Villa De Zoysa

I've just returned home from two wonderful weeks at Villa de Zoysa. Devinda is a superb host and his staff take great care of the house guests. Two yoga classes a day and a very healthy south Asian vegetarian diet have left me 4kg lighter and feelling much fitter & more positive than I have in ages. Our lovely yoga teacher Ann knew just how far to push each of us to extend us beyond our previous limitations. It's warm in Sri Lanka so take a beach towel to cover your mat, otherwise you'll slip when your hands and feet get damp. To steal a line from Arnie, "I'll be back"!

I had a lovely stay at the Villa in March 2018 with my German yoga instructors Anna and Juergen and our yoga group for 14 days. It's a big old Villa with garden and pool to relax right next to the local beach. The food was just amazing!!! It is fresh cooked with local ingredients, so healthy and delicious! I really enjoyed our meals together on the big table in the dining room with good conversations. Almost every morning we had fresh coconut water after our yoga class. The owner Devinda was a great host, he travelled with the whole group to some nice places like a tea plantation and Temples, showed us around and you can have good conversations with him. If you have any questions he was always helpful! The two dogs and one cat are really cute. (If you are not a dog or cat person they won't bother you). The two yoga classes every day combined with the amazing food and some sightseeing made this holiday relaxing and to a great experience! I really enjoyed our stay, we had a fantastic time and I can recommend it! (The Villa is located next to a railway, if you have a light sleep, you may wake up once at night. But this shouldn't be a problem for enjoying your stay. Just take earplugs with you :)) Have a wonderful time at Villa de Zoysa!

Breathtakingly beautiful property, huge colonial house that has been decorated with so much love and a yoga shala right next to the pool. Its a magical place, you can feel the spirituality in the air and the owner does everything to assist you during your stay. Villa de Zoysa is an experience, no matter if you‘re looking in visiting for a retreat or just for a few days to wind down. The food is phenomenal, homemade, local and there are always vegan options available!

Really really great place. Yoga was very good and the food in unbelievable. Room was comfy and cool. There’s a large library and many different places to hang out. Anything you want to do can be booked through the owner for convenience and you run less of a risk of being ripped off by not as nice tour guides. Would recommend to any type of traveler.

Villa de Zoysa - the most beautiful Villa in South Sri Lanka offering yoga retreats with the best teachers from all around the world. The rooms are beautiful, spaces with gorgeous bathroom, the hallways are covered with colorful paintings, plenty of cozy seating areas, downstairs is huge dining table where delicious Sri Lankan food is served. Villa se Zoysa has really big and beautiful garden with plenty of coconut palms, pool and of course yogashala. The Indian Ocean is just 3min walk, Historical City Galle just 20min with the tuck tuck. The owner of this beautiful place and your host - Devinda is the most friendliest person on earth and you will just love his hospitality! He will do anything to make his guest happy and relaxed :

It's a very nice place, beautiful house, beautiful garden, pool and we've been hosted perfectly by Devinda and his staff. Very friendly people live and work in Villa de Zoysa and even if we don't practice Yoga we enjoyed our stay here very much. Met other guests from all over the world. The food was devine and we could recommend this beautiful place to everybody. We hope to come back one day. Barbara and Stefan

I had a wonderful experience at the Villa de Zoysa. Amazing place, wonderful people, super delicious food and great yoga classes. Thanks to Devinda and his staff. And a special thanks to Veronique, our yoga teacher, for the beautiful discovery and energy !

My stay here was super nice! I enjoyed a lot the yoga sessions twice a day and the amazing, just picked, fresh coconut after some of the classes. It is also remarkable the incredibly good and tasty food they prepare daily and the morning breakfast which is also delicious. The house and the rooms are very comfortable and the villa is a real historic building. The space I loved the most was the swimming pool, perfect place to relax after the yoga class. The owner, Devinda , is a very welcoming host, always available and willing to help in anything you may need either to give advise or to organise interesting visits around the area. Don't miss to get an Ayurvedic massage done at the house as it is something you will never forget! Undoubtedly a 100% recommendable place if you're visiting Sri Lanka.

This is my second time staying at the Villa and I can’t speak highly enough. The food is wonderful and the people are charming. Close to things to do but far away enough from the noise. World class yoga teachers. I wouldn’t stay anywhere else.

Nice colonial villa by the ocean ...Very peaceful and quite place with unique atmosphere of home.... If you are tired from the busy life in the city, this place will help you reboot, immerse in tranquility and reflect ...long beautiful beaches with white sand, yoga classes and surfing will get you in contact with your body and bring a lot of joy...nice and very friendly host will help you with almost everything... by the way, Villa is famous for its delicious local cuisine... breakfast and dinner are served around long family dining table with candles, so you will have an opportunity to speak with a fellow- yogis from all around the world.... Villa de Zoysa is an incredible place you alway want to return to)

Thoroughly enjoyed this very unique place. The 'hotel' has been in the family for more than one hundred years but for most of that time as their house. It is very communal and friendly and Devinda takes personal care of his guests. There is yoga twice a day in a beautiful outdoor environment next to the pool. The food is local and fresh and delicious and everyone eats together for breakfast and dinner. Fernando was our yoga instructor and he was great. I know that the teachers rotate though and you might have someone else. This is one of my most personal 'hotel' experiences. It is a very down to earth and friendly place. It is BYOB but the wine store is just down the street. The only downside is the train which is quite close to the Villa and a bit loud sometimes if that is very important for you.

