What a wonderful villa! Apsara offered us plush comfort, an excellent chef and a wonderful riverside location all within easy reach of Bentota’s long sweep of beach. We enjoyed the company of the staff who always greeted us with a smile and made us feel so welcome. The chef,

There’s a wall-mounted DVD and Blu-ray disc player in the living room (loads of DVDs) and a surround-sound music system with iPod dock set up so you can hear your favourite tunes inside or by the pool. There’s also a good WiFi connection throughout the villa so you can easily get online if you bring your own kit.

Apsara has its own private jetty and is well connected with a locally renowned water sports outfitter who can come and pick you up from the villa in their boat. There’s a good supermarket just up the road from the villa that stocks loads of imported goods and the fresh produce market is right on your doorstep too. The staff will buy groceries for you though, and with such an amazing chef to feed you (and a wonderful menu) it’s unlikely you’ll be doing much more than ‘window’ shopping.

Villa Red bursts with character and is definitely one-of-a-kind. Apart from its more obvious links with social revolution, the colour red makes its presence felt in many other exotic forms here; the heliconia flowers that droop heavily onto the lawn, the windsurfing boards

The master suite is a lot more spacious than the other four bedrooms, which means a toss of a coin if staying with friends, but heaven for parents with a gaggle of kids in tow. For a five-bedroom property, Villa Red is very good value. All food is charged at cost price and we enjoyed delicious local curries and pasta dishes during our stay. Mr Fernando heads up the staff team of three (plus security guards) and although he strived to make sure we were always well-fed and watered, we liked that he left us to our own devices too.

We weren’t massively keen on the fixed glass panels in the master suite that covered two of the side doorways, as it would have been nice to have the breeze flowing freely from the garden. That said, the glass panelling at the front was wonderful for maximising views of the river right from the bed (with AC on high!): by day we watched water skiers, jet skiers and wind surfers, and in the early morning before anyone was around, we watched fishermen embarking upriver. Note that the villa’s garden isn’t large, so although you’ve got loads to do on your doorstep, space might be limiting for energetic young kids.

This is definitely Sri Lanka’s best choice for large groups and for entertaining as the property has been designed so well for big parties. The genial setup means that villas are placed at just the right distance from each other to allow for conviviality whilst their

Araliya is well-suited for families – either one large or two small – with its double suites upstairs and two colourful bedrooms (including a twin) on the ground floor. There’s a basket full of toys, special menus for the

We really liked the easy arrangement of Nisala, plus every room’s direct sea views and the fact that the villa’s open kitchen felt exclusively ours as the chef cooked all (Sri Villas) meals in the staff kitchen. There’s

Sagara was our favourite of the three Sri Villas; it’s intimate, comfortable and – being the furthest away from the main staff area – seemed the most private. It also has the most ‘hidden’ living and dining