PALM Hotel Ahangama Review: A Design Hotel That Works With Kids
A modernist hotel in a coconut grove 5km inland from Ahangama, PALM is the rare design property that works with small children. This is our review after five days there, including the rooms, the food, the trade-offs, and who it's actually for.
There was a little bit of crazy that took hold of all of us during the Covid years, when the world shrank to the size of a few blocks, or a single apartment in our case, and the only travelling anybody did was through a doomscroll late at night.
We were in Budapest at the time, deep into another lockdown, the grey winter and chilly winds pressing against the windows, borders shut and no real sense of when, or whether, any of it might lift.
It was during one of those aimless late-night scrolls that a photographer we followed posted an image that stopped us.
It was of a swimming pool set into the ground, surrounded by lush, green grass, with a pink concrete frame rising behind it, and towering palms popping out from above it. A heavy tropical downpour was falling across the whole scene, so the surface of the pool twinkled in a way that only happens in the tropics.
We must have sat with that photograph for the better part of ten minutes, long enough that we could feel the rain landing on our faces and the heavy tropical humidity sitting in behind it, and that very particular happiness of floating in a pool while it pours.
It's difficult to explain now, from the other side of it all, quite how much a single image could do at that point.
That night, we saved PALM in our inspiration folder, much like we'd saved MOND a few years earlier, and there it sat.
It took us a while to get there.
But eventually we did: five nights in March, in an A-frame cabana beneath the coconut palms, celebrating a 40th birthday with our two-year-old daughter in tow.
For context, PALM sits around ten minutes inland from Ahangama, on an old coconut plantation between the paddies and mangroves, and opened in 2019, which, along this fast-changing stretch of the south coast, makes it something close to an elder statesman.
Miriam and Laurie built it before Ahangama became the destination it is now, and you can feel that head start in almost everything about the place.
The pool is every bit as good as the photograph promised, which after several years of carrying that image around was a huge relief.
But it isn't what we talked about on the drive back to Colombo, and it isn't the reason we'd send you here.
This is our review of PALM, Ahangama’s design hotel amongst palms.
PALM HOTEL | AT A GLANCE
WHERE | A four-acre former coconut plantation, around ten minutes inland from Ahangama Beach by tuk-tuk
WHAT | A small design hotel with eight individual rooms plus the four-bedroom PALM Haus, centred around an open-air restaurant and bar pavilion, 14-metre pool, gym, concept store and excellent kids' playground
ROOMS | Six A-Frame Cabanas, two Deluxe Suites on stilts, and the four-bedroom PALM Haus villa, sleeping up to eight
RATES | A-Frame Cabanas currently start from US$150 per night, Deluxe Suites from US$185 and PALM Haus from US$400, plus a 10% service charge. Rates fluctuate considerably by season
BEST FOR | Couples looking for quiet, families with young kids, surfers, and anyone who likes good design without needing a scene
NOT FOR | Beachfront purists, maximalists, or anyone on a tight budget who wants to walk everywhere
RATES INCLUDE | Sri Lankan-inspired à la carte breakfast, island-grown tea or coffee, a daily morning drink, government taxes and unlimited PALM Fit gym access. Kids under 12 stay free within each room's occupancy limits
PALM, AHANGAMA REVIEW
THE STORY | SHOREDITCH, VIA A COCONUT PLANTATION
Miriam and Laurie opened PALM around the turn of 2019, after swapping Shoreditch for a very different kind of life in southern Sri Lanka.
Miriam is half Sri Lankan and half Swiss; Laurie is from London. In 2016, they left East London with their two daughters, followed Miriam’s family connection back to the island and eventually found an overgrown coconut plantation tucked between Ahangama’s paddies, mangroves and jungle.
The idea wasn’t to build another whitewashed villa or tropical beach hotel. It was to take some of what they loved about London, like the warehouse spaces, steel, concrete, repurposed materials of Shoreditch, and see what happened when you dropped it into four acres of tropical green.
We got to know them a little over our five nights, and their story explains a lot about PALM.
They arrived before Ahangama became what it is now, when the cafés were fewer, the design hotels rarer, and this inland pocket still felt a long way from the surf scene down on Matara Road. Nearly a decade later, they still live on site, and you feel that continuity in the place.
