Reviews and recommendations – Sri Lanka

At this page you will find our reviews of accommodations, tours and other rate-worthy experiences in Sri Lanka.

As for the accommodations, we are mostly relying on concepts such as homestay, AirBNB, housesitting and Work away, but we also use hotels and guesthouses.

Our rating system goes from one to five stars, with five as the best possible rating.

Let us know if you need further explanations or information.

Accommodations

Colombo – “Villa 63” – (****)

It is a guesthouse, with the family staying on the ground floor. The house is in two stores with our room at the first floor to the right.

This place has an excellent location. The Villa 63 is based in a suburb close to Colombo surrounded by beautiful patty fields, along with a nice garden filled with Ayurvedic medicine and spices. You can enjoy a nice view with a rich birdlife and monkeys leaping around in the garden, while still being only 20 min. from Colombo by Tuk tuk.

You can order excellent and tasteful home cooked meals and the breakfast will be served every morning in the garden. Furthermore, the rooms are clean and spacious.

The owner of the house has a travel agency, and he is able to help you plan your further journey through Sri Lanka. He planned a fantastic two weeks round trip for us.

 

Kandy – “Nature Walk Resort” (***)

This was our first accommodation at our round trip. Our expectation weren’t very high, as we had set up a low budget for the tour. We were truly surprised to see what value you were able to get for such small amounts of money.

The Nature Walk Resort is a wonderful place with a perfect location. Once again, the place is away from the noise of the city, but still very close to all the attractions in Kandy.

The service and the food in the restaurant are very high. There is a fantastic view of the valley and the city from the restaurant.

The rooms are basic and clean.

 

Nuwara Eliya –“Pello Lake Hotel” (*)

I would just say, “don’t even think about it”. The rooms were dirty, and the whole place is covered in black mould. The food wasn’t very inspiring, and not very good. My daughter says that the only good thing about this place is the very nice cat with a litter of kittens.

 

Nuwara Eliya – Ramboda falls Hotel (****)

Fantastic view from you balcony! This place provides a panoramic view of the two waterfalls from your balcony. Just be aware of the monkeys, they will visit your balcony in the evening and look for leftovers.

The food is served in a buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The variety of food is a mix of western and srilankan food.

The room are clean, and comes with a great air condition and a fan too.

 

Adams Peak – “White Elephant Hotel” (***)

This place works out perfect for travellers who wish to walk the Adams Peak, as it is quite close to the location. You start the walk at 2 am in the morning, and the hotel provides a late breakfast for when you come back. The hotel has basic rooms and food. In general, it is a nice and clean place.

 

Ella – “Waterfall View Homestay” (****)

We were only booked for two nights at this place, but if has been possible for us we would have stayed longer. Here you have the most magnificent view of the waterfall, and the valley. Basically, you can sit on the veranda and enjoy the views for a whole day.

The rooms are clean and nicely decorated. An Australian couple supports this guesthouse and the western style shines through in some places.

It is located close to Ella town. There is a one-kilometre walk to the centre, but you could also choose take a Tuk Tuk.

 

Passikudah – “Holiday Beach” – (***)

This place is actually located south of Passikudah, very close to the lovely and quite beach Kalkudah. This is a beautiful little guesthouse, which is managed by a sweet lady. It has four basic rooms, all with air-condition and fans – which you will value during night-time. The home cooked food is very tasty, although a bit expensive.

 

Sigiriji – “Tree Top House Inn” (****)

I was a bit nervous about this place, because I knew that we were going to sleep very close to Mother Nature. But thankfully, I was positively surprised. A big and dense mosquito net covered our huge King sized bed. Nice!

It was a great experience to wake up to the sounds of Mother Nature in the tree top cabin. The only disadvantage; the cabin is very small, and only have one big bed. So if you plan to sleep three people in the cabin, you all need to snuggle up together, but there’s plenty of room. It wasn’t a problem for us, but we are also travelling as a family.

 

Anaradaoura “Milano Tourist Hotel” (***)

This is quite a fancy little hotel, with the air of somewhere European. The food was served in their small garden, and was very tasty. The service is high and the waiters will do anything to provide what you need – also very late in the evening.

We had a small party with our drivers at this place, so I can personally recommend it for recovering after hangovers.

The rooms are basic and have air-conditioning and fans.

 

Weligama – “The Mansion” (****)

We stayed in this house for one month, and we truly enjoyed being a part of the family.

