Thaala Bentota

We had enormous family room Lovely decor and comfortable Pools were great and grounds maintained well Staff were friendly

Great hotel, only drawback for us was there wasn’t a shallow part of the swimming pool for our daughters. But apart from that it was amazing.

Awesome experience and great propertt. Breakfast is awesome

I had high expectations of this place but was very disappointed! They charged me extra $80 for no valid reason and the people at the front desk all gave different answers when I asked about the extra charge not knowing what was going on. I need a refund ! I was traveling with family kids and elderly they were inconsiderate of allergy and elderly needs and did not help us with warming our food so we had to go without dinner. The staff was so rude and unhelpful and objected the ladies going into the pool. The rooms bathrooms and fridge were dirty and stained ….. not recommended!

We were welcomed with big smiles and fresh complimentary juices. Our room was upgraded without additional fees. Good variety of breakfast. The staff is very friendly and helpful. Special thanks to Mendis & Sudish who work at Breeze Restaurant. The hotel and surroundings are very neat, also easy access to the beach. Near to seafood restaurants. Excellent service throughout the stay. Totally recommend!

Great buffet and friendly staff.

Amazing staff, super helpful, got an upgrade, couldn’t have asked for better!

Good staff but hotel needs more maintenance & renovations in superior rooms at least.. flooring & bathrooms needs more more care of maintenance

Great beach location, amazing breakfast at property

Although the facility and location were lovely, the value for what staying here cost was not what I expected. For example, my room was provided only 2 small courtesy bottles of water a day. I guess I just expected more service and “perks” for the princely sum I paid per night. The first day I had no towels. I called the front desk before heading outside but they still were not delivered and I had to go in person to request them. The food in the breakfast buffet and one restaurant I ate at was only so-so. It seems they are catering more toward westerners who don’t want a local experience, but would rather stay in their comfort zone. I had a delicious meal outside the resort for much less money. When I was shown to my room, the resort features were pointed out including the restaurants, spa, and pools. I was cautioned about swimming in the ocean because of currents, but it felt like the staff was just trying to keep guests within the resort. The proximity to the beach is why I chose the location and despite the warnings I spent considerable time on the beach and in the ocean which was warm and inviting with gentle waves and no undertow.

Fantastic location where you could easily walk out to local restaurants or jump on the train for a day trip

Check-in & check-out seemed to be at the same time so it was very chaotic when we arrived, we didn't get our room until 430pm but the manager was very lovely & gave us free drinks & food while we waited. Great size room with all the facilities we needed. Great choice at the buffet for breakfast. Overall we enjoyed our stay there.

Nice hotel with clean rooms and awesome views but the staff lack a basic sense of service!

the staff were lovely the food was fantastic the location could not have been better right on a lovely beech 5 minutes walk to the local shops or a short tuk tuk ride to town or a nice easy walk all the staff were courteous and always smileing we would highly recommend this hotel.

Great location on a fantastic beach. I booked the cheapest room through Expedia but for some reason management gave us a free upgrade to a spectacular villa. Gotta love that!

We really enjoyed our stay at the Avani Resort. The location was wonderful, the combination of the beach, which is amazing, and the Avani grounds with the pools and chairs and shade was really relaxing. The staff was super helpful and the food and spa also great.

I’ve been to a number of hotels in Sri Lanka. This one disappointed. The linen and room were a bit worn down. The staff did not always speak sufficient English (simple utterances). Breakfast was excellent though, but the rooms were definitely stuck in the previous century.

We enjoyed our stay at Avani Bentota. The staff was very courteous and helpful. The food was outstanding and so was the hospitality. Great location, would like to be back sometime soon.

Our first visit to Shri Lanka. Our stay at the resort was excellent and comfortable stay. The room was very clean which made our stay very comfortable. All the staffs are very polite and offer great customer service with a smile. We were only not satisfied with the massage and the gym facility is very poor so did not use it. Chatters can be improved with more entertaining facilities in the evening, having said that the service is great. In the chatters they should have facilities for the smokers outside the eatery/bar place. The beach is excellent with golden sand. We will definitely visit Shri Lanka and stay at Avani. Breakfast, lunch and dinner facilities are excellent and very appetizing.

Quite a nice hotel resort, we made the mistake of being there during monsoon season. it was quite quiet while we were there because of the season, so one of the restaurants and bars was closed unfortunately. the main restaurant that was open for the breakfast and evening buffets was amazing though. the selection of food was great, form local sri lankan dishes to western continental.

