Polonnaruwa hotellia

Plussat: The hospitality of staff, especially Mr Udesh, the manager of the hotel.

Miinukset: It's the monkeys, but not in your hands to control them. The Sri Lankan food was a delight as well as the beautiful sunset. The location of the hotel is perfect for a quiet stay in Polonnaruwa.

Plussat: The Ekho Lake House is located directly at the lake and has a wonderful view with a grand sunset. It is a small and beautiful boutique hotel with a remarkable history and with for Sri Lanka exceptionally well organised and trained staff. Everybody is super friendly, food is really, really good. We probably had the best rice and curry here and an excellent breakfast, too. We really liked the place, the manager is fun and does a great job, this was definitely the best value for money out of the dozen places or so we stayed in.

Plussat: The hotel itself has a fascinating history and it was a privilege to stay here. The hotel is beautiful if you can catch the sunset and the room was spacious with a very spacious bathroom. The staff are very friendly and helpful. The hotel restaurant is good but obviously a little more expensive than restaurants around town.

Miinukset: As you’re surrounded by nature there are a few lizards. Flies, creepy crawlies around but I think staff do take action to remove as many as possible.

Plussat: Pool was great

Miinukset: The food was a bit pricey & they played the same annoying pan pipe music over and over

Plussat: We loved our stay in EKHO Lake villa. The manager is superb, we is 100 percent professional, welcoming, devoted for his work. The hotel itself is in wonderful place. With nice sunsets on the lake. We loved the breakfasts.

Miinukset: Nothing to add

Plussat: Amazing especially the pool under the tree, very kind and nice employees, the food was so delicious! While entering our room they played automatically wonderful music to welcome us. Every room can be entered from 2 side, throuh the lobby and the garden to the lake/pool side. Very clean and calm. Wonderful sunset! They even organised bikes for the visit to the ruins (300 lrk per day and bike)

Plussat: + Very kind and helpful staff, always extremely attentive and willing to go the extra mile + Excellent location, right by the Lake with lovely sunset views. You can hire bikes at the hotel and cycle to the ancient city/ruins within 5 minute + Very good food and restaurant, particularly great breakfast + Large rooms, which are attractively decorated

Miinukset: - There are a lot of monkeys roaming around in the outside area, which makes it unrealistic to eat on the outside tables (though drinks are OK). Although not much the hotel can do to avoid this

Plussat: The location was superb for the park. The hosts were amazing and they went out of their way to accommodate our every need. The service and food in the restaurant was also brilliant.

Plussat: Luxurious room and attentive staff. Not your typical hotel as only a few rooms and tucked away from the main road. Also the Deluxe Room was lovely and large with a great view of the lake.

Miinukset: None of the windows open so you feel quite closed off. Also the monkeys made it uncomfortable to sit outside to enjoy the incredible view. Also be aware that there are few food options nearby and hotel restaurant prices are the steepest we encountered during a month in Sri Lanka.

Plussat: Stunning rooms

Miinukset: The pool is quite small, but perfect for a couple...

Plussat: Wonderful place near the lake , quiet and very clean. King's breakfast. We spend two fantastic days.

Plussat: very clean room and breakfast owner’s wife cooked was sri lanka food and made us happy.

Miinukset: There is only one restaurant around the hotel.I recommend you to book a hotel’s dinner or finish dinner before you go to the hotel.

Plussat: Location Welcome Peaceful place

Miinukset: Good location, near to historical site, beautiful garden, close to the lake, nice bike ride to reach monuments. Great room, comfortable, thought in detail to meet all needs; wonderful breakfast, friendly host couple. Highly recommanded

Plussat: The hosts were absolutely lovely and offered plenty of local advice on the best places to eat and things to do (if you like Sri Lankan food, make sure you ask for the best buffet in town!). The room and all common areas were impeccably clean and very comfortable. Fantastic quality for the price! Anfitriones excelentes y casa impecablemente limpia. Calidad-precio asegurados.

Plussat: Good confort for excellent price

Miinukset: Nothing

Plussat: The property was VERY clean and the family who ran the homestay were very friendly and dealt with our needs promptly - Even advising and helping us see a doctor when we needed to! Definately a lovely place to stay.

Miinukset: Be careful of ants.

Plussat: Perfect good

Plussat: Binara and his wife are very friendly and charming. We stayed two nights in their house and had breakfast twice. For each breakfast we got a different variety of dishes. You can use the kitchen to make tea or coffee any time.

Plussat: Very friendly host. Comfortable stay.

Plussat: Pharo Lake is really a gem. We absolutely loved it there. The location is just perfect! Beautifully set directly at the lake, with plenty of birds. And the egrets chose a tree close to the pool to sleep there. It was a great spectacle to watch them in the evening. The staff is very attentive and friendly, they arranged bicycles for us and a Tour to Sigiriya. The food is good as well.

