This blog post is all about the most incredible Sri Lanka hotels.
After spending one month in Sri Lanka, you can say we sampled many incredible Sri Lanka hotels, resorts, guest houses and more.
During our four weeks, we stayed in 14 incredible Sri Lanka hotels.
Some Sri Lanka hotels came with monkeys, amazing views and even a two minute walk to the beach.
I’ve compiled a list of every hotel, guest house and resort that we stayed at during our time in Sri Lanka. Hopefully this helps you plan your own trip around this incredible island.
Make sure to check out my Sri Lanka YouTube series to see everything we got up to during our four weeks travelling around. I’ve also linked the YouTube videos below to match each destination and all incredible Sri Lanka hotels in this list.
Related Incredible Sri Lanka Hotels blog posts to read:
- The Best Travel Route & Itinerary For Sri Lanka
- Kandy to Ella Train: 15 Essential Things To Know
- 10 Takeaways After A Full Month Travelling Sri Lanka
- Public Transport in Sri Lanka: Essential Advice You Must Know
- Ella, Sri Lanka: Where to Stay With the Best View
I also have a 80+ page Sri Lanka travel guide eBook that takes you through everything you need to know about planning your dream trip to Sri Lanka. You can download the Sri Lanka travel guide here.
This blog post is all about incredible Sri Lanka hotels.
Incredible Sri Lanka Hotels: Where to Stay in Sri Lanka
If you’re planning your own trip to Sri Lanka, this blog post will help you decide where to stay along your travel route of Sri Lanka.
From budget hotels, luxury hotels, and boutique hotels, you’ll find incredible Sri Lanka hotels in each Sri Lanka city to suit your type of trip.
Whether it’s a Sri Lanka honeymoon, a backpacking Sri Lanka trip or even a trip to Sri Lanka with kids, you can see where we stayed and what we thought.
1. Colombo: Morven Hotel
The first of our incredible Sri Lanka hotels, Morven Hotel was everything we needed to recover from our night flight from Dubai.
With a rooftop swimming pool, air-conditioning and incredible views of the Indian Ocean, it was the perfect place to relax.
RELATED Colombo blog posts to read:
- Morven Hotel: The Best Hotel in Colombo Sri Lanka
- Best Colombo Hotels: The Best 14 From Budget to Luxury
- 2 Days in Colombo Sri Lanka: Ultimate 48 Hours Itinerary
- The Best 13 Things to Do in Colombo Sri Lanka
You’ll also see a room tour in my first Sri Lanka vlog, when we landed in Colombo and spent 24 hours exploring the city:
2. Colombo: Trillium Boutique Hotel
Our second visit to Colombo, and this time we were staying a little further out of the city centre at Trillium Boutique Hotel.
I loved the bedroom here as it was very large and cosy for our one night stay. The rooftop infinity pool was also a huge plus!
If you’re looking for boutique hotels in Colombo, this is perfect.
You can also see a room tour of the hotel and the incredible rooftop pool in the vlog above, and in my final Sri Lanka beaches vlog at the end of this blog post.
3. Negombo: Sujeewani Villas
This was the home-from-home of our Sri Lanka hotels.
We stumbled across Sujeewani Villas online and was one of the most incredible Sri Lanka hotels of our whole backpacking experience.
We spent four nights here at the beginning of our Sri Lanka trip and loved it so much that we booked for another four nights to end our Sri Lanka trip.
RELATED Negombo blog posts to read:
- Sujeewani Villa Hotel Review: Where to Stay in Negombo
- Ultimate Negombo Travel Guide: How to Spend 2 Days Here
4. Sigiriya: Hungry Lion Resort
This was our base to explore Sigiriya and climb Pidurangala Rock.
Hungry Lion Resort in Sigiriya was a great stay for what we needed, with a very large bedroom and bathroom.
RELATED Sigiriya blog posts to read:
- Hungry Lion Resort: Best Place to Stay in Sigiriya
- Ultimate Sigiriya Travel Guide: How to Spend 48 Hours Here
5. Pinnawala: Peacock Village
We opted to stay in the converted containers next to the main hotel (Grand Royal Pinnalanda) for a cheaper rate and enjoyed our 24 hours here.
The room and bathroom were very small, so I definitely wouldn’t spend more than one night here.
The room did come with a balcony and staff were very efficient at shuttling us back and forth from the main hotel to see the elephants.
RELATED Pinnawala blog posts to read:
6. Kandy: Galaxy City Hotel
We spent one night at Galaxy City Hotel before catching a very early train to Ella the following morning.
It did the job for our 24 hours, and we actually had a large room with a gorgeous room looking out over Kandy.
It was a pity that we couldn’t have stayed longer and explored the area more.
RELATED Kandy blog posts to read:
- Galaxy City Hotel Review: The Ultimate Hotel in Kandy
- 2 Days in Kandy Travel Guide: Ultimate 48 Hours Itinerary
- Epic Kandy to Ella Train: 15 Essential Things To Know
7. Ella: River Front Guest House
Our first night’s stay in Ella at Ella River Front Guest House was probably my favourite of these incredible Sri Lanka hotels.