The rating online For this property didn’t match what we found and we immediately left. The room were musty and the floors were worn out. The only thing that looked like the photos online was the bathroom which looked like it had been recently renovated. There were insects from the reception during checkin until we got to our room which was the last straw. We turned around and checked out. Overall very very dissappointed.

Great hotel right on the beach. Beautiful views over palm trees and sand. Hotel is going through some renovation work at the moment including a new pool which will look amazing when finished. Staff are very attentive and helpful especially Jay de Silva one of the reception staff. Food always good. Can't fault it. It's a tipping culture so be ready for hands held out! Mainly outside the hotel but still goes on inside. I would go back.

This hotel needs renovation, they have already started and closed one of the pools. We have booked 2 deluxe rooms, when we arrived to checkin got told only one room is available and they gave us a second room across the hotel which isn't practical with children. When we complaints the manager offered two superior rooms with full board, however food is average and due to the low number of guests they don't really spend that much effort in cooking. On the checkout they've added more that $150 on top of the price paid at Hotels.com, claiming it's some sort of local taxes. Very unhappy and will never come close to it again. Way Overpriced for the services offered

At first we had issues with construction work around the room till 5pm, and problem with check in due to a mistake from my side reserving 1 adult instead of 2, they could have allowed us to check in and resolve that issue later but we were held up for a bit, that aside they gave us free dinner and late checkout therefore I am happy with how they handled it.

Nice experience oveall. The hotel arranged a small cake for my daughter's birthday during the last day of our stay.

Advertised as a 5* service of a 3*.. would not recommend booking this hotel if you are expecting a service which reflects the price..

Must stay in the new renovated hotel room area. We were very happy and satisfied with our room. Many other hotel guests told us how unhappy they were with the 'old wing' rooms. Our room was clean, comfortable and very convenient to pool, beach, lounge area and breakfast, which was outstanding. The beach is beautiful and stretches for a mile + in either direction, so great for long walks. Sunsets are directly in front of beach/hotel grounds. Beautiful lounging grounds with palm trees and shade. Bar staff and service is hit or miss, not very accommodating.

I was hesitant to spend the money to stay here after all of the bad reviews. I am so glad I did stay here. The staff is wonderful & helpful. The facilities are beautiful. It is very relaxing. I thought the food was delicious (vegetarian).

Hotel is a bit old and needs improvement. The power sockets need replacing! Across our stay, the menu was exactly the same - breakfast, lunch and dinner!! Virtually same offering without much catering to vegetarians. Beach deckchairs need to be paid, which I expected to be complimentary for hotel guests. Make sure you have enough mosquito repellents as the fumigations are not effective at all. I was bitten quite a bit although the staff did their best with the spraying. Also the swimming pool was not very clean. But on balance, the staff are helpful and smiling always. They even obliged with an early checkin and late checkout, which was very nice of them. I get the feeling that any non core offerings are extremely expensive. For example, the airport transfer quote from hotel was $125 each way while we got the same car from a private online chap for 56$.

Nice property with great location and access to beach. The staff behaviour was not very satisfying. We had to wait in the lobby for a long time upon arrival and were allowed to check in at around 4pm in the evening. Spa was very good.

Don't be mislead by descent breakfast. All other meals in the hotel a terrible and expensive. Check the change at all times. Aircond will blow onto your bed and you will not be able to sleep if it is off. Be prepared to host cockroaches and ants in your room. All facilities are old and purely maintained. Don't be mislead by SPA. It is extra for $150/day for 2. Life-hacks: Put some water into the floor drain. This will reduce the odor in bathroom. Never buy anything at the beach near the hotel. It's 3-x times cheaper anywhere else. Buy fumigation device at local store. The one you'll bring with you wont work. Tuk-tuk's are 3 times cheaper 30 meters from the hotel entrance.

Like the title says, it’s a 5-star property. The hotel grounds are amazing with direct access to the beach. The buffet breakfast is large and varied with an omelette, pancake, and waffle station. The staff are friendly and helpful. I’m afraid that’s where the 5-star rating ends. The quality of the rooms are definitely 3-star. The locking mechanism on the room doors make it so you have to pull the door in hard to ensure it’s closed. This means you hear lots of slamming throughout the day. In the bathroom you have old frayed towels and mold in the shower grout. The beds are moderately comfortable. The air-con in my room was only warm to cool. The thermostat never got below 23 although I turned it to 20. There’s an empty fridge in the room; no minibar. I spent two nights at the hotel and ate at Charters bar the first evening. The food was completely tasteless. Afterwards, I had lunch and dinner outside of the hotel. Try Rana seafood or Wunder bar I would not recommend this hotel. There are many other accommodations on the beach for half the price.