Miinukset: Actually there was nothing we didn't like, except the dog, that was always chasing us down the street when we cycled past it, but that wasn't the Hotels fault.

Plussat: Great location with (sometimes) elephants passing by. Good food and breakfast, but not a big choice for vegetarians.

Miinukset: There are a lot of sea flys (?) also inside the room. Even they don't harm it would be much more comfortable if mosquito nets would be provided. It should be standard in such areas.

Plussat: Great location, helpful and friendly staff, easy bike rental, beautiful views. Everything was fantastic

Miinukset: Nothing

Plussat: The views are amazing and the staff are very friendly. Rooms are clean and private. Close to pollunarawa

Miinukset: Service for dinner is slow so best to order in advance.

Plussat: Lovely, quiet place just beside the lake. The room was clean and full equipped. Very nice swimming pool. Restaurant with good food and great music. You can also rent a bike. The manager is a fantastic person, very professional, kind and well organized. He is very well informed and he answered all out questions. Great story teller. It was nice to listen his stories about elephants. We even saw one in the distance. It’s perfect place where you can relax and you feel comfortably.

Plussat: Staff were extremely helpful and organised at short notice bicycles for going round the Sacred City, an elephant jeep safari and a boat trip. All of these activities were great! They also helped with our onward journey. We also really liked the setting, overlooking the lake and the swimming pool. Unfortunately, there were no elephants up close when we were there, as the lake water was very high.

Plussat: Amazingly welcome and informative host. And, we saw elephants! Even with all the rain during our stay two came to visit after dinner and one for breakfast. Nice pool. Good food. Good location for seeing the sights nearby.

Miinukset: We stayed in the family room, and it would have been good to have some comfy chairs to sit in outside of our room.

Plussat: Location, sunrise, sunset, swimming pool, calm and cool breeze of pharo lake,

Miinukset: Food. I could not get veg Indian food.

Plussat: This is very good,good staff,good location.Easy access to ancient city and new city.Good BF!!!Overall very good for family and group.

Miinukset: Nothing like that

Plussat: The staff were very friendly and attentive throughout our stay. It is a lovely small hotel with nice outside gardens and a pool to relax in after a day visiting the ancient city. Definitely recommend!

Plussat: Fantastic staff, very friendly and helpful! The swimming pool is amazing and the room was very comfortable. The food was great too. We would highly recommend as we are a family of four travelling together and we really loved it here!

Plussat: Rooms were beautiful and simple as well as the surrounding. Walls were filled with notes left by visitors. Breakfast was also great.

Miinukset: A bit crowded when we visited.

Plussat: amazing pool between rice paddies, great value for money. rooms are basic but if you are fine with it than this is a great place.

Miinukset: nothing

Plussat: The swimming pool was great, big, nice and clean, illuminated in dark. Staff was very friendly and helpful. They also arranged everything we asked, safari, transport with a good driver etc. Breakfast was good. The room had a balcony with a table and chairs. Spacious garden.

Miinukset: Breakfast was good, but lunch and dinner in the restaurant not so good.

Plussat: Superb value for money. Nice pool, great food and cheap drinks and good bed and airco.

Miinukset: Only the shower couldn't fix properly but overall the stay was great for the money paid.

Plussat: The pool was refreshing and very clean.

Miinukset: The room had a strong damp smell. It was clean but the smell was overpowering at times.

Plussat: The staff were outstanding. Fun, helpful and knowledgeable. Pool was clean, grounds were groomed, room was clean. Don’t even get me started about the food.

Miinukset: I liked everything.

Miinukset: You can't expect more for the prize!

Plussat: Their was one staff who was really helpful and nice and assisted us as much as he could. Also we had access to the pool at all time. And we received some cookies and Srilankan sweets while we checked out. Had a nice view out of the balcony

Miinukset: The place had tv but we wasn’t able to see anythng since they said the cable was damaged by monkeys. WiFi access was only available in the lobby. We found ants all over the beds and cockroach under the bed. No mirror in the room mirror was only in toilet. Rooms were okay but was not same as the pictures posted. Also before traveling we needed a ride and texted the owner multiple times for which we dint receive any reply.

Plussat: Friendly staff

Miinukset: Wife facilities

Plussat: The people are very kind and you will feel at home right away. For dinner and for breakfast they "reserved" a table for us and they were delighted to show us their food and explain what is what. We also got a special breakfast from them including hoppers and it was delicious! Try their seyara special fried rice its amazing! We wanted to stay another night but unfortunately it was full the next day, but the host was so helpful that we could leave our luggage during the next day and also still use the swimming pool and the restaurant as if we were there. And all this for a very reasonable price! This place is THE place to go!

