Santani Wellness Resort & Spa has been awarded One Michelin Key, recognising excellence in design, service and overall guest experience. As Sri Lanka’s only wellness property and one of just ten resorts in the country to receive the distinction, the accolade affirms Santani’s standing in luxury wellness and travel.
Set on a 116-acre former tea plantation near Kandy, Santani places human sustainability at the heart of its philosophy. It is Sri Lanka’s first purpose-built luxury wellness property, designed to the highest sustainability and eco-standards. Its minimalist, tropical-modernist architecture - an “architecture of silence” - is conceived to calm the senses and elevate the spirit.
Accommodation includes 16 Mountain View Chalets and four Garden View Chalets, designed for privacy and connection to nature. Shared spaces are intentionally serene and Wi-Fi-free, encouraging presence, with discreet connectivity available in-room or in a private media lounge.
Wellness at Santani is bespoke and results-driven. Each stay begins with assessment and goal setting, followed by personalised schedules that may include Ayurvedic treatments, yoga and mindfulness, detox and metabolic balance, mobility and musculoskeletal conditioning, breathwork and contrast hydrotherapy. The tri-level spa, Sri Lanka’s largest, includes the island’s first complete hydrotherapy suite with salt bath, sauna and steam and panoramic jungle views.
Dining follows Santani’s concept of gourmet wellness cuisine, served in a glass-fronted floating restaurant overlooking the valley. Menus are personalised to body type and programme, drawing on Ayurveda’s Rasa Haya (six tastes) for balanced, mindful eating.
Founder & CEO Vickum Nawagamuwage said:
“The Michelin Key is a meaningful recognition and honours what we’ve always believed; that true luxury is peace of mind. Santani was created to restore balance in a world that rarely pauses and this recognition is a reminder that stillness too, has its place in modern luxury.”
Since opening in 2016, Santani has become a globally recognised sanctuary, honoured by TIME as one of the World’s Greatest Places, included in Forbes’ “Most Unusual Hotels in the World”, featured in the Tatler Spa Guide, and selected for the 2024 Oscars “Everyone Wins” Nominee Gift Bag.
Perched in the forested hills of Sri Lanka’s Knuckles Mountain Range, Santani is more than a destination - it is a philosophy rooted in balance, redefining modern wellbeing through adaptive wellness, design and sustainability.
