Kottawatta Village

DO NOT BOOK! Rats kept us up all night being noisy and ate through our belongings. The number to call for help doesn’t work in the early hours, so we had to walk 10 minutes in the pitch black dark to the security in the middle of the night and they just looked at us like it was normal. We found rat poo in the room as well as our chewed belongings. We didn’t sleep so we spoke to the manager in the morning and showed her our destroyed belongings. Her response was “yeah, we sometimes have rats because of the trees”. We got no apology and she wasn’t surprised at all. We had to argue to get a refund and she wouldn’t refund us everything only the base room price. On top of it all, it wasn’t even the room we were meant to stay in as when we arrived they had given our room away. Not a good experience with the customer service at all and we have lost belongings from them being destroyed as well. Another note is the outside bathroom is a nice idea but when it’s torrential rain it’s not great to be rained on whilst going to the toilet.

Really nice, picturesque resort. We had lunch and dinner, both of which were good. Staff were all friendly and helpful. We booked the Udawalawe safari tour through them and it was amazing. The driver was really knowledgeable and made the experience. The only downside was that we were there during bad weather (extreme winds), meaning the noise during the night was very disruptive due to the aluminium roof.

We loved this resort - the deluxe tent was wonderful, the outdoor shower and bathroom were a real treat, the dinner buffet was decent and in a nice location, and the staff were wonderful. We ordered a cappuccino at breakfast and even though it was not spectacular, the staff member who made it for us put so much effort into it (we watched him make it on their fancy machine) that his effort alone made us smile and love the resort even more. This stop was added to our trip kinda at the last minute but it turned into a highlight because the safari we did was wonderful and because this resort turned out to be such an unexpectedly pleasant experience because of the deluxe tent and the staff. Highly recommended.

I stayed for three nights early September with my husband, two young children and my parents. We loved our time at this hotel, the staff were so friendly and helpful, the rooms were clean and comfortable, the pool was clean and maintained every day and the Sri Lankan food in the restaurant was delicious. The staff were also fantastic with my children, making them paper aeroplanes. The hotel also arranged a fantastic safari tour for us at Udawalawe national park, our driver/guide was so knowledgeable and made sure we got up close to lots of elephants, water buffalo, deer, monkeys and beautiful peacocks...but not too close to the crocodiles! Fantastic stay and hope to be back on day. thank you!

We have just left Kottawatta Village after 2 amazing days/nights. We did the 1/2 day (afternoon) Udawalawe Safari - our driver, Tharanga was brilliant (his knowledge and expertise were exceptional) we saw so much wildlife and so many elephants, including a mother and baby I could not recommend this highly enough. We also did the short "feeding time" at the Elephant Transit Center which was definitely worthwhile (we checked out at 10 did the 10.30 "show" and were back for our 11.30 taxi The hotel itself is beautiful, set in beautiful grounds. We had a pool view luxury tent, which was lovely, very clean comfortable bed, and the open air bathroom is a nice feature. We enjoyed using the balcony, when we were there it was as if we were the only ones in the gardens it was so peaceful. We didn't see the other rooms, but I think for the difference in price the luxury tent is worth it We booked on a 1/2 board basis, again I would recommend this as there aren't many (maybe any) other options locally. The restaurant is really nice, and there are a few nice spots to enjoy a beer/cocktail after a busy day. We really enjoyed the food, especially on our second night when we chose more local options. The staff are lovely, and so helpful arranging us a taxi, and the tuktuk to the Transit Center, and suggesting timings for the different things we wanted to do.

We loved our stay in the safari tents at kottawatta village and the lovely pools were a welcome relief from the heat of travelling. Lots of fun watching the troop of monkeys come down from the trees and cause chaos on the nearby building roof. The safari which we booked from the resort was brilliant and we saw everything expected apart from a leopard although we were very close as someone had seen one a few minutes earlier.