Ayubowan (may you live long)

This greeting could not be more appropriate for your arrival at Jetwing Kaduruketha. Simply entering the property brings on a sense of calm and well being.

Maneuvering through the lush entrance, being greeted by a traditional Wellawaya welcome, then escorted to your private bungalow, arriving at Jetwing Kaduruketha is like entering another world. A world where sustainability is as important as the guest’s comfort and enjoyment.

Let’s take a look around.

 

Located in the southeastern rural plains of Wellawaya, Jetwing Kaduruketha is Sri Lanka’s first agro-eco-luxury resort.

Surrounded by National Parks, stunning waterfalls, hiking trails, village life, and local fauna, a stay at Jetwing Kaduruketha immerses you in nature.

On sixty-acres, Jetwing Kaduruketha is both a resort and farming enterprise. Fifty acres are allocated to rice growing, a staple in the Sri Lankan cuisine and economy, while the resort orchards and gardens make up the balance.

An organic vegetable plot provides the kitchen with the freshest of produce, while the rest of the property bursts with fruit, nuts, herbs, and spices.

This fully sustainable property comprises 25 individual bungalows built in harmony with the environment.

Expect to see, and hear, visiting peacocks, giant squirrels, and geckos. Less obvious are monkeys and snakes. Jetwing Kaduruketha has taken precautions against some of these curious visitors, but keep your eye out, you never know where they may be hiding.

 

Complete with personal butler service, the private bungalows are spaced generously apart affording ultimate privacy. Views of the property are expansive from your outside deck.

Consciously designed incorporating natural light and energy-efficient ventilation, the bungalows are spacious and practical.

The high pitched roof supports natural convection allowing hot air to rise. Traditional clay roof tiles are porous helping to regulate temperature.

Rooms are open to nature.

Bamboo shutters and mesh screens replace windows, ceiling fans replace air conditioning and peacocks replace alarm clocks.

Your hot water is solar powered and there’s a bicycle supplied for every guest eliminating any need for buggies around the property.

In the bathroom, low-flow taps and showers minimise water wastage without a huge difference to water pressure.

The turndown service while you’re at dinner includes the correct placement of your mosquito net.

The pot of natural citronella is back up so place behind your ears, inside elbows and behind your knees. These are the areas mosquitos head to first.

To triple cover the mosquito thing, a natural repellent bottle is placed in the electrical plug.

 

Jetwing Kaduruketha’s green initiative extends to the restaurant kitchen.

Sustainably harvested cinnamon wood replaces LPG gas. Waste from the kitchen & restaurant is fed into an onsite biogas digester used in the specially modified biogas stoves.

The organic kitchen garden provides the fruit, vegetables and herbs used in the restaurant’s authentic local cuisine. What isn’t found on the property is sourced from the local village farmers, supporting the community.

Vegetable offcuts determine next season’s crops making this garden a perfect example of sustainable product cycles.

 

Firstly, let’s set the mood. Picture yourself seated on the restaurant’s spacious deck overlooking the massive pool and property. Natural melodies play around you, birdlife in the mornings and frogs in the evening.

Three breakfast menus are offered. Continental, Western, and Traditional Sri Lankan.

Continental comprises a variety of freshly baked bread, condiments, local fruit platter, curd (yoghurt), tea, coffee, and fresh juices. A western breakfast includes all of that plus your selection of eggs in a number of variations, and sides of mushrooms, tomatoes, etc.

Our recommendation is the Traditional Sri Lankan breakfast.

As with the western breakfast, you’re offered everything from the continental selection. Add to that Kukul Mas (Chicken) Curry or the delicious sour fish curry, Ambul Thiyal. String hoppers soak up the wonderful curry sauce, while polos (jackfruit) cutlets and wadi (dhal curry biscuits) add to this delicious fast-breaking experience.

If this is breakfast, imagine what dinner is like. It’s safe to say, you will eat very well at Jetwing Kaduruketha.

As with breakfast, dinner begins with an array of baked goods joined by sambols and olives.

