Secret River Side Safari Lodge

I wouldn't recommend staying here. The room really was only $2 with breakfast, but they charged 1,500 LKR for dinner for two, and we later found out the safari price was higher too. They charged us 7,000 LKR for the safari, though it can be much cheaper, around 5,500 LKR.

We booked ahead and arrived to check in, then were asked whether we'd already arranged a safari. When we said no, the owner offered one for 8,000 rupees per person for a few hours, around 43 USD at the time. Nearby places were quoting much less. We said it was over our budget, and were told we couldn't stay unless we booked through him. It was mid-afternoon and extremely hot, and we had to take our bags and look for somewhere else on foot because there were no tuk-tuks around and the place is off the main road. We were very disappointed by how we were treated. The owner cancelled our booking, apparently worried we'd write about it on agoda.com, so I'm posting this to let other travellers know. There are plenty of other places worth your money.

Avoid this place. The advertised prices are very low to draw you in, then they put heavy pressure on you to book their safari, which is a huge rip-off. We walked out, and they followed us up the road demanding payment.

A really nice family-run hotel. The meals are excellent and generous, and the sweet hostess is happy to cook up something wonderful.