Plussat: Clean comfortable beds, room with balcony Amazing pool and garden Friendly staff Delicious food and breakfast Bikes for rent (Rs400) We even got cakes to go for our journey

Miinukset: No wifi in the room Small ants

Plussat: Hospitality was excellent, Upali and his wife were lovely and so welcoming and had a great sense of humour! Beautiful grounds and a wonderful pool. The evening curry buffet was so tasty and loads of it too. Good breakfast with a mix of Sri Lankan with toast & jams. Upali has bikes for hire and gave us a brilliant map and instructions for visiting the ancient city. The place is great value for money and has a chilled and relaxed feel. Fully recommend you come here.

Miinukset: Nothing

Plussat: Everything. We had a squeaking fan for the first night but as soon as we mentioned it was replaced with a new one. The staff are excellent always there to help but not in your way. The garden is lovely, breakfast is nice and diner is available but we had a scooter and ate in town, ‘Stars’ is amazing value and great food. It’s on the main road, once you try it you’ll be hooked. the room as clean, the beds and towels replaced daily. The pool is of course a great addition. I was swimming being watched by a group of monkeys eating in the surrounding trees. Its quiet. It’s location is close to the ruins. Great value, totally recommend.

Miinukset: It’s a little out of town if you don’t have a scooter, but you can hire one from the hotel. 2000 rupees. Pollonaruwa has little to it besides the ruins and lake. So it’s not a place for a long stay. We rode all around but there was no real point of focus apart from maybe the Sunday market. We had a large family group, 20 or so turn up for full moon. They completely took over the whole place, the swimming pool was inaccessible with them all in it throwing balls around, shouting and having a great time. In the evening they took up every available seat around the property, we were totally squeezed out. But it was just for one day, the hotel apologised and you can understand their financial situation. I’m sure it would be a rarity, just check the moon!

Plussat: The staff were superb and very friendly. The food was very good. This place is great value for money.

Plussat: Rooms are very basic but appropriate to the price point

Plussat: Facilities and location

Miinukset: N/A

Plussat: Place, room, pool, bathroom ,cleanliness and hotel maintenance were excellent ...Value for money is in highest level ..

Miinukset: My rooms AC Sound was bit annoying ...and not functioned as expected ..But it was managable...

Plussat: nice place.but not happy with bathroom shampoo items.they refilling that items.best swimming pool,nice location.

Plussat: kitchen staff was very friendly. the room was big and clean with a nice balcony.

Miinukset: the reception staff seemed to be not very organized and the card terminal was not working

Plussat: Staff were very friendly, we were given a bigger space since the hotel wasnt full when we stayed which was a nice treat. The grounds are lovely and you have a feeling that the staff cant do too much for you

Plussat: This is a well managed business. Good food and a good room. This place is well located to see the ruins. The staff and management are friendly and very accommodating.

Miinukset: The hotel was great, but it would be nice if the ticket for the ruins was a two day ticket. There is too much to see in one day.

Plussat: Big room, great swimming pool

Miinukset: It was almost empty, the restaurant is busy for lunch. Nobody for dinner

Plussat: The design of the hotel is nice.

Miinukset: This hotel did not meet our expectations at all. The lobby and restaurant are always empty. There was never anybody available for any request, not even to give you a towel at the (dirty) pool. The cleanliness is horrible, both in the room and in general. We had tons of bugs in the room, including lizards that pooped on us while sleeping. Noises at night as well. We left a night early because we were unhappy and not enjoying our holiday stay there. After telling this to the hotel manager, he was only worried about charging us the whole 3 nights (we paid them), and when we finally left, he even chased us up the street because they forgot to charge us the last breakfast (shouting the price while chasing us up the street). Terrible. Not recommended at all.

Plussat: Full scale comfort. Large room and huge bed and lovely bathroom. Delightful garden views. Excellent friendly staff.

Miinukset: Mainly a function venue, we found the residential aspect quite quiet. Not necessarily a minus.

Miinukset: Need a dinner buffet

Plussat: Big room. The food was good.

Miinukset: The wifi was really bad.

Plussat: Best value for money. staff very friendly particularly the lady at front reception very helpful. foods are delicious.modern Large room & bathroom.

Miinukset: outdoor garden furnitures not well cleaned. they have to attend to that then it will full fill all.

Plussat: Th room was comfortable, Breakfast was good. The outside architecture of the hotel is nice. Staff is good and the service was ok.

Miinukset: There were very annoying little insects in the lobby and in the room, The Ac in the lobby was not on so as you enter the property you feel uncomfortable.

Plussat: Undoubtedly, the Ruins Chaaya Hotel in Polonnaruwa is a beautiful facility. However, when one looks around, it becomes clear that the facility has not been completed. Ruins Chaaya has a radiating ambience. The staff are friendly. The rooms are well appointed, clean and indeed comfortable although some of the furniture in the room is not quite functional. It is for these reasons that I will not hesitate to book the hotel again subject of course the hotel remaining competitive.

