Sigiriana Resort by Thilanka

The pool area was amazing, and the rooms were comfortable and quiet. The gardens were lovely, though there isn’t much right nearby besides them. The hotel is close to the major sites, and the staff were lovely.

We had a really enjoyable two-day stay. The buffet had a good spread, and the large rooms are set in green surroundings, with paddy fields all around. It’s a very peaceful place.

The nicest parts were the pool, the views and the lovely gardens. For me, though, the hotel felt like a good three-star place at best, not four-star. The rooms seemed tired and run down, needed updating and maintenance, and the service wasn’t very good. The bed was uncomfortable. The safe wasn’t secured, so you could pick it up and walk off with it. In the bathroom, the plastic shower screen was unpleasant, and the shower handle had broken off. I had to fiddle with a strange knob to try to get the pressure and temperature right, which was almost impossible. The food was disappointing too. There appeared to be lots of buffet choices, but many dishes were repeated, so there weren’t actually that many options. More than that, the food just wasn’t very pleasant.

The biggest letdown was the food. The dinner buffet had only a few items, nowhere near what I’d expect from a star-class hotel. Breakfast was a little better, but still disappointing. We booked two rooms for a weekend. The hotel is old and the rooms weren’t properly managed. On the plus side, it’s easy to reach from town, has a nice location and an affordable price range. The rooms are large, check-in and checkout were fast, and the long pool has a good view. There’s also a large area to explore within the hotel. After paying, it took several days to get our reservation confirmed. We had to call a few times every day to ask about it.