UNU Boutique Hotel

UNU Boutique Hotel is a design-led, kid-free 11-room hotel in Ahangama, directly opposite the Marshmallow Point surf break, with a rooftop restaurant and bar. It stands on the Galle Road, and the rooftop is built for watching the sun go down over the Indian Ocean. Its rooms mix what the owners call Scandinavian clarity and Japanese calm with local materials: sea-green terrazzo, solid teak shutters and open-air bathrooms that look into the trees or the sky, around a garden pool in Ahangama.

What are the rooms like at UNU Boutique Hotel?

Each room has around 35 square metres of space, air conditioning, a seating area, a private terrace and a semi-open-air walk-in bathroom with built-in reflexology features. Five rooms are on the ground floor facing the garden pool, sold as Garden View, and five are on the first floor facing the sea, sold as Ocean View; the Loft is the eleventh. Every room sleeps two adults. The names below are the hotel's own.

• Standard Double – one room in each view.
• King (convertible) – three rooms in each view, with a king-size bed that can be split into two single sleepers with wooden mattress dividers, so these rooms work for friends travelling together as well as couples.
• Twin – one room in each view, with twin beds.
• Loft Room – a single loft with both ocean and garden views, a balcony, its own entrance staircase and a fully enclosed bathroom.

When you enquire, say whether you want the garden or the sea view as well as the bed type, as each bed type comes in both. UNU describes itself as a kid-free space: it is not set up for young children, though older teenagers who can have their own room or bed are welcome.

What is the food like?

UNU Rooftop is the hotel's restaurant and bar, open from 7.30am to 10pm daily. Breakfast is served up there, with baristas, fresh fruit and good coffee as the first light comes over the ocean. The kitchen keeps things fresh and simple, with local flavours, healthy plates, salads and bowls, post-surf comfort food and a full vegan menu, and the bar mixes cocktails from local ingredients. In the evening it is one of the best places in Ahangama to watch the sunset.

What is the surf like?

Marshmallow Point is across the road: mellow lefts and rights over the reef, warm water and soft shoulders that suit beginners and relaxed surfers, at their best from November to April. Sticks, a short walk down the coast, is a faster wall that rewards good timing, and Animals, a five-minute paddle from Marshmallow, is a more powerful reef with bowly sections for intermediate and confident surfers. By moped or tuk-tuk you can reach the long walls at Kabalana, the cruisier waves at Kathaluwa and the cluster of breaks around Midigama, including Rams, Lazy Left and Lazy Right. For more on the island's breaks see our guide to surfing in Sri Lanka.

What is nearby?

Ahangama is a laid-back surf town on the south coast between Galle and Weligama. Nearby you can watch the stilt fishermen perched above the shallows, take a boat out on Koggala Lagoon with its small islands, or head east to the long sandy bay of Weligama. Galle Fort, the UNESCO-listed walled city, is about 17 kilometres to the west in a straight line, an easy day trip.

Can I arrive by train?

Yes. Ahangama railway station, on the coastal line from Colombo, is about 600 metres from the hotel in a straight line, so a short tuk-tuk ride takes you from the platform to the door.

How do I get from the airport to UNU Boutique Hotel?

The hotel is about 144 kilometres in a straight line from Bandaranaike International Airport. The simplest way to arrive is a private transfer from Colombo airport to UNU Boutique Hotel, which takes you all the way to the door.

Who is UNU Boutique Hotel best suited to?

It suits couples, surfers and friends travelling together who care about design, good food and a sunset drink, and who want to be able to walk across the road to the waves. It is not the place for families with young children. For more choice in the area see our places to stay in Ahangama.