PALM doesn’t feel like a hotel conceived elsewhere and parachuted into Sri Lanka. It feels like something that has slowly grown into its patch of land.
That doesn’t make it conventionally Sri Lankan. Quite deliberately, it isn’t.
But it does make it feel rooted.
THE DESIGN | SHOREDITCH, BAWA AND A LITTLE BIT OF BARCELONA
PALM is one of the most interesting hotels on this stretch of coast, mostly because its influences have no obvious business working together.
The first is Shoreditch, which we touched on above. The main pavilion is built on the idea of tropical modernism, around black shipping containers, warehouse-style steel windows and polished concrete, with a palm tree punching straight through an opening in the roof.
Even some of the gym equipment came from a closed gym back in East London. Set against four acres of coconut palms and tropical green, it should feel completely out of place.
But it doesn't.
Then there’s the pink wall behind the pool, the thing in the photograph that started our whole obsession with PALM. A huge peach-pink modernist frame rising out of the lawn, taking design cues from Ricardo Bofill’s La Muralla Roja in Spain. Once you know the reference, it’s impossible not to see it.
The third influence is quieter, but it’s the one with the most ‘local’ inspiration: Geoffrey Bawa’s Lunuganga.
Not because PALM looks Bawa-ish at all (it’s almost the antithesis of Bawa), but because of the way the hotel sits within the landscape. The rooms and villa are set across four acres, reached via garden paths and separated by enough green that each feels slightly apart, before everything draws back towards the pool and pavilion at the centre.
Surprisingly, it all works. The vast site, muted palette and materiality, and the Sri Lankan greens make it feel open yet intimate, brash, yet minimal.
THE ROOMS | WHICH ONE TO BOOK?
Accommodation is scattered across the four acres, far enough apart that you rarely feel as though somebody else is staying next door.
THE A-FRAME CABANAS (SIX) | WHERE WE STAYED
This is where we stayed, and after five days it felt a lot like home, and it was incredibly hard to leave.
The design is intentionally minimalist (it is Shoreditch core after all), with an ink-black corrugated exterior, polished concrete floors, floor-to-ceiling warehouse-style glass, a high rattan-lined ceiling, linen, cane and very little else.
But that minimalism ended up being one of the things we liked most about it. There are enough mod cons to make life easy, including proper air-conditioning, a fan, good Wi-Fi and space to work when we needed to, but with very little visual noise.
Our favourite corner, though, was the outdoor shower, surrounded by greenery at the back and open to the sky.
Then there were the midday escapes from the heat, where we’d join our 2-year-old for a midday nap, AC absolutely blasting, curtains drawn. Or, we’d sit amongst the shaded terrace and get stuck into our book.
It’s worth knowing that the rooms aren’t particularly bougie, especially at this price point, although for us that isn’t necessarily the point - a wonderfully comfortable bed, a space in the jungle, relaxing by the sunken pool, and long breakfasts are our jam, and made our stay exactly what we needed.
DELUXE SUITES (TWO)
Raised among the palms with views over the paddies, these are much larger, with glass on three sides, a separate living room, daybed, large porch and indoor-outdoor bathroom with a double rain shower.
They’re the obvious choice if you want more room to spread out, particularly with older kids.
PALM HAUS
Palm Haus is for families or larger groups, and has four ensuite bedrooms sleeping up to eight, a full kitchen and open-plan living space, a wrap-around porch and paddy views.
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FOOD AND DRINK AT PALM HOTEL
BREAKFAST
Breakfast at PALM is included in the rate and is served under the pavilion until 11 am.
The Sri Lankan Breakfast became our go-to during our stay: string hoppers, dhal, a fried egg and coconut sambol. We’d add some bacon to top it off (the crisp saltiness against all that soft, spiced dhal works so well!), and it was enough to get us through ice cream hour at about 3pm.
The other one worth ordering, and the one that surprised us most, is the Coconut Milk Rice - red rice cooked in coconut milk with cardamom and dates, fresh fruit, and toasted coconut scattered over the top - the cardamom is subtle, and the whole thing just worked so well.
There's also a bacon and egg chapati wrap with green sambol and chilli jam, poached or avocado eggs on sourdough, and a tropical fruit bowl with buffalo curd and treacle if you want something lighter before the pool.
