The
Kandalama Hotel is a shock when one first visits, as we discovered on
our trip in 1999. From the approach it looks abandoned, just some panes
of glass overgrown with vegetation. It is not until one drives up the
paved path to the hotel (photo to the left) that one realizes this was
the intent--to build a hotel into a mountainside and let the vegetation
overrun the exterior. The Kandalama is the brainchild of Sri Lanka's
premier architect, Geoffrey Bawa. His vision was to create a living
space that existed harmoniously with the natural world around it. The
hotel was commissioned by Aitken Spence to accommodate tourists
visiting the Dambulla/Sigiriya
area. Rather than building something that
was dwarfed by the Sigiriya Rock (as anything would
be), Mr. Bawa chose a hilly area some distance away. The hotel is built
around a rock face, and is nearly invisible from the small water tank below;
Sigiriya is off in the distance. The entrance to the hotel is on
a lower level, and guests follow a corridor from the drop-off area up
to the main lobby. The photo to the upper right shows the corridor
leading to the main lobby area, while
the photo at the lower left shows
the exterior view of the Kandalama Hotel, shrouded in vegetation. As
one critic has observed, the idea of Kandalama is not to draw attention
to itself, but to provide a veranda from which guests can observe the
area. In vision and execution, Kandalama is a unique hotel.
The interior of the
Kandalama is
understated and, in places, minimalist, not unlike Scandinavian or
Japanese interiors. The main lobby (photo to the left) is basically an
open area with marble floors washed in sunlight. To the side of the
lobby is a small patio/restaurant area where guests are taken upon
arrival. The photo to the right shows the patio area, which is flanked
by the natural mountain stone on its left side. Skirting the stone area
is a cobra sculpture. Directly in front of the patio area is the
beautiful infinity pool, shown in the photo at the lower left. When
sitting at pool level, the water of the
pool
seems to blend it with the water in the man-made tank below. (There are
no natural lakes here in the dry zone). Because the hotel is literally
built into the side of the mountain, it is alive with the sounds of
chirping birds and monkeys moving about in the trees. This theme of
blending in with the environment is also reflected in the services
offered by the hotel. While many stay here while visiting the nearby
ruins at Dambulla and Sigiriya, a considerable number of the hotel
guests come there for nature visits. The hotel offers a number of daily
trips into the nearby forests to learn about the birds, plants,
animals and their ecosystem.
From the main lobby area, the
Kandalama
splits into two levels and two wings, which literally hug the side of
the mountain on which it is constructed. The upper level adjacent to
the lobby features the fine dining area, shown in the photo to the
right. Like the lobby it is an open design that features the nearby
tank and vegetation, much like an aviary with human occupants. The
stairwells and halls in the Kandalama are open and offer spectacular
vistas, as shown in the stairway leading to the dining hall (photo to
the left). When we first visited Kandalama in 1999 there were few
visitors. However, upon our return in 2002 we found it to be a bustling
hotel as visitors are now returning to Sri Lanka in numbers.
Continuing
down the Dambulla wing (where we stayed) the open hallways create a
path that followed the contour of the mountain. These hallways and
outdoor living spaces (like the one shown at the photo to the left) are
very similar in design and feel to the halls at the Lighthouse in
Galle, another Geoffrey Bawa design. The photo to the right shows the
intimate connection between the hotel architecture and the surrounding
environment. The first floor walkway abuts the base of the mountain,
while risers anchored on the rock support the second story roof.
The rooms in the Kandalama
struck us
as
something out of Architectural Digest when we first stayed
there three years ago. Like the rest of the hotel decor, the rooms are
tastefully spartan. The photo to the left shows a view of the room from
the entryway. It is light and airy, just like the rooms at the
Lighthouse. Each room offers a secluded balcony, and it is not unusual
to see wildlife running across the balcony floor! The photo to the
right shows the entryway area. Above the bed is a huge map of the
Kandalama layout. Everything in the room is either black or a deep
brown, including the bathroom, shown below. It has a large shower area
that looks out over the surrounding woods, giving the feeling of being
in an isolated retreat rather than a large hotel.
The
Kandalama Hotel is a shock when one first visits, as we discovered on
our trip in 1999. From the approach it looks abandoned, just some panes
of glass overgrown with vegetation. It is not until one drives up the
paved path to the hotel (photo to the left) that one realizes this was
the intent--to build a hotel into a mountainside and let the vegetation
overrun the exterior. The Kandalama is the brainchild of Sri Lanka's
premier architect, Geoffrey Bawa. His vision was to create a living
space that existed harmoniously with the natural world around it. The
hotel was commissioned by Aitken Spence to accommodate tourists
visiting the Dambulla/Sigiriya
area. Rather than building something that
was dwarfed by the Sigiriya Rock (as anything would
be), Mr. Bawa chose a hilly area some distance away. The hotel is built
around a rock face, and is nearly invisible from the small water tank below;
Sigiriya is off in the distance. The entrance to the hotel is on
a lower level, and guests follow a corridor 
from the drop-off area up
to the main lobby. The photo to the upper right shows the corridor
leading to the main lobby area, while
the photo at the lower left shows
the exterior view of the Kandalama Hotel, shrouded in vegetation. As
one critic has observed, the idea of Kandalama is not to draw attention
to itself, but to provide a veranda from which guests can observe the
area. In vision and execution, Kandalama is a unique hotel.
