Thaala Bentota

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