Owl and the Pussycat Hotel

Named for the Edward Lear poem, this 17-room boutique hotel sits directly on the Indian Ocean just south of Galle, where the beach is more picturesque than swimmable but the view from the pool makes that easy to forgive. Rooms are colorful and stylish, the sea-facing ones worth requesting. A library drawing room and an open-air restaurant serving modern Sri Lankan cooking round out a small place that takes its literary whimsy seriously.