The Palm
Details
The Palm House is exactly as the name suggests.. a lovely house surrounded by lush tropical gardens and jungle nestling in the hills surrounding the historic town of Galle. The driveway meanders down the hill towards the house through landscape gardens. The house is at one end of the plot whilst the pool and pavilion is on a lower level. inside the house there are 3 doubles - (2 ensuite) and a small single room that shares a bathroom with the third double. All the double bedrooms have french shuttered windows that open to the garden and overlook jungle.
The large sitting room separates the master bedroom from the others and adjoining this is a large terrace where the dining table offers commending views of the surrounding jungle almost at canopy level. This part of the jungle is on a monkey trail so you can spend hours watching monkeys pass by on their daily journey to and from home and listen to them shout and play.
The kitchen is reached along the path leaving the other end of the sitting room and the cook enjoys preparing local rice and curries. This a house steward who is joined by a gardener and night watchman to make up the full compliment of staff.
4 rooms
Sleeps: 7
Location: Galle- close to Galle
- hill side, jungle views
- family home
- cook, steward and gardener
- peaceful, escape
- 3 dbls and 1 small single
- TV, DVD, WiFi
- Service and tax may be added to the rates
Floorplan
Rates and availability
All prices in US dollars per night per villa
2024 November M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 $350
2024 December M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1st-18th: $400
19th on: $550
2025 January M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1st-8th: $550
9th on: $450
2025 February M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1st-9th: $450
10th-16th: $550
17th on: $450
2025 March M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 $450
2025 April M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 $450
2025 May M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 2025 June M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 2025 July M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 2025 August M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 2025 September M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 2025 October M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 2025 November M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 2025 December M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 2026 January M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 2026 February M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 2026 March M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 2026 April M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 2026 May M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 2026 June M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 2026 July M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 2026 August M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 2026 September M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 2026 October M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Guestbook
Within the last 5 years, as publishers of a Swiss business magazine we traveled to many luxury hotels, retreats and private islands, relaxing in jet aviation lounges and private pools next to Brad Pit, Robert De Niro and Kylie Minogue. I always asked myself if it would make sense to spend five to six digits (of the western currency of your choice) to have two weeks off of the rat race and if you would simply have to spend this money to "have it all"… We'll you don't!
We've been fed up with hotels of all kinds and so we chose to go with renting some private residence for our private holidays. After falling in love with Sri Lanka last year and having already booked business trip to another Maledivean retreat we fell in love with the Old Palm House here on the website and planned to go there right after our stay at the Maledives.
We wanted to be as secluded as possible and just eat, pray and love. No TV no WIFI, no e-mail, no information, no hosted dinners as usual.
What we've found was far more than what we had expected it to be. If the world ended during our stay at the Old Palm House we would have been ok with it.
The house in the hills is just gorgeous. The Sri Lankan food is marvelous (ordering western food would have been a sin and just stupid). The sound of the buddhist monks meditating in the temple next to the villa gave us goose bumps. And even the funny melody of the "bread man" 3-wheeler passing the house sometimes is a highlight.
Even more a highlight were the people (one chef, two boys taking care of the property and a security guard. And not to forget Bessy the dog and Lola the cat ;). Up front Champika, the chef taking care and nursing us to make sure we would leave this place with a big smile in our faces and in our hearts.
If you are looking for private butlers with white gloves, sip Pinkeys at the pool and opening Château Cheval Blanc for Dinner go to Four Seasons, or Disney Land.
If you are looking to be around real, warm hearted people that really care about you and have a great time in a luxury environment… do not look any further. Go visit Old Palm House!
Many thanks to all the people from Eden Villas foremost Jack himself. We enjoyed meeting you too and we hope to come back soon.
Excellent staff, great house!
I thought it was absolutely fantastic. The staff at the villa were great. The cooking was fantastic. I’ve been recommending Old Palm House to lots of my friends.
We love the Old Palm House. It is our second trip there and it is a beautifully relaxing place, perched on top of a hill, surrounded by forest and cooled by a fresh breeze. It is a peaceful escape from the crowds of Galle Fort which is only a short tuk-tuk ride away. Our kids, aged seven and two, could not have been happier. They loved the garden with its lovely pool and abundant wildlife including frogs, monkeys, birds, bugs and magical flashing fireflies in the evenings. Yeah… okay a very large snake did fall onto the roof of the poolside gazebo but it wouldn’t be the jungle without a bit of a reptilian interlude.
As for the staff, Ruwan the chef and villa manager is so talented that if we could have kidnapped him and moved him to London then we would. Just chat with him each day about what you feel like eating, what he rates as fresh and in season, then sit back and enjoy piling on the kilos. Ruwan’s chocolate mousse is so good it is probably illegal in some jurisdictions. Housekeeper Yoga keeps the entire place shipshape and Agid makes sure the garden always looks great.
And if you are discouraged by the lack of air conditioning then don’t be: the rooms are cleverly designed so the air flows through and there are fans everywhere which is a much more pleasant way to keep cool than being blasted with mechanically and environmentally damaging cold air. And the villa is on top of a hill so there is natural breeze and a drop in temperature. People not used to the tropics should have no problem at all.
My only negative is that I do not think that anyone should book the villa when I want to go again. Which I will. I want first refusal.
This is our third time at the Old Palm House and we love it there. The house and the gardens are a great place to unwind. I love that the situation on the top of the hill gives a breeze that keeps the place cool.
But what really makes the place special is the staff: Ruwan is a gem. His cooking is exceptional, he’s constantly on top of any issues that need tackling and he is a genuinely nice guy. Yoga is great and keeps the place immaculate. Ajith is always attentive and great with the kids. All in all they are a great team.
I do wonder iff they should get a small back up generator there as there were a large number of power cuts while we were staying there. I also hope that no more of the garden is cut back as that beautiful tropical feel is one of the main reasons for being there.
Overall, we love it.
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