In addition, and this is important for the caffeine freaks, the coffee is excellent.
LUNCH - DINNER
The kitchen then runs all day from the same pavilion, with a menu that shifts around what's in season.
Snacks from midday (the curry leaf fries with homemade chilli jam are dangerous), salads and bowls, sandwiches and burgers, and a short list of Big Plates in the evening. All can be eaten around the pool too, if you’re not keen to move beyond the refreshing water.
For Mark's 40th we skipped a trip into town and settled for a feast here, and it was excellent - the Sri Lankan tuna curry with dhal for Mim, the slow roast chicken tacos for Mark. The curry took the win, because when in Sri Lanka.
If you want to make more of an occasion of a night, then we highly recommend the Sri Lankan Thali plate, which combines chicken, fish, Jaffna prawn or black pork, or tofu, served with paratha, pilau rice, dhal, mango chutney, seeni sambol and papadum.
It has to be ordered at the bar, the night before for lunch or by 2pm for dinner, so plan it rather than hoping.
AFTERNOONS & SUNDOWNERS
And then there are the afternoons. Cocktails are actually quite affordable, and the list is very well rounded: an arrack sour with egg white, lime and cinnamon; a curry leaf G&T (a winner); a coconut cooler of rum, ginger, lemongrass and coconut.
Ordering one poolside with a book is highly recommended. If you're off the booze, the charcoal vinegar lemonade and the mint passion soda do a similar job for 1,200, and a fresh king coconut is 600.
WANDERER TIP | Menu prices include 18% VAT, but a 10% service charge is added to the bill on top, both at the restaurant and at checkout. Worth building into the budget rather than being caught out by it.
Not staying at PALM? Walk-ins are welcome, and there's a day pass at LKR 7,000 that gets you poolside between 9 am and 6 pm, fully deductible against food and drink.
Bring a towel or buy one from the concept store, and book ahead if there are eight or more of you.
PALM WITH KIDS
One of the main benefits of PALM is that you gain the cool, design-forward hotel which also caters for families, but without the inherent stuffiness of a contemporary resort.
PALM has the uncanny knack of just knowing what works and what doesn’t, so the recent family-friendly additions, plus the pool, lawns, and perfect kids menu, makes it a brilliant option for indepenent families.
Below gives you more clarity:
THE PALM PIRATE CLUB
The PALM Pirate Club is the built version of the same idea as PALM itself: a playground made from reclaimed electricity masts and local materials, with a log climbing frame, monkey bars, a zip line, a real retired fishing boat, and a "treasure washing station" for rinsing off whatever gets found at the seaside.
It sits a short walk from the main pavilion, so you can be at the restaurant or the pool while kids have fun.
It’s a seriously cool addition, the PALM, and one of the better kids’ play areas on the south coast.
THE POOL AND LAWN DO MOST OF THE WORK
We spent hours in the pool, under the palms, with our daughter, and hours more on the big grassy area running around.
While day trippers and couples frequent the pool, it never feels inappropriate, and nor do kids take the pool over - there’s a weird respect between adults and kids here that you wouldn’t find at a family resort in Fiji.
There are shallow steps for little ones, but if your kid is not confident around pools or in them, you’ll have to be on the lookout.
SLEEPING
Given the hotel owners have kids, they’ve thought long and hard about how to best cater for families, and it shows in the sleeping arrangements.
A-Frames take two adults and two children up to 6, with a fold-out bed and/or cot (Baby Bjorn cots at that), or two adults and one child up to 12 with a fold-out bed. Free of charge
Deluxe Suites take two adults and two children up to 12, with the living-room daybed converting to a full single plus a fold-out or cot. Free of charge. A child over 12 on the daybed is a $45 per night surcharge
PALM Haus is the answer for three or more kids, or two families together - four ensuite bedrooms, sleeps eight, cots on request
KIDS UNDER 12 STAY FREE
This is a real winner for families, and again goes to show that Miriam and Laurie understand the family travel market well.
There's a dedicated kids' menu too, and while it's fairly basic - brown toast with peanut butter and treacle, chicken tacos, fish and chips, nasi goreng, satay chicken, spaghetti three ways, a paratha and dhal plate - it’s a hit with the kids.