Miinukset: Overall, I have to say it was a disappointment because the facility does not meet the advertised 4-star rating. There is no swimming pool. Hotel website said the rooms had mini bar facility but a small fridge with a couple of bottles of water and soft drinks along with a couple of packets of peanuts would not be categorized as a mini bar. When I inquired about one of the activities listed on the website, only to be told that it is no longer available. In conclusion, I will say this. The hotel has the potential to become a posh facility with little additional input that will not cost the hotel an arm and a leg. If the management is interested, I will dare list some of the things that will make a huge difference. 1. Quality of food needs a big improvement. To give an example, on three consecutive nights, the room service dinner ordered had the fish way too over cooked making it like eating fibre. 2. Satellite TV – a facility stated on the website but had just a few local channels along with one Star Sports. I believe it is essential that a full Satellite TV channels are made available. For example, the PEO Titanium package from Sri Lanka Telecom. 3. Wifi – In the room, the signal strength was totally insufficient. It could not be used at all during out three nights of our stay.

Plussat: A lovely guest house but the real magic of this place is the owner and host Nishanthi. She was so lovely and helpful. I rented a bike from her to see the ruins and she gave me some helpful instructions. She cooked me and the other guest an incredible dinner and talked about her garden and the herbs and vegetables. She also suggested I get the train to Colombo when I discussed my plans with her. Incredibly.... she offered to wake up and drive me to the train station at 3am! She refused to take payment saying she wanted to help. She really has built a lovely home for travellers to visit and it was an honour to stay with her! Highly recommend you stay with her at rock cascade!

Miinukset: The water handle of the shower got broken when I tried to turn off the water. She told me several times thats very expensiv to replace the handle and She charge very little for the accomodation so I got the feeling to pay for the demage. The light us not very good in the room.

Plussat: Nice garden to sit, quiet area, very good breakfast.

Miinukset: The owner took a little bit to much time with her personal themes. Very friendly, but sometimes little bit moaning. The dinner was okay, but we have eaten better in homestays. The rooms have not been very clean, but okay.

Plussat: Location is within walking distance of the main ruins however, I hired the owners scooter to tour area. The room was fine, a little worn but comfortable and met my needs. The host was very kind and helpful, and on my second night involved me in a family get together including sharing the evening me.

Miinukset: Everything worked in the bathroom however, it cools do with a bit of smartening up.

Plussat: The owner is very helpful. I had some troubles to find the next hotel, she called them and came with me to be sure I was ok. I strongly recommend.

Plussat: Nashanti was the most wonderful host and made our stay very special. Her cooking is the best we have tasted in Sri Lanka where she made us a delicious breakfast and dinner. We would definitely come back and stay again.

Plussat: The owner is super nice. She is so nice and her meal is very delicious. The room maybe a little bit small but comfortable.

Miinukset: It's too quiet at night so you need to be careful when you walk.

Plussat: If you are looking for a unique local experience rather than staying at a Boutique hotel, than this is the place to stay! Nishanthi, the owner and I we had a blast! We cooked a Curry and Rotti, she showed me every step and we went trough the whole cooking procedure together. She is a really good chef with great knowledge about the Sri Lankan spices and ingredients. It was extremely interesting and so much fun at the same time. We had dinner together and we really enjoyed each others company. For the next day, Nishanthi organized a bike for me and explained me the way through the monuments. The breakfast was very tasty too. I would highly recommend this place if you want to get in touch with the people and their culture. It has been a pleasure.

Miinukset: This is a general thing in Sri Lanka: The wild dogs. They are everywhere in the streets and you have to be careful when walking to the "center", because some will bark and jump at you. Since I am really afraid of them, this was a tough one for me. But that's what you are facing in other places too.

Plussat: The staff were absolutely friendly and very helpful. They attended to our requests very well. The premises and building very well maintained.

Miinukset: Maybe WiFi needs to be arranged as the local network was not that great of a reception in the room.

Plussat: supper friendly staff who willing to do more than they offer is the first thing i like about siyanco. secondly location it is situated in walking distance to all the places to visit in Polonnaruwa. Price is very reasonable. overall worth every cent you spent.

Plussat: Location near the ruins, staff was really great - they even organized a new year celebration for the customers!

Miinukset: Room was old and smelly, shower with a short curtain so all the water spilled on the soil... price absolutely too high for What you get!

Plussat: Nice relaxing atmosphere. Nice pool. Staff very friendly and obliging. Handy to walk near tank in evening.

Miinukset: No bath mat.

Plussat: Clean

Miinukset: Awful dimly lit depressing room with no natural light... very noisy A/C meant we could not sleep during the night with the A/C on... TV did not work