Easy walk to town and eateries. Great food on site Frangipani restaraunt well worth a visit. Good family resort good activities should you wish to participate

Incredible resort! Everything was so clean and comfortable! Our room was spacious and inviting. The staff were all very friendly and helpful. Would highly recommend for anyone looking for a relaxing getaway.

Room was not clean when we arrived but then housekeeping went out of their way. I had to book an extra night so went after my lovely massage but the reception staff were unhelpful and were charging $125. I only paid £65 they would not negotiate or honour the rate and it’s off season. I mentioned I worked in travel and am responsible for booking hotels around the world but they did not help. In the end I had to book it on line but when I went to do so they locked me out of my room, lost connection and ended up paying £79 which was £74 beforehand. I was not impressed. Other than this the other staff were great. The hotel does need a refurbished as the rooms are a little tired

Good average hotel, no hype like other hotels we stayed. Nothing special, good relaxing and food was good.

Very good stay closer to the beach and enjoyed very well

Avani Bentota is close to the town and some excellent restaurants. The grounds are pleasant, two pools and large bedrooms.

Staff were nice but the hotel needs a refurb. Not worth it for the price.

Overall very good and an excellent location on a very nice beach. Lovely hotel gardens

Hotel was great. The resort is more touristy than many other places in Sri Lanka but it was perfect for our end of holiday wind down. Great location, lovely rooms. The only thing that let it down was the service in the bars/ restaurant / reception which was a bit lacking.

gorgous room. Fabulous pool and ocean access and view. service and as outstanding from the minute i arrived I was treated like a vlued guest. Very short walk to Bentota train station.

Deck chairs in poor condition, wooden and broken. Very humid rooms. Property dated. Wooden boards at the pool rotten and repaired by nailing rubber mats on top of the holes. Breakfast reasonable, staff very attentive and friendly.

Excellent attentive service! On a fantastic beach. Wonderful pool. Easy walk to Bentota train station and 5 min tuk tuk ride to Other station, this experience is why we love SRI Lanka.

the hotel was a very peaceful beach front hotel. beach was busy at weekends with locals but quieter in the week. the al la carte restaurant quality of food was much better than the evening dinner buffet. though the buffet was fine. good breakfast buffet. expensive alchohol if youre venturing out of the hotel would recoomend VTS Lanka - local tour operator and drivers. if you venture out alone (particularly women) you are constantly pestered by hawkers and locals trying to guide you / sell to you. VTS were very professional and extremely well priced.

The staff were wonderful and on first impression it looked amazing! On closer inspection there was a lack of attention to detail such as floors not being absolutely clean and the shower having a lot of visible soap sum on the shower screen. This was fixed as soon as it was brought to their attention. Slight mix up with booking which was rectified the next day was a misunderstanding on my part and a compromise from the hotel. The food was mostly great (steaks were tough but they're not Sri Lankan food so maybe understandable), fresh grilled fish was incredible as was the fresh fruit and other foods. They made a very special effort for my daughters birthday which was greatly appreciated. The beach was the best we had seen but the pools had a few loose/missing tiles. Minor complaints but overall we had a lovely time here.

Enjoyed the beach and swimming facilities but I'd expected more from AVANI, given its brand name. Room had a musty smell when we entered. Bedroom floor was also sandy (note. bedroom slippers were not provided).

Cleanliness was a big issue all over the property. Internet did not work for 5 days and nobody took any action. This was very inconvinient and made me shorten my stay: Hotel location is ideal for vacation and food is great. Staff attitude is very pleasant in general in all Sri lanka which make your stay pleasant.

Super friendly staff who are also very helpful. A lovely relaxing place to soak up the sun, take beach walks and have a massage. The continental breakfast was amazing too. The best looking hotel in Bentota.

Loved the beach and rough surf. Good hotel with friendly staff. Stayed there 12 years ago. The name has changed but still excellent staff and friendly service.

Fantastic stay! We were lucky enough to be upgraded to a suite which was great. The beach was lovely, the best for swimming I n that we have been to in Sri Lanka so far. Lovely roof top bar to watch the georgeous sunsets .

Such excellent service and stunning location made Avani the perfect choice. Set on a beautiful quiet beach with 2 big pools to relax around, loungers were always available. We had a large clean room, comfortable bed and a beautiful bathroom. The four was delicious and service outstanding. We would definitely recommend it.

