Overall Ratings & Reviews Kottawatta Village

The staff made me feel welcome and safe from the moment I arrived. They organised for me to share a morning safari with another couple who were staying there - this way we all saved money and it’s better for the environment. I really appreciated this! Our guide for the Safari “Parera” was fantastic! He made sure we were the second Jeep in the park, and drive quickly but safely and professionally. He knew many species of animal and always stopped for everything. He could spot a gecko on a tree ten metres away! When we reached the end of our safari we found a mother and baby elephant having a mud bath. It was so beautiful and we watched for so long even though we went over time - Parera called the hotel and made sure they waited for us to return so we could have breakfast and watch the elephants for longer. Thank you so much Parera!

Our room was spacious, comfortable and clean. We absolutely loved the outdoor bathroom. The fish massage, pool and gardens make it a very relaxing stay. The staff were friendly and helpful.

The staff was very friendly and went out of their way to please guests. We enjoyed the idea of the outside bathroom, but there were thousands of ants. The grounds were lovely as well. Restaurant is okay but I loved the special "date night" tables they had

We booked 2 months in advance and had been in contact with resort in the weeks leading up to our trip. When we arrived, we were told they didn’t have our booked room available as the had double booked it. They offered a tent, which we didn’t want as we had been camping up to this point and wanted closed walls to keep insects out. They weren’t apologetic at all and we found a different place to stay as a result. We wouldn’t book again. Poor customer service. Lack of consideration for plans around travel. And we found out later that they overcharge for safaris. So we are glad we didn’t end up with them.

Basic accommodation set in nice grounds with two decent swimming pools. Go for the poolside rooms if you want to stay here. This property also can organise jeep safaris to the Udawalawe park. Email the hotel to organise this ahead of time, we’ll worth it. Did 6 hour tour with breakfast, guide was excellent. Saw dozens of elephants. Much better than Yala for elephant and other wildlife spotting (did an 8 hr trip to Yala the next day and saw almost nothing as the forest is so dense at times and overcrowded with noisy jeeps)

Beautiful resort, with lovely rooms. Ideal for doing a safari, the hotel organised our driver for us and a taxi for the following day.

We booked the deluxe tent, it was amazing! Very clean, spacious, beautiful! View on the pool! Pool was very nice! Breakfast and dinner were very good! Also booked a safari with them, everything was great! Nothing bad to say about our stay!!

Amazing Hotel !! Definitely stay here if you are going to do the safari..

We only had 1 night here, to do 2 safaris at Udawalawe National Park. Hotel organised us the safaris very easily, around 20 mins drive away from the park but it is fun travelling in the Jeep. We stayed in the permanent tents, which was really fun and added to the safari feel! Tents were fine, have aircon and mosquito nets. Nice pool areas and restaurant was fine for food and beers.

Wonderful stay! I especially enjoyed the food and staying in a tent. Glamping at its finest!

Good idea. Done badly. Tents with aircon and bathroom✅. Ridiculously close to busy road so no sleep. Checkin and restaurant staff all seemed a bit disinterested. Bed sheets with big holes like the dog had been wrestling with them. Just weird. And no real interest in solving our problems. Skip it.

We managed to stay in a villa by the pool which was divine. We had a beautiful outdoor bathroom which suits the style of the accomodation. The bed was comfortable and had its own mosquito net. The jungle style room had great air conditioning and felt like a little oasis. The staff was very helpful and assisted us to book tours for the National Park. One bit that could be improved was the wifi.

Only stayed one night. I was upgraded to a room by the pool. My friends , who stayed in a tent, were a little jealous. Had a lovely breakfast and a great guide/driver to the park. Thank you Darnushka (Taranga).

The place was incredible! There's not much to do in Udawalawe, but this resort-like hotel was a very comfortable place to rest! We stayed in the cheaper tents and were impressed by the cleanliness and comfort! The bed was huge, the bathroom clean, and we had more than enough space in the room for the two of us. And despite being a tent, we had no insect issues throughout the evening! Only downside is that our tent rooms did not have WiFi. Fortunately we had our SIM cards and there was slow WiFi in the common areas, but it was a minor inconvenience. Really great place to stay and enjoy a night's rest.

Unfortunately this was by far the worst tent accomodation that we have ever stayed. Every zipper on both the front and back door was broken. The black door had no Velcro only a few straps so we had the pleasure of sharing our tent with lots of mosquitos. Someone tried to sneak into our tent but thankfully we caught them. As there are no zippers there is no security so the best we could do is lock our valuables in our bags as there is also no safe box. On top of that the tent leaked when it was raining. The list goes on and on but one other memorable moment was smelling the other people's bathrooms as each tent is connected to each other and separated only by the tent wall. The food at the restaurant was pretty poor and they tack on a service charge so you have no choice but to tip for below average food and service. At breakfast the food dishes had no covers so there were lots of flies sitting in all of the dishes. I wouldn't recommend this place to my worst enemy.

We stayed here for 2 nights whilst we went on a safari and Udawalawa. We needed 2 rooms because there were 4 of us and the accommodation was great and the kids loved the pool and the outside bathroom. The hotel staff are very friendly and they arranged a special location for dinner because we were celebrating my birthday! The menu is limited but fine for 2 nights. A great experience!

Much more than I expected. The tent was amazingly comfortable with a full bed, mosquito netting, and hard-wood floors. The listing is incorrect, though. Don't expect air-con (there is a fan and electricity) and the wifi doesn't reach the room (typical for Sri Lanka). There a tons of monkeys around and you can see them from then tent's back patio. The room was a bit dark, but it is a tent. Main problem is that the tents are connected and you can hear everything from the bathroom, but that was the only drawback. There is nothing nearby but it's a great place to relax. Reception organizes safaris at a good price. The restaurant and breakfast aren't great. The hotel is on the main road between Embilpitiya and Udawalawe so if you're taking the bus ask them to drop you off.

Very peaceful, lots of bird chatter but can't hear road traffic. We loved the pool and also the privacy of the deluxe tent. Food and drinks were very reasonable as was the price of excursions. The staff at dinner/breakfast do seem to try but they are really very inefficient (island time?!). No wifi in our room and more often than not, none at the restaurant either but this wasactually really conducive to relaxing - not all guests agreed.... We really enjoyed our two nights here and recommend just know it's going to be a slow, chilled place with little connection to the fast life back home!

nice, clean, comfortable, good pool, good food, nice staff, beautiful location

My bungalow was lovely, but almost all the others were in varying stages of construction. I couldn't find reception; staff appeared only when I loitered in the restaurant area. Nobody who knew the right WiFi password could be found. The restaurant had no seat cushions, ants in the sugar and some rather frayed wiring in the thatched roof; I'm glad it wasn't raining. The food was average to downright weird ("tandoori" chicken covered in bland tomato-based sauce; chocolate cake with breakfast).