Santani; Wellbeing in the heart of The Smiling Island
At Be World / Be Marketing we are proud to announce a new collaboration with Santani resort in Sri Lanka, a destination we know well and we love. This place represents the spirit of Wellness strongly linked to innovative Ayurveda treatments and Minimalistic architecture. We found this is as an extremely interesting project. Santani is created and run by Vickum Santani, a young visionary and entrepreneur with international experience and curriculum. A person who decided to come back to his home country, after working and studying in the US, to create a unique project following the principles of SLOW LIFE and Intelligent Luxury. A project dedicated to its mother country and to the sri lankan people. Giving back wealth to its land and community. Let us show you more about this lovely resort:
The Location
The resort is located in a 48 acre grounds in a hilltop, surrounded by rice fields, tea estates so as valleys and rivers. Astonishing mountain panoramas and pure natural surroundings within a peaceful environment, very near to Kandy and The Knuckles Range. Kandy is at 32 km or a 60 minutes drive. To be honest perfect place to retire with some moments of relax after a day of full excursion in a vibrant city such as Kandy.
Arriving to Santani can be done in different alternatives:
– By Air taxi landing at Polgolla Lake, Kandy with a 40 min drive from resort
– By Helicopter landing spot 40 min drive from resort
– By Train, to Kandy, a 60 min drive away
– Driving from Colombo with a 4, 5 hrs drive, enjoying the inland of the beautiful country and visiting key places on the way to Santani
Santani is a stylish boutique small resort focussed on wellness with private and relaxing retreat ideal for escapes. With personalized services and contemporary interior design and minimalistic architecture is a haven for guest looking for unique experiences. It is ideal for solo travelers coupes honeymooners, but also for special interest groups looking for gastronomy, yoga, wellness and ayurveda. Or simply to combine a culture trip to Sri Lanka and make a stop for relax.
With its 20 guest rooms; 16 mountain view chalets and 4 garden view chalets, either king or queen beds in a stand alone 500 sqft units guests will be able to enjoy private balcony and unique views. It is ideal for couples or for elder families. Services provided are ceiling fans, complimentary WIFI, (on request) , built in cupboards, in room safe, tea- coffee facilities and any of the luxury – but sustainable bath room amenities.
The unique and distinctive points of Santani are
– Pure natural setting that encourages relaxation and rest
– Minimalistic Award winning architecture, linear, simplistic , eye catching channeling intelligent luxury design to celebrate the views and minimize distractions
– Bespoke wellness packages focussing in Ayurvedic principles adapting to personal needs; either full program or just picking couple of treatments.
– Nutrition foods, with personal menus, based on intelligent eating concept of rasa haya (six tastes) , a solution to balancing our food cravings.
Food & Gastronomy
SANTANI provides bespoke menu concept allowing personalized meals whether guests have signed up for a package or not. Intelligent concept of eating focus on the rasa haya concept which menas that the meals throughout the day are customized to balance out the six main tastes ( sweet, salty etc) and are designed to avoid food cravings. If you are staying with a bespoke wellness package will have the meals further customized based on the body type and the nature of the the wellness package.
The process flows as this; the Chef will speak to the guest individually , and decide the Food & Beverage inclusions : 3 gourmet melas (breakfast, lunch & dinner) & non alcoholic beverages. There are private dining as well on the lawn by the restaurant ,, upon request. There is also the option of special requests to be accommodated, with raw food diets, vegetarian and non vegetarian diets , and of course in room dining options.
Wellbeing
SANTANI is a dedicated wellness retreat through spa treatments and wellness packages are totally optional. There is no requirement for guests to sign up to any package. Santani blends the latest wellness innovations with the deep – rooted Ayurvedic millenary culture of Sri Lanka
The three level Spa units are immerse is the largest of Sri Lanka, and provides the first complete hydrotherapy facilities complete with salt bath, sauna and steam. There is also a YOGA shall and daily morning and evening free yoga and meditation classes where guests are welcome to join.
The wellness programs treat the body and mind, and are accentuated by realistic advice and recommendations for keeping the mind and body healthy upon returning home. Wellbeing matters at Santani, so guests can come back renewed to their homes.
If you chose a Spa getaways the minimum is 3 nights stay and this can allow you to combine with extra days for cultural excursions.
All other packages are above 5 nights and completely personalized, with these potential inclusions: Ayurveda, recovery, detox, yoga, antiageing, healthy living, weight loss, sleep recovery, stress management, rebalancing.
Other Activities
The location and accessibility of this resort allows not just to focus on the wellness packages, but as mentioned, it provides as well the opportunity to combine with other major attractions and use Santani as a hub base center. Some suggestions are:
By the Hotel:
- Kandy. Visiting the heart of the buddhism culture and its city is just a 60 minutes drive.Temple of the Tooth, peradeniya Botanical Gardens and Victoria golf Course.
- Treks Walks near Santani that can be organized by the team at the resort:
- Hulu River Walk – 4 km – 2 hrs
- Hanging Bridge – 7 km – 3 hrs
- Bulathaththa Village Walk – 8 km – 3, 5 hours
- Naranpanawa Temple Walk – 10 Km – 4 hrs
- Knuckles Trek ; 1 hr drive + (16 km – 24 km). Full day excursion
in case of a day excursions or combined tours we propose these options:
- Dambulla 2,30 hrs drive, where you would be able to visit Sigiriya, The Golden Temple and the caves, and even a visit to Minneriya national park. This can be done perfectly in a full day program.
- Yala National Park, 5 hrs drive
- Hatton, via train from Kandy, 2 hrs train ride. Ideal to visit the Tea Trails
- Passikudah, 4 hrs drive
Other facilites
Santani provides other services that might be of interest to international guests such as Doctor on call, Laundry , free for stays over three nights, media room with 15 seat theatre & computer facilities with internet and complimentary WIFI in case of needed.
The child policy is no child under 12 years old due to the tranquil nature of the resort. The mountain top location and the open architecture are also not safe for small children. Families traveling with teens could stay in the garden view chalets. No extra beds may be added to any rooms.
Sustainability and Eco – Policies
Santani has been designed in such a way so that neither air conditioning nor heating are needed, and this reduces the hotel’s energy consumption by about 70 % compared to standard hotels. Most of the buildings are constructed on stilts allowing for natural thermal flows to cool the rooms and this type of structure also ensures there is minimal contact with the earth below.
The whole Spa is built underground, in the side of the cliff, which provides natural cooling. Almost 80 % of the wood used for both structural elements and furniture are obtain from recycled material.
Finally this Resort since its recent opening has win quite a numerous awards, which reflects both the service level and also the compromise with the environment and the new standards required for sustainable architecture.
In conclusion, there is another way to explore Sri Lanka, far away of the common programs that regular Tour Operators and incoming agencies at destination regularly provide in the programs. If you want to be different and get the most out of this country, we strongly recommend a try to this place. Many clients since openings have enjoyed the combination of wellbeing retreat with the culture and legacy of Sri Lanka.
It is time to think different, time to travel different
For more information.
mail: comunicación@beworld.es
tel 34 91 0807870
Redaction. Alfonso Martinez Fischer
CEO & Owner of Be World.