We have had the pleasure to stay at The Mansion in 4 weeks. Here we came to know Andun and his lovely family very well. Super nice people who only wants the best for you and with a high level of service.
Here you have a VERY good Wifi connection. The food here is also great.
In many ways it is a super place to stay. We had the entire first floor to ourselves and had a beautiful view to the rice fields. Very peaceful and idyllic. The House is close to Weligama town with many shopping facilities and bus and train station. Weligama beach is really nice and also close by.
Sinharaja Rainforest “Sinharaja Rest” (***)

We got an upgrade at this place, and stayed in one of the chalets on the mountain. This place has a main building with basic rooms, and a restaurant where they serve amazing home-cooked rice and curry.

In addition, they have a small place on the mountain, just two kilometres away from the main building. There are two chalets and a tree top patio where you can sit and enjoy your afternoon coffee and a fantastic view of the forest.

The chalets are clean and have fans.

Many people come to this place because of the guide, Pali. He is an excellent guide, and very knowledgeable about all the animals and plants in the rainforest. He has done rainforest trekkings for the last 21 years.

 

Udawalawe “Elephant Rest” (**)

We were a bit disappointed about this place. It surely didn’t match the pictures at booking.com. We had planned to stay for three nights, but we changed it to two nights. Although the rooms were very clean and had both air-condition and fans, our view were just a concrete wall. In the description they had make it look like we had a great forest view. The people who take care of the guesthouse are lovely people and they serve the best home-cooked rice and curry we’ve had in Sri Lanka.

 

Yala – “Wila Safari Hotel” (****)

This is one of my absolute favourite places. You will have a panoramic view of the two lakes from your balcony, the restaurant and the swimming pool. The place is quiet, and the only sounds you will hear are the gentle rustling from the leaves of the mango and palm trees, or birds chirping in the garden.

This is a luxurious place with excellent and spotless clean rooms.

They serve a nice buffet, when there are people enough. Otherwise, they will serve you a big set menu of rice and curry. The only negative thing about this place is their lunch menu, which does almost not exist and is very expensive. They are only able to serve noodles, small sandwiches and fried rice.

I need to stress, that the swimming pool and the garden were spotless and well kept. This place has received some negative reviews at Tripadvisor in this regard, but they have definetly improved.

We planned to stay for three nights, but we ended up staying for six nights.

 

Arugam Bay – “Stay Golden Hotel” (****)

We stayed in this quiet and beautiful place in the off-season, and we loved it. We had planned to stay for four nights, but we extended our stay to seven nights.

It has six cabanas on the beach, a lovely restaurant/café and lots of hammocks in the garden. It is truly a place where you just “chillout-yet-another-day-in-the-hammock-while-you-enjoy-the-seabreeze”.

The food is very nice, traditional, healthy home cooked Sri Lankan Food made with the freshest local ingredients, and a bit of western food.

 

Other nice things in Sri Lanka

Weligama – Tuk tuk tours (*****)

Mr. Ranji will show some very special local attractions away from the tourist crowd. He works as a waiter at the Fish Point Restaurant, but he is also available for good advises and short day trips. He has a special passion for his home country and local area.

Go to the Fish Point Restaurant and ask for Ranji – or call him at 077 47 23 359

 

Weligama – Fish Point – Shop & Restaurant (*****)

First, I have to say that, they serve the best fish that I have ever tasted, and it is served 110 % fresh, and on the beach.

This place became our favourite hang out place in Weligama, and we can highly recommend it. You won’t get a better experience and great fish-dishes other places in Sri Lanka, and also to very reasonable prices.

Just look for the sign “Fish Point” on the main road in Weligama.

 

Galle Fort – Serendipity Art Café (*****)

This is our second hang out place on the west coast. My daughter did an art piece on the wall on the first floor. It is a very nice place in Galle Fort. Please, you have to taste the crab and the coffee. They serve a god dam good coffee.

 

Galle Fort – Crestar (*****)

This is the gems and jewellery shop where you can create and design your own jewellery. The two guys, who own the place, are very knowledgeable about design and possibilities. Also, they will give you a good price if you mention Christian Nikolajsen from Denmark.

The shop is placed within Galle Fort.

 

Our private Tuk Tuk driver (*****)

Kasun has a very special place in our heart. He drove us around in his Tuk Tuk while we were based in Weligama. He will always take good care of his customers, and you will feel completely safe in his Tuk Tuk. You can call him almost at all times of the day, and he will come and pick you.

His numbers is: 077 660 5679