The kitchen will also happily warm bottles or blend something soft down for babies if you ask (there are no microwaves in the A-Frames).
If you're building a wider trip around this, our Sri Lanka family hotels guide and 14-day family itinerary will do the rest of the work.
PALM FIT, YOGA AND WELLBEING
The gym is real, not a token treadmill in a cupboard.
CrossFit equipment shipped over from a Shoreditch box, under cover in the grounds. Unlimited access is included in your rate, as is the daily programme of yoga and fitness classes.
In-room massages can be arranged, and PALM partners with Ticket to Ride for surf lessons if you want to learn properly rather than flail about at Kabalana.
THE CONCEPT STORE | A LITTLE BIT OF PALM TO TAKE HOME
PALM's aesthetic doesn't stop at the rooms. Just off the main pavilion is a small concept store stocking the hotel's own skincare, haircare, homewares and clothing, alongside a tightly edited selection of Sri Lankan brands and makers.
It's the sort of hotel shop we actually enjoy browsing: less logo merch, more things you'd happily own anyway.
There are locally made clothes and accessories from brands such as The Soulful Collective and Island Girl, travel-inspired pieces from Original Source & Supply, herbal infusions from Fungo Teas, and PALM's own line of products.
BEYOND PALM
THINGS WE LOVE IN AHANGAMA
We loved PALM, but we still went into Ahangama most days, because this stretch of coast is simply too good not to explore.
Mornings usually meant coffee or breakfast at The Kip (if we weren’t eating in-house), a swim around Kabalana, and then something cold somewhere by the water once the heat kicked in.
We kept coming back to Hotel de Uncles for cocktails and elevated local food, and Ceylon Sliders has always been a favourite of ours for a bougie dinner and sunset drinks, while Citra is something else.
Thankfully none of it feels far away, but PALM is just removed enough that coming back afterwards still feels like escaping from the hustle.
Beyond food and swimming, a few other recommendations include a cinnamon tour of Koggala Lake, a slow ride through the inland back roads, a tea tour at Handunugoda, or an afternoon wandering the ramparts and lanes of Galle Fort.
Kabalana, Midigama and Weligama are all close; Mirissa is an easy run east, and the rest is in our full Ahangama guide.
Tuk-tuks are easy to organise from PALM.
RESPONSIBLE TRAVEL AT PALM
PALM was built by reviving a disused coconut plantation rather than clearing anything, using local materials and local artisans, and a decent amount of the materials were salvaged rather than bought new, including the gym kit, the containers, and the playground masts.
The part we rate most, though, is the PALM Foundation, which runs small, targeted projects in the immediate neighbourhood.
Its current commitment is to a nearby school providing education and lodging for children who are blind, deaf or have learning difficulties, through quarterly projects.
You can also help yourself by going easy on water and power usage, and buying local and fair trade where you can, all of which are in our responsible travel tips anyway.
PLAN YOUR VISIT TO PALM
HOW TO BOOK PALM HOTEL
It’s easy to book PALM online, which you can do here.
Rates include the Sri Lankan breakfast, island tea or coffee, the daily morning drink, and unlimited PALM Fit access. Kids under 12 are free, and cots and fold-out beds are free of charge.
PALM can arrange transfers from the airport or your previous stop; email ahead for rates. Check-in is 2pm, check-out 11am.
If your dates are gone, our where to stay in Ahangama guide covers the rest of the town.
HOW TO GET TO PALM HOTEL, AHANGAMA
PALM sits inland from Ahangama in Nakanda, surrounded by coconut palms and paddy fields rather than the beach road.
Ahangama town and the coast are around ten minutes away by tuk-tuk, while Colombo and Bandaranaike International Airport are roughly 2–2.5 hours away by car.
Read our guide on how to get to Ahangama.
BY TRAIN
Take the south coast train from Colombo Fort to Ahangama Railway Station, then grab a tuk-tuk for the final ten minutes or so to PALM.
The journey from Colombo takes around three hours and is one of our favourite ways to travel the coast, with long stretches running beside the Indian Ocean. Most second- and third-class seats are unreserved, although selected services can now be booked ahead.
