Sinharaja Vini Villa

The wildlife, we enjoyed the breakfast, the views, the location.

Enjoyed it all, though we did get lost as we went totally the wrong way...it was SOOOO much easier on our journey back!

I booked this place via booking.com The owner contacted me over the phone asking me to cancel the booking."they said"They don't accommodate locals, it is volatile the booking.com policy. Also they didn't realize I am a Canadian.

We waren hier 3 nachten. Wat een heerlijk verblijf midden in het groen. Door Vini en familie word je hartelijk ontvangen. Het eten is heerlijk. De kwaliteit van de tour zijn erg goed. We verbleven in een gewone 2 persoonskamer. Vini bood aan of we naar het nieuwe verblijf wilde verhuizen die bijna klaar was. Prachtig verblijf met groot terras strak tegen de rivier, ruime badkamer, koelkast. Het zag er allemaal prachtig uit. En dit zonder extra kosten! We hebben er echt van genoten en kunnen deze kamer zeer aanraden! Vini en familie bedankt!

Vini and his family were lovely. Great half day hike into the national park.

DONT GO TO THIS PLACE AS A SOLO FEMALE TRAVELER. The message below is send on a facebook page. I needed in the end help from police. Atm I am at a guesthouse in Sinharaja. the owner is really weird, tells me about that he wants to catch a foreigner/ that he didnt had intercourse with his wife for 5 years/ notes about my appearance + when I told i was scared of snakes and if I could call him in case there is one he told me 3 times he could sleep in my room (he added that there will be no touching). I verbally stopped him, but later the situation got more weird. He wanted me to be my guide in the forest the next day. Because of his vibes, I told him that I wanted to arrange another guide. He said in a very stern/dominant way NO and that it was not possible. He only could be the guide. I left the conversation. Later he texted me on whatsapp, telling me that he doesnt allow any driver/guide on his property and that only he was the person to do it. He said it in a very agressive way and told me that he new which guides I had contact with and so on. Later he knocked for like 15 minutes on my door in a very very in-your-face way. He told me that I HAD TO OPEN THE DOOR BECAUSE IT WAS HIS PLACE. It became even worse when he involved his daughter (9yo) to knock on my door. Everything was very uncomfortable and I felt so unsafe. He also banged on my door, when I told him to stop knocking. I got help from very sweet Sri Lankan people through Facebook and the police came, since he drank Arrak it wouldn’t be safe for the Sri Lanka people as well to enter the place alone. When the people came for help, he really gaslighted me. But I went away from that place. THE MAN is a total creep. The place is deep in the forest, and if you are alone you cannot easily go away.

We had a lovely stay at Vini Villa. The family was super friendly and the food (especially the curry) was amazing! We did a rainforest tour in the morning and saw a lot of snakes, birds, monkeys, lizards and spiders, many of them endemic to Sri Lanka. Highly recommended!

From the minute we arrived in this tranquil paradise a wave of relaxation swept over me. We were welcomed to our bungalow situated by the flowing river in a setting so quiet you can hear every bird and cicada. We enjoyed delicious food and hospitality from Vini and his family. We had a wonderful tour with Vanilla, his son who is a gentle and thoughtful guide, taking us through the reserve at our pace. VIni arranged our transport at a good price and we would love to come back and visit again!

It was perfect! We were worried about mosquitoes but there weren’t any.

Sinharaja Vini Villa is een echte aanrader: de accommodatie is basic maar de locatie is geweldig: mooi uitzicht op de rivier en op loopafstand van de ingang van het Nationaal Park (NP). Vini is een geweldige en attente host: hij regelt alle activiteiten voor je (wandeling in het NP, vogel tour, ‘raften’ op de rivier) en speelt zelfs voor taxi door gasten op te halen en/ of weg te brengen. Internet via Starlink is top! Zijn gezin runt het restaurant waar je kunt genieten van lekkere, vers gemaakte Sri Lankaanse gerechten.

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