I spent 2 weeks at Villa de Zoysa and enjoyed every minute of it! A friend has recommended this place for my first trip in Sri Lanka and she was totally right: the villa is a very nice place with a lot of character and provides a relaxing atmosphere; it is surrounded by a nice garden (I loved the frangipani trees), has a swimming pool just next to the yoga shala; the food is amazing and the host, Devinda, is very helpful in organizing trips (I went to Udawalawe National Park to see the elephants, visited a tea factory, did a tour in Galle, etc) or providing info about the country. You can also opt for relaxing on the porch with a book between the 2 yoga sessions (yoga style depends on the teacher present during your stay), in the company of the 2 gentle dogs or walk to the beach. I totally recommend it for a peaceful holiday!

Between the fresh breakfast and dinner dishes, the beautiful yoga shala, and the quaint abode, I loved everything about my stay at Villa de Zoysa. Devinda is an excellent host. He offers sound advice on what to do nearby the villa, as well as arranges transportation when needed. The retreat is a beautiful setting to find your center, to breath in ocean air, and to listen to the Sri Lankan birds chirping while you meditate or sit down with a good book.

As a British-Sri Lankan who has visited the country many times, I am more than happy to endorse Villa de Zoysa. Genuinely high quality yoga, awesome food, beautiful house and a short bus ride to lots of the popular spots along the coast. Devinda and his team worked really hard to make each guest feel at home, and with such grace too! I made friends, progressed my yoga practice and left feeling thoroughly relaxed. I'll definitely be back!

I've just returned from a fantastic short break to the 'White House' and highly recommend it! The villa itself is beautiful, with large rooms complete with balconies set in tropical gardens. I travelled alone however the atmosphere was very friendly and it was great to meet different people from around the world. The owner Devinda really went out of his way to make me feel at home, providing recommendations on where to go and organising tuk tuks to the beach. The food was definitely one of the best points - huge breakfasts and dinners with an array of healthy home cooked dishes using fresh, local ingredients. The yoga was also excellent - the teacher made us feel very comfortable and I definitely improved over a few days. If you're looking for a relaxing escape in a friendly and welcoming environment then Villa De Zoysa is for you!

I can’t recommend Villa De Zoysa highly enough. Recommended by friends who have been their multiple times, as a solo traveller, I was immediately put at ease by Devinda and his wonderful staff. Set in a beautiful colonial home, it was in the perfect location – just across the road from a idyllic beach and easy access from the beautiful town of Galle and surfer’s paradise Hikkaduwa. Yoga classes were tailored for individuals and extremely atmospheric set outside in a dedicated yoga shala. Another highlight was the food – freshly prepared each day, it was some of the best I’d had in Sri Lanka. It was great to meet fellow guests from around the globe and have the option to explore the local area with them (I went on a scenic bike tour, visited a cinnamon plantation and saw giant turtles!). Devinda has found the right balance of making guests feel at home with his insight and advice on the local area, making it a really unique experience and setting it apart from other retreats. I can’t wait to go back!

This place is heaven on earth. The Yoga lessons are in very high quality, the rooms are not less then perfect and the food is incredible If you read it, just change any other plan that you have and stay here for a few days- you not going to regret! Thank you for an amazing time Sara & Inbal

Dear reader, I stayed at the villa for a week in July 2017. I was simply amazed first of all with the atmosphere of this beautiful, colonial, well maintained villa built in 1907. It feels like time stood still. The authentic furniture, the beautiful facade, many corridors, the huge dining table, the impressive wooden staircase and library etc. made me realise how special it actually is to be able to stay in this place even more than 100 years after it is built! You really feel at home cause you are free to stay where ever you want in this house to read a book, gaze into the wide open garden and mesmerize about life. At night the sound of the waves make you fall asleep even faster! The huge garden, with swimming pool and yoga-shala are perfectly added items that make the stay at the white house even more pleasant. The classes are given by experienced yoga-teachers. If you want to relax even more, then the massages are a must-do. A professional who knows what he is doing and very affordable. And last but not least it needs to be said that Divindra understands as no other what it means to be an accurate, humoristic, friendly and wonderful host. He really does the extra 100 step's to make you feel at home and to discover places in Sri Lanka that you might not visit if you would travel around by yourself. He succeeds every time to make people blend in that have never met before at his dinnertableHe knows the area and the country because he was born and raised here, so a better source can't be found. The kitchen staff prepares delicious local food for breakfast and dinner, always fresh, always different and a joy to eat! For sure the best food i have tasted in my four weeks off travel all through Sri Lanka. So to be short: if u love yoga, excellent food and great service in an authentic colonial atmosphere, then villa Zoysa is the place to be.

Words can't describe how amazing this place is, the host Devinda and his home are truely a place of style and amazing hospitality. The yoga was first class and the location is perfect. The home has so much history and the staff are wonderful. My daughter and I loved it and will be back.

If you are looking for a place to relax you have to go here. We spent about a week there and everyone is nice and the food is amazing. We loved the place and doing yoga in the garden. The room was big and clean.

We usually go to a detox spa in Thailand every Christmas and this year decided to try something different. What a perfect choice Villa de Zoysa was! We spent 14 wonderful, relaxing days at Devinda's "White House" and were very impressed with everything, most especially Devinda himself, who was so helpful and kind. He and his staff went out of their way to make us feel at home. The yoga instructors were amazing, very knowledgeable, and the classes were challenging and varied. There were about 20 guests from all over the world, so we had great people to chat with during breakfast and dinner every day. The food was a highlight, so delicious and a great variety every evening. Only wish we could have stayed longer. We will definitely be back next year.

You wont find such a generous host or homely atmosphere anywhere else we are sure. Devinda went out of his way to see all his guests had their special needs and itineraries catered for. The food was delicious, the staff charming and although we were not too experienced yoga specialists the instructor, Luke, went out of his way to help us with every move. Lastly the house is amazing and in keeping with its origins. We will be back, Devinda and so will many others I am sure.