Chena Huts review: rustic by name, luxurious by nature

There’s nothing basic about the ‘huts’ at this smart beach resort in south-east Sri Lanka

Chena Huts, Sri Lanka
(Image credit: Uga Escapes)

The coastal road which snakes its way around the coconut groves and beaches of southern Sri Lanka is an excellent introduction to the island’s easy-going way of life.

An eclectic mix of tuk-tuks, bicycles, thundering buses and smiling pedestrians cheerfully share the narrow tarmac with a refreshing absence of aggression. The intertwining streams of traffic and livestock are bewildering at first, but go with the flow and you’ll enjoy the camaraderie.

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Holden Frith is The Week’s digital director. He also makes regular appearances on “The Week Unwrapped”, speaking about subjects as diverse as vaccine development and bionic bomb-sniffing locusts. He joined The Week in 2013, spending five years editing the magazine’s website. Before that, he was deputy digital editor at The Sunday Times. He has also been TheTimes.co.uk’s technology editor and the launch editor of Wired magazine’s UK website. Holden has worked in journalism for nearly two decades, having started his professional career while completing an English literature degree at Cambridge University. He followed that with a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University in Chicago. A keen photographer, he also writes travel features whenever he gets the chance.