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By Laurie Ashton

The Mt. Lavinia Hotel started its rich history as a country home cum love nest for Sir Thomas Maitland, appointed Governor of His Majesty, George III of England. Sir Thomas, bachelor, arrived in Ceylon, as it was called then, in 1805. As a representative of King George III, had his actions become known, they would have caused a huge scandal not just in Ceylon, but also in staid England.

The most powerful man in Ceylon fell in love with Lovina Aponsuwa, a low-caste woman of mixed Portugeuse and Sinhalese blood from the village. To make matters worse, she was a bare-breasted dancer.

In 1806, the “small but comfortable” residence on a rocky perch overlooking the Indian Ocean was completed, with polished hardwood floors, carved wood ceilings, tall white columns, and wide windows to catch the sea breeze. It was “handsomely built, laid out in mahogany and calamander wood,” and gained reputation as a place for lovers to hold assignations.

A tunnel ran from a well opening by her father’s hut in the village to the wine cellar of the residence for Lavinia to visit Sir Thomas in secret. Sir Thomas, also known as King Tom, named it Mt. Lavinia House for his love, her name transformed into Lavinia.
At that time, Lovina, as a lower-caste person, was forbidden to cover the upper part of her body. Sir Thomas changed that when he passed a law allowing lower-caste people, such as his love, to cover their upper body.

And so their passion flourished in secret for 7 years, until Sir Thomas left Ceylon for Malta, where he died in 1824. Legend has it that, before he departed, he gifted her a large amount of land.

The next Governor was Sir Edward Barnes, a man who, with his new bride, loved to host parties. During his years, he added 40 rooms to the residence. It’s even said he roasted marshmallows on the beach.

Other Governors came and went and the mansion became a holiday home for foreigners visiting the island. Then it served as a wartime hospital, and finally, one of the island’s first and finest hotels.

The hotel has celebrated a number of firsts. In 1957, The Little Hut, the country’s first nightclub opened, serving the rich and jet-setters. The Mt. Lavinia Hotel was the first to have airline crews on overnight stays. They had the first air conditioned bar, and the first hotel to become a part of a chain, the Hyatt, even though it is now independently owned and operated. It’s also the first functional hotel school in Sri Lanka.

The Mt. Lavinia Hotel suffered no damage at the hands of the tsunami that hit on December 26th, 2004 as it’s built high on cliffs. However, deck chairs, sunbeds, and other furniture were swept away, only to wash up at houses up and down the beach. Most were recovered. While the hotel is undergoing renovations, it’s because the building is nearly 200 years old and renovations are a constant theme, limited as they are to one section at a time.

When we arrived at the hotel, my husband and I entered the courtyard, and already, it felt like we were in the colonial English countryside. We passed by a fountain as we entered the lobby, marble everywhere. To the right of the front desk was a lounge with large picture windows overlooking the Indian Ocean, cerulean blue.

Lunch was the Sunday buffet at the Governor’s Restaurant. Over a dozen salads, at least twenty types of breads, and dishes from Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, China, and Europe. Some spicy, some mild, some vegetarian. As we ate, we admired the incredible colonial architecture. Elegant chandeliers hang from the high, vaulted ceilings while large windows let in the salty sea air and sunshine.

Our room was in the northern wing, angled to take advantage of the spectacular view as it overlooked the ocean, an easy feat as every room in the hotel does, although some rooms also have a view of Colombo to the north. I stepped out onto the private balcony overlooking the ocean. I noticed people on the beach below, small as insects. Many were playing in the shallows, others were swimming, and a few fished off the rocky point. Some walked along the boulder-strewn beach as waves rolled in.

The rains came, a sudden torrential downpour so heavy the sky went from bright azure to dark grey in seconds, cooling down the air immediately. I stood on the balcony and revelled in the rain as I watched the ocean swell and whitecaps form and crash on the beach. Most of the beachgoers had fled, but one lone fisherman remained on the point. I watched him and wondered if he even noticed the rain pelting around him.

Later that evening, we wandered into another wing of the hotel where shops were set up. We passed by a hair salon, a couple of jewellery shops, an ayurvedic spa, until we spotted a bookshop, where we just had to stop and browse. Two paperbacks later, we continued down the hall, down a couple of sets of stairs to the beach, and to where dinner awaited us.

The Sea Food Cove is one of the hotel’s restaurants, and it’s set on the beach with décor of modern hut. No walls and sand for floor. We ordered our seafood (red snapper? Tuna? Lobster? Jumbo prawns a full eight inches long, if not more?) from the open display at the front complete with a tank of live crabs, and watched it weighed, then chopped and prepared to order in the open kitchen. We noticed too late that we could have seated ourselves at tables on the beach itself, lit only with hurricane lamps, sounds of the surf pounding the sand relaxing us. We were already comfortably settled and far too relaxed to move.

Breakfast the next morning was the buffet at the Governor’s Restaurant. We started at the large selection of fruits and fruit salads, past the dozen or so cereals, and gave the pastries the evil eye. Scrambled eggs, omelettes, bacon, several kinds of sausages, breads, juices. . .

We could have seated ourselves outside on the Terrace, overlooking the pool and ocean. Staff were just beginning to set up the deck chairs as I wander around later, enjoying the breathtaking view. Indeed, the pool, situated as it is on the roof of one section of the hotel, is private. The water beckons me in.

I take a walk down to the beach and relax for a while on the pile of boulders beneath the bluff. I watch the waves crash around me as water spills at my feet. I can hear seagulls in the distance. I sink my toes into the sand, the sun shining on me as the wind flows through my hair. No one else is in sight. I sit, mesmerized by the waves crashing. This, I thought, is the perfect moment.

Sir Thomas inspires me to have a love affair of my own. With a smile, I slowly leave the beach and head up to our room to find my husband, leaving a set of footprints on the sandy beach behind me.

Mount Lavinia Hotel

100 Hotel Road
Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka
Telephone: (94) 11-2715221-7
Facsimile: (94) 11-2730726/2738228
www.mountlaviniahotel.com
lavinia@sri.lanka.net

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