Review: Galle Fort Hotel

Part Ian Schrager, part Somerset Maugham, this 12-room hotel is in a seventeenth-century Dutch merchant’s house in the heart of Sri Lanka’s historic, now-hip Galle Fort. Owners Karl Steinberg and Christopher Ong, exacting guests themselves, have trained the young staff to abandon Oriental bows in favor of genuinely great service—plumbing problems were resolved on the spot, and meals were served in record time. Ong oversees a daily menu of Asian favorites that draws deserved raves from across the island, particularly a kung pao chicken that elevates the take-out classic to haute cuisine. Dutch antiques fill the rooms, no two of which are alike. A spa suite provides Thai massages that match Bangkok’s finest, but guests must come prepared for occasional power failures (although the hotel’s generator kicks in quickly).