Stayed here for 1 night when we were heading back to Colombo. Great location right on the beach, and the gardens, swimming pools and general decor of the hotel superb. However service was patchy in the hotel. in the restaurant and bar areas they were great, helpful and courteous. Front desk and room service staff were rude, abrupt and disinterested. had a deep tissue massage in the spa after climbing Adams Peak a couple of days before. One of the best massages i'd ever had.

Faced alot of problem as no indian food is available

This is a great hotel overall. Location is good, fodd is great, too. Beware of mosquitoes though.

Lovely place to stay, enjoyed it thoroughly.Though selfishly speaking, there could be little more choice of Indian food and drinks.

The hotel was nice, breakfast is ok. They don't replenish the toiletries all the time, we had to go to reception to ask for more which was rather annoying. Not a lot to do in this area and it is ok if you just want to relax.

Really good experience at the Avani, staff helpful, pools nice, buffet breakfast good variety and tasty,evening buffet good value.Our room was a good standard over looked the pool and had a sea view ,beach clean..... 2.5hrs from Colombo airport

We stayed for 5 nights in August. The reception staff, bedrooms,cleaners, the beautiful grounds and breakfast really are first class. Ordering drinks during the day or meals at Frangipani can take a long time, but we had a fabulous stay. Bentota itself does not have much to see, so this hotel is ideal If your happy to stay within the grounds for your stay. The beach is ok, but quite busy with locals selling trips and restaurants to you so we didn't visit much.

This hotel/resort is well located on a beautiful quite beach in a small town about half way between Colombo & Galle - an reasonable train ride from both. There is plenty to keep you occupied within a 30km radius; including a boat ride along the Bentota river and a small gem mine. It has all the facilities you could require and the staff are delightful. I can recommend the Avanti!

I won't comment much about the hotel itself, it is very mice, just a few meters from the beach and rooms are clean and spacious. What I would like to point out is how attentive and generally super kind the hotel staff is. We spent three nights there and out 1 year old daughter was sick, so we barely left the room. The staff has been wonderful, they were calling us to check how things were, they prepared special food, sent a doctor and even bought a doll for the little one (she is all well now). A big thank you for making our stay so lovely.

A lovely hotel and amazing staff (although hard to tell whether they are genuinely being nice or angling for a tip), location is great for the beach, but you will hear a few trains rumbling past each day who don't hold back on using the horn whatever time of day or night it is. We had a small child with us, the hotel wasn't perfectly set up for this - only one child seat between the 3 onsite restaurants and no other facilities. That said, we had a lovely time and would return given the opportunity.

We had stayed here before and really like Sri Lanka, so wanted to come back. The positives are a good design and location - well sized rooms, overlooking the sea, a good sized pool and a nice spa. The beach at Bentota is still pretty empty for such a lovely location. However the management of the hotel is very poor compared to other hotels in Sri Lanka and particularly for the price. We waited two hours to check in, in order to get a room with a better view. We wouldn't have minded but the surly receptionist insisted there was nothing available but as it turned out there was. This seemed to be a general problem compared to the friendly experience everywhere else. The manager came to see his corporate guests but entirely ignored everyone else. Maintaince and detail were missing - we had a broken light, broken toilet seat, broken coffee machine, missing bath robes. The Internet is so slow we gave up trying. The evening buffet needs to be avoided altogether. It is overpriced (and we like good restaurants), poor quality and most of the dishes were empty early and not replaced. The other restaurant is much better although was empty, and the same with the bar. There are some lovely seafood restaurants nearby and better bars in other hotels (we went to the nearby Taj). Basically this could be a good hotel, but is being run with a focus only on cost. Given the high standards and warmth we found everywhere else during our stay I'd recommend looking elsewhere in Bentota.

Everything about the hotel was lovely, however we lost our room key when we went down to the beach and was charged a whopping 5000 sri Lankan rupee. Apart from that we had a wonderful holiday at Avani Bentota.

Great place, great location! beach just 100 meters, pool 50 meters, amazing rooms & great view, great staff ( helped us with early check-in) and always ready to help. Other attractions near by - Bentota river, water sports, great local market 10 minutes walk from hotel for small souvenirs. The only thing perhaps that can be improved is a) room service experience b) more variety in food during breakfast and dinner Bharat

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay, food and staff were amazing. Only fault would be that the rooms were a little damp although nothing a dehumidifer wouldn't fix. The open air atmosphere that the hotel holds is unique

Overall we were very happy with the hotel. The room and facilities were good and clean. We were a little disappointed with the evening diner. The food was good quality but the choice was some times limited especially the traditional Sri Lankan curries. We also found the sun loungers very hard and uncomfortable.

