tingling modern Asian dishes - ranging from giant grilled king prawns and red thai curries are served for dinner on the candlelit verandah" the independent
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"....one of South Asia’s most exquisite, yet casual, boutique hotels. Madhur Jaffrey The Financial Times September 2006 |
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"lovely, relaxed, friendly and smartly appointed .. delightfully eclectic suites set around a fab, colonnaded courtyard pool" www.luxe.com |
GALLE is my find of the year, a charming, centuries-old walled fort set on Sri Lanka's surf-lapped southwest coast, where narrow streets are lined with moss-daubed merchants' houses and tiny shops sell antique china and inexpensive gems. Stay at the Galle Fort Hotel (run by Aussie expats Karl and Chris), a 17th-century grand merchant's house with Wallpaper attitude and fantastic food.
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Welcome to Galle Fort.
In 2003 we gave up our careers and made a seachange to Galle Fort in Southern Sri Lanka. Our new home is the perfect place to relax and rejuvenate whilst experiencing the fascinating, living cultures and rich history of this spectacularly beautiful island. And did we mention the great shopping!
Many people find Sri Lanka and Galle Fort in particular a nostalgic reminder of old Asia. Vegetable carts, cobblers and hundreds of old bicycles, Morris Minors and even bullock carts laden with cinnamon navigate the Fort's tiny streets. Women make intricate hand made lace and men cut the most brilliant sapphires on pedalled polishers for export to Paris, London and the finest jewellers of the world.
Just as ours did, your life will change once you come through the huge wooden gates of the Fort. Slowing down, you find time to appreciate the warm smiles and welcome waiting for you here.
As for us, after two years of hard work and every obstacle you could imagine (plus some you certainly wouldn't) 28 Church Street has been beautifully restored, making our dream of Galle Fort Hotel a reality.
We hope you will come and be part of the story.
Christopher Ong / Karl Steinberg
"Take one ancient walled fort town, a sprawling 17th Century merchant's house and two stylish Aussies with a flair for food and interiors and you have the perfect colonial meets Ceylon chic bolthole. Set on a narrow street where auto rickshaws and cycles vie with the ocassional linen upholstered Ambassador ( from the Aman resort up the road) the Galle Fort Hotel conjures up a lost era, when Somerset Maugham, not Paris Hilton, blazed the traveller's trail. Think whirring fans and cocktails on the terrace, served by serene sarong clad staff. The enormous guest rooms, decorated sparely with impressive Sri Lankan and Chinese antiques are clustered around a shady courtyard where pink frangipani petals confetti the pool. Front of house is former television producer Karl Steinberg, while fellow Sydneysider Christopher Ong oversees the kitchen, turning out sensational Straits Chinese food. Luscious three course dinners are astonishingly cheap, with a just opened private dining room displaying Ong's impressive porcelain collection."
I loved: the romantic lost in time feel of both the hotel and the Fort
Best Feature the four poster beds dressed with handmade linen in the hotel's sprawling Le Grand Appartement du Compte De Mauny.Australian Gourmet Traveller:
Best of the Best "Our favourite 20 hotels from around the world"