Our room had floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over the town of Ella and the lush jungle surrounding the area.
We had a balcony and a group of monkeys came to play on it the following morning.
Incredible to see, and you can see this for yourself in my Kandy to Ella vlog linked above!
RELATED Ella blog posts to read:
- Ella River Front, Sri Lanka: Where to Stay With the Best View
- Ella Travel Guide: How to Spend An Incredible 48 Hours Here
- Hilltop Guest House Ella Review: Amazing Sri Lanka Hotel
8. Ella: Hilltop Guest House
Our second night’s stay in Ella at Hilltop Guest House with a view just as incredible as Ella River Front.
This guest house was much better located however, as you could easily walk to and from the main town area.
9. Yala: Gaga Bees
Gaga Bees was our base for Yala Safari and we were able to book everything with the resort via WhatsApp.
We stayed in our own little hut made of all natural materials and it was an incredible place that reminded us of Bali.
There’s also a swimming pool at the resort and kitchen.
RELATED Yala blog posts to read:
- Yala Travel Guide: How to Plan An Epic Sri Lanka Safari
- Epic Yala Safari: Everything You Need to Know Before Visiting
10. Tangalle: Goyambokka Guest House
The start of our beach-hopping leg of our time in Sri Lanka.
We stayed at Goyambokka Guest House for two nights and couldn’t have been any closer to the beach.
Our room was relatively small (as you can see in the YouTube vlog below) but it was a great base to explore Tangalle.
RELATED Tangalle blog posts to read:
- Best Things to Do in Tangalle: The Maldives of Sri Lanka
- Tangalle Hotels: The Best 13 from Budget to Luxury
- The Best South Sri Lanka Travel Route: 10 Days
11. Dikwella: Dickwella Resort & Spa
We splashed the cash a little for this one night stay.
After so much travelling around in quick succession, we wanted somewhere that we could relax and switch off.
Dickwella Resort and Spa allowed us to do just that. We didn’t leave the resort for the full 24 hours and it was bliss!
RELATED Dikwella blog posts to read:
- Dickwella Resort and Spa Review: A Luxury Gem in South Sri Lanka
- Things to Do in Dikwella: The Ultimate Sri Lanka Travel Guide
When booking our transport around Asia, we booked through 12Go Asia.
For buses, trains, ferries and more, we found 12Go Asia to be the best and cheapest platform to book through!
12. Weligama: Onilwe Resort
We spent two nights at Onilwe Resort, but used it as a base to explore the nearby towns of Ahangama and Mirissa.
Location-wise it was great, but the hotel itself was very quiet. I would also say this felt more like a hostel than a hotel.
Definitely not a resort, compared to Dickwella Resort & Spa and the other incredible Sri Lanka hotels on this list.
RELATED Weligama blog posts to read:
- Ultimate 2 Days in Weligama Itinerary: 2025 Travel Guide
- Top Things to Do in Ahangama Sri Lanka: Ultimate Itinerary
- Best Mirissa Hotels: The Best 12 from Budget to Luxury
- The Best Sri Lanka Surfing Spots You Must Visit
13. Galle Fort: Fort Thari Inn
Fort Thari Inn and Galle Fort in general, reminded me a lot of Marrakech, Morocco.
With all of its small streets that connected to each other, the architecture, motorbikes and cats everywhere.
Our room here was quite large, given the small town and there was also a shared kitchen and dining area if you wanted to cook your own meals.
RELATED Galle Fort blog posts to read:
14. Hikkaduwa: Villa Red Lobster
We only spent one night in Villa Red Lobster, but it was one of our largest rooms of our trip around Sri Lanka hotels.
The bathroom was actually larger than some of the hotel rooms we’d stayed in.
With a swimming pool and restaurant on site, it was also in a great location, only a few minutes walk from Turtle Beach.
RELATED Hikkaduwa blog posts to read:
Incredible Sri Lanka Hotels
Hopefully the incredible Sri Lanka hotels in this list give you some inspiration for your own trip to this amazing island.
If you need further help planning your trip to Sri Lanka, make sure to check out the rest of my Sri Lanka blog posts, my YouTube series and my full travel guide.
Related Incredible Sri Lanka Hotels blog posts to read:
- The Best Travel Route & Itinerary For Sri Lanka
- The Best South Sri Lanka Travel Route: 10 Days
- Kandy to Ella Train: 15 Essential Things To Know
- 10 Takeaways After A Full Month Travelling Sri Lanka
- Public Transport in Sri Lanka: Essential Advice You Must Know
By Orlagh Shanks
Orlagh Shanks is the Editor of Orlagh Claire, an award-winning travel and lifestyle blog.
After working in the PR & Influencer Marketing industry, Orlagh quit her job to travel Asia for 12 months and moved to Sydney, Australia where she is now a full-time travel blogger and content creator sharing travel tips and recommendations for all 30 of the countries she’s visited so far.
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