Stayed here only for a day ,but the hotel is well located ,bang on the beach ,has 2 large swimming pools and great food .The Thai curry was out of this world ,and the Srilankan food in the Breakfast buffet was superb. However there was no Live Music anywhere that night . They also catered to dinner on the beach at night ,complete with a bonfire and candle lit tables. How romantic was that??? The staff was polite and helpful,which we found to be true all over Srilanka. The people here are soft spoken helpful and caring .The roads too, every where, were in superb condition. All in all, a great place to take a break .

We arrived late at the Avani Bentota on 29th Dec 13 after a long coach journey but told by the receptionest that she cannot find our booking on their list. Luckilly we showed the print out to proved all 3 rooms for 3 night were fully paid, then was told to wait. We decided to have dinner to give the hotel time to sort out our rooms. When return at 10:30pm, only 2 rooms were ready and the 3rd room had to wait 30 more minutes for it to be ready. During all that time the hotel manager Mr.Tissa was not helpful during our rooms issue, all he care was that we will all go to the hotel New Year's Gala Dinner at the cost of LKR 22400 about US$240 per head. He pointed out it was under the cancellation section on hotels.com. Honestly I did not read the cancellation section as we have no intention to cancel, it was the 1st time I read it and thought it was not funny for hotels.com to place it under cancellation instead of Additional hotel information section. The Gala Dinner was a real flop, food was terrible and swomed by the flies. It starts at 8pm but we left at 9pm. I will not recommand this hotel's service but the serrounding of the hotel is very nice except it's by the train track so it can be very noicy depands on where your room is located.

Great hotel, food menu very limited especially if you are eating breakfast, lunch and dinner at the hotel which we were. Breakfasts good. Though the staff were very friendly and nice service was not great. Location on beach beautiful, was safe for the children. Overall great hotel and we did we joy the stay

Very good hotel Staff friendly On beautiful beach

A great hotel just a stones throw from the Indian Ocean. Great layout with open plan receprion, restaurant etc . Really good a la carte restaurant which was very good value. Rooms were clean and very well equipped. Quite expensive to stay there though.

Great holiday break and enjoy the overall AVANI expirience . Morning Good breakfast selection , take a dip in the pool , afternoon lazy walk on the beach and massages . Evening dinner and enjoy the local wines . Staff is professional and correct to help any request . Have to come back again !

hotel was lovely - but the buffet breakfast and buffet dinner were very disappointing! Both the dining area was far too small and hence over crowded, and the quality and range of food, which was not great. we've had much nicer in much cheaper hotels!

Nice location and nice beach the weather was perfect at evening time the staff are friendly and about the breakfast its very good and lunch perfect dinner was at beach so it was unbelievable. I like the place to much.

The Avani hotel has a beautiful garden with two nice swimming pools beside a very nice long sandy beach. The hotel bar is an excellent place for viewing the sunset. The rooms are spacious but the level of maintenance is very poor. Our toilet didn't flush properly in that the water kept flowing continuously after we flushed it. We reported this fault within ten minutes of checking in and it was not repaired despite the fact that we stayed there for seven nights. Three lamps in the room were broken, the water in the wash hand basin went out very slowly, the water from the shower overflowed onto the bathroom floor every time we used the shower because of a problem with the drain and the tv didn't work. There was also a problem with the fridge and the coffee maker. The hotel is right beside a train station and we could hear the noise of trains regularly from 4a.m. This noise sounded very loud in the room particularly at night. Trains which did not stop at the station hooted repeatedly as they went through.

Our stay at Avani Bentota was absolutely fantastic. The location on the beach is amazing and there are several places to venture out of the hotel to eat at. The staff were exceptional making a real effort to make our stay memorable and we could not recommend highly enough! A perfect stay to our busy tour around the rest of Sri Lanka.

room was ok, little bit humid, but it is normal because of Sri lanka weather. Personal staff were very nice, and helpful. the breakfast, lunch, and dinner buffet were good.

One of the best thing about this hotel is the rooms are very close to the sea. This is not so with Bentota beach resort and Taj Vivanta. Both these hotels and Avani are on the same beach, so you can pretty much look at these hotels. Coming to Taj Vivanta, I am glad I did not pick it. Going by the brand name I was shocked to see the state of Taj hotel. Taj is just a big huge building, with not every room having a sea view, plus Taj is extremely pricey.And it is not even well managed. If you are a vegetarian you will have trouble in Sri Lanka. Food is pathetic for vegetarians.The chef at the hotel was though courteous enough to prepare some things for us, else we would have starved. Same is the state with any other property in Bentota.