Sri Lankan olives have a soft texture and when cured with lemongrass and cardamom play tricks with your mind and palate.

A brief, yet impressive daily menu of starters, soup, mains, and desserts reflect the kitchen garden and local farming community produce. Expect delicious authentic local cuisine.

 

Your private eco-bungalow includes a mountain bike per person to explore the property or join a riding tour. Guided bicycle tours take you through paddy fields, traditional vegetable farms and to Elle Wala waterfall where the natural bathing pool is perfect to cool off.

Twitchers are well catered for at Jetwing Kaduruketha with an early morning (06:30) birdwatching tour.

The mix of dry and wet zone climatic conditions in the southeastern plains entices Sri Lankan birdlife such as Grey Hornbills, Hanging Parrots, Small Barbets, and Emerald Collared Parakeets.

A nocturnal tour may be more your style with Flying Squirrels and Fishing Cats.

Archaeology tours, national park safaris, and picnics at waterfalls can all be arranged. You may simply want to relax though, and you’re in the perfect place to do exactly that.

Wake to the sound of peacocks. Sip your morning coffee on your private deck overlooking rice fields and trees.  Walk or ride to breakfast then take a dip in the magnificent pool.

Later, pop into the spa for reflexology, aromatherapy or a deep tissue massage.

What about being wrapped in a cocoon of clay and herbs? This detox wrap draws impurities from the skin, exfoliates, and stimulates blood and lymph circulation. You’ll feel brand new!

 

Sustainability is not entirely about green energy, biodiversity, water & waste management, it’s also about community, culture, and social responsibility.

Jetwing Kaduruketha and Jetwing Hotels as a whole, strive to develop meaningful relationships with the local communities around their hotels ensuring tourism benefits make it to the community’s grassroots.

Profit-sharing from rice paddy yields, arranging local culture tours for guests including meals with villagers, and the Jetwing Youth Development Project (JYDP) are just some of the Jetwing initiatives.

JYDP offers disadvantaged local youth 6 months of hospitality and practical English training at zero cost. Secondments at Jetwing Hotels with hands-on training follow.

Jetwing has trained 18 students from Kaduruketha’s surrounding area and a thousand across the island.

Each hotel’s General Manager is heavily involved in Jetwing’s youth training projects around the country. Let’s see what else Jetwing GMs get up to.

 

Having experienced attentive hospitality, understated luxury, delicious dining, and impressive sustainability at Jetwing Kaduruketha, I was curious about the man in charge.

Naminda Rathnayake greets his guests with enthusiasm and pride in the property he manages. Offering ideas on how to fill your days or stopping by for a pleasant chat, he emits the relaxed vibe of Jetwing Kaduruketha.

I was interested to find out a little more about him, and I hope you are too.

Thanks for taking some time out for a chat, Naminda. Firstly, where in Sri Lanka are you from?

I am from picturesque Belihuloya, a village in the hill country surrounded by greenery and rivers.

Is hospitality in the blood? What made hospitality your vocation?

Some of my most cherished childhood memories were of my parents entertaining family and friends at home.

We also travelled extensively which gave me the opportunity to experience different parts of our beautiful island and understand early on what it was like to extend warm, heartfelt hospitality.

With this influence, a group of friends and I decided to enrol at hotel school after completing our studies at St. Thomas College- Bandarawela. By this time, I had an in-depth understanding of the tourism and hospitality industry. 

I graduated from the Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management, and Accommodation Operations is my specialization.

Tell us about your journey from graduation?

I was with Jetwing Yala for 3 years, and years before that, I was working for several different Sri Lankan hotel chains, either in Sri Lanka or the Maldives 

I’ve been with Jetwing hotels 6 years and two and a half years in my current position

I see many busy hands around the property, how many employees are you responsible for?

There are 65 associates involved in the resort and 31 farming families from the community working our paddy land.

We have 25 deluxe dwellings with butlers. Our kitchen staff, garden maintenance, pool, bar, cleaning, it adds up.