Eliyanth Udawalawe

What a great little place! We travelled out to Udawalawe to go on safari and spent one night at this hotel. Fantastic location with rooms that have balconies overlooking a river where some amazing birds can be spotted. Rooms were large and clean, simple but nice. Bathroom was great with indoor/outdoor showers. The hotel has a swimming pool which is amazing to swim in and the temperature of a warm bath, bliss! Although the hotel doesn't serve alcohol we could order some in and so we arranged for some Lion beer to be available (very cheap, Sri Lankan beer which is actually great). We ate breakfast, lunch and evening meal at the hotel, all of which were tasty and served with much pride. A great little stop over and fantastic value for money. Well worth a visit for a couple of days!

Eliyanth is down a side road, and quietly stated. It is smallish at about 8 rooms, but the lovelier for it. Our room was sparingly furnished, but very pleasant and airy. A good balcony looked out on the river. A nice feature is the al fresco bathroom with its verdant vegetation. You get a kettle and tea making, a/c and fan, and good hot water. You must ask for the room to be serviced. The swimming pool is a good size for a small property. Dining was a pleasure. There's a stock list of mostly western food, but go for the curries if they are on offer. Breakfast is good; you can go 'English' or Sri Lankan. The restaurant is open and simple but looks out over the river - where there are plenty of birds to amuse (if that's your thing). The staff are lovely, and would do anything to help. There's quite a homely feel to the place. The hotel organises trips into Udawalawe Park and is flexible with making arrangements. ...The park is price-y ($35 pp) and you get a bumpy ride on tracks that are too busy at times. There's not much etiquette at a sighting although the elephants seem remarkably calm about it. The hotel also organised (and were very conscientious about) a trip down to Bundalla NP which is about an hour(plus) away - good for birds (and we saw turtles). Other transport arrangements are willingly dealt with - onward, or to get there. We would definitely recommend this hotel. It is not grand and glorious, but it is lovely, quiet, clean and friendly - and you are not paying grand and glorious prices.

The rooms are really big and clean. There's a large table with cupboards. The river view is amazing. The restaurant is great with the river view. The staff is friendly, and I totally recommend this place. It's like a hidden gem. Highly recommend this place.

Family room with balcony was very comfortable for us. Kids were up on a mezzanine which took a bit of getting used to for them. Room was clean and had great view of river and the wildlife (monkeys, birds etc). Safari was organised by the hotel, which was very good although driver didn't speak much which was a bit disappointing. Pool was fantastic, clean and great for a dip after a safari, in the morning and when the sun is out. The only bad thing was the food. It took forever to come and was not of a high standard. Some of it was just inedible. Added to that the menu was very small and lots of it wasn't available. The best member of the staff seemed to a be 16 year old boy which felt rather uncomfortable. In summary, a bit of stretch to call it a boutique hotel more like a nice little hotel that could do with some investment in the food service and some staff training.

We really enjoyed our night in Eliyanth Udawalawa Hotel, the rooms were so confortable, very amusing to take the shower outside. The restaurant was also so great and the pool long and relaxing. Thank you for this wonderful stay !

We just did an overnight stay to go in the park the next morning at 6:00 am. The room was really nice and we had a little balcony. We did not have time to try the swimming pool but it looked very nice. Food was okay. They organized a safari tour for us. It was very easy and our guide was great. I wish the staff would have been a tad more professional, it would really have matched the looks of the room and the place.

The hotel itself is very nice - quiet location, lovely pool and reasonably close to the Udewalawa National Park. That is all, however, somewhat overshadowed by the fact that check-in took more than an hour - the manager claimed that no reservation was made and no payment received only to then blame ********** once I raised my voice sufficiently for him to find my reservation. Not an ideal experience in a rather remote location at 21.00. Other than that, a perfectly agreeable stay.