If you're arriving with children, lots of luggage or surfboards, we'd probably skip the train and take a private transfer instead.
BOOK | Compare Sri Lanka train tickets and transfers here
BY CAR / PRIVATE TRANSFER
This is the easiest option, particularly if you're coming straight from the airport.
PALM puts the drive from Colombo and Bandaranaike International Airport at around 2–2.5 hours via the expressway, depending on traffic. From Galle, allow roughly 30 – 40 minutes by the time you've driven along the coast and turned inland towards Nakanda.
PALM can organise transfers directly, which is what we'd do after a long-haul flight, especially with kids. Get collected at arrivals, put the luggage in the boot, deploy Bluey if required, and arrive without having to negotiate Colombo first.
BY BUS
The easiest bus option is to travel south to Galle or Ahangama, then complete the journey by tuk-tuk.
Air-conditioned expressway buses run from Makumbura on the edge of Colombo to Galle, while local buses continue east along Matara Road through Ahangama.
It's cheap and straightforward enough, but PALM's inland location means there's always a final tuk-tuk involved.
BY TUK-TUK
For getting around once you're here, tuk-tuks are the obvious choice.
There are usually local drivers waiting at PALM's gate, and reception can arrange one within a few minutes if not.
For longer journeys, PALM itself recommends taking a car with a driver rather than a tuk-tuk. We'd agree: once you're heading towards Galle, Mirissa or further along the coast with luggage, the extra comfort is usually worth it.
PLAN | Our guide on how to get to Ahangama
PALM HOTEL, AHANGAMA QUESTIONS
IT'S INLAND, WHICH CAN BE A BLESSING AND A CURSE
PALM is not a beach hotel.
It sits around ten minutes inland from Ahangama Beach, tucked into coconut palms and paddies. This is the best part of the property, as it's quiet. With young kids in particular, having four acres of green around you feels like a luxury.
The trade-off is that you're not walking anywhere.
Dinner in Ahangama means a tuk-tuk. Surf means a tuk-tuk. A spontaneous coffee because you've decided you desperately need one means, yes, another tuk-tuk. PALM makes them very easy to arrange, but over a longer stay those little fares start adding up.
The final approach is also a little bumpy and rural, which feels strange the first time you arrive and completely normal by day two.
THE A-FRAMES REALLY ARE MINIMAL
Concrete, glass, linen, cane and a lot of empty space.
We loved them for exactly that reason. After a hot, busy morning outside, coming back to a cool room with almost nothing demanding your attention felt restful.
But minimalism photographs differently to how it feels.
If you want a hotel room full of textiles, art, objects and cosy corners, an A-Frame may feel sparse rather than luxurious. The Deluxe Suites give you much more living space; otherwise, know what you're booking.
IT'S SMALL, SO DON'T LEAVE IT TOO LATE
PALM has just six A-Frame Cabanas and two Deluxe Suites, alongside the separate four-bedroom PALM Haus.
That means the rooms most people are looking at can disappear quickly during the December – April season, particularly around Christmas, New Year and Easter.
If PALM is one of the reasons you're coming to Ahangama as it was for us, we wouldn't leave the booking until the rest of the trip is organised.
THERE'S A 10% SERVICE CHARGE ON TOP
PALM's published room rates include statutory government taxes and levies, but a 10% discretionary service charge is added to your bill.
It's hardly a reason not to stay, but it's worth factoring in when you're comparing the headline room rate with somewhere else, particularly once you've added several days of food and drinks to the room.
TRAVEL INSURANCE | STAY SAFE IN SRI LANKA
Honest take: if something goes wrong - a medical emergency, a missed ferry, a scooter accident on a coastal road - travel insurance is the difference between a stressful story and a catastrophic one.
After 10+ years of full-time travel, here's what we use:
WORLD NOMADS | Offers travel insurance for independent travellers and intrepid families. Their policies cover 150+ activities, plus emergency medical, lost luggage, trip cancellation, and more.
GET A QUOTE | World Nomads
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That, and you're officially a legend.
A modernist hotel in a coconut grove 5km inland from Ahangama, PALM is a rare design property that works with small children. This is our review after five days there, including the rooms, the food, the trade-offs, and who it's actually for.