DoubleTree by Hilton Weerawila Rajawarna Resort

Nestled by the lake with expansive lawns, the hotel offers a truly wonderful environment. The room amenities were also excellent. It was delightful to spot various small birds and squirrels freely roaming the lobby and playing on the hotel's grounds – our children were absolutely thrilled. The swimming pool was also fantastic, and there was so much for the kids to do right on-site that they barely needed to leave the hotel. Breakfast was a generous spread, and the service was exceptionally warm. They can arrange transport to Yala and Bundala. Unfortunately, it wasn't bird-watching season, so we missed out on Bundala. However, should we visit Bundala again, we would definitely choose to stay here.

Absolutely loved this hotel! The natural environment here is fantastic. It's just a 10-15 minute drive from Tissa Lake. I arrived in the morning to the peaceful sounds of crickets and frogs. It was also a full moon that night, which made the scenery even more stunning. The swimming pool is impressively large too. I stayed on the ground floor, which meant I could step right out onto the lawn from my room. The hotel offers great value for money; the prices are reasonable and the rooms are quite spacious. It's noticeably cheaper than hotels situated closer to Yala National Park. I highly recommend booking the breakfast and dinner package. There aren't many other dining options nearby, and more importantly, the buffet is absolutely delicious!!! They offer a great variety of Western dishes, incredibly sweet fruits, and even sushi, making it very suitable for the Chinese palate. For our morning safari, we requested a packed meal from the hotel. It was incredibly generous, including water, various drinks, juice, sandwiches, and cake – truly more than we could finish! Upon our return, breakfast was still ongoing. I explained to a staff member that I was feeling quite hot and asked if I could get a drink. She was very accommodating, assuring me it was absolutely fine, but did clarify that since we had taken a packed breakfast, we wouldn't be able to have another full meal in the dining area.

The hotel is enormous! We had initially booked it to get an early start for our safari, but I truly regretted not arriving a day earlier. The environment, pool, and all the facilities were excellent! It offers fantastic value for money. We didn't get there until after 9 PM, but they were still waiting to serve us welcome drinks. Our morning safari was booked, and the drive to the park took about 45 minutes. We returned to the hotel past 11 AM and spoke with the front desk about showering and freshening up; they kindly extended our check-out until 1 PM. The front desk staff were all very nice too. I highly recommend this hotel to anyone visiting the area!

The surroundings were great. The hotel thoughtfully provided a substantial packed breakfast for our early morning safari departure.

Having stayed at three five-star hotels in Sri Lanka, I found this one to be superior to both the Jetwing Lagoon in Negombo and the Sheraton Colombo.