Amba Yaalu - Thema Collection "The first women-led hotel in Sri Lanka"

Wonderful hotel on shore of Kandalama lake. Sizeable, comfortable rooms, all with views to the mango garden and the lake beyond. Beds were comfortable and the day bed inside and spacious balcony were well utilised for relaxation. Bathrooms are well equipped with powerful showers, and there is an external bath tub on the balcony. The staff were fabulous - friendly, helpful and welcoming. They seemed to enjoy working there and this came across in the service. Although it is women-led, and the majority of the staff are women, don't be surprised to find men working in the spa and also kitchen areas. The swimming pool is magnificent and the pictures don't do it justice. We spent many hours in the infinity pool gazing at the view to the garden and hills in the distance. There is also a pool table, but we didn't get to use it as it is very popular! There is one main restaurant for tasty buffet breakfasts and dinners (with a la carte option). There is also a bar area, which serves a la carte food from the restaurant. The walk round the garden with the naturalist to talk about mangoes was excellent and should not be missed.

The service in the bar area is hit-and-miss and sometimes took much longer than you would expect for the number of waiting customers. The air-conditioning in the rooms wasn't always effective - possibly due the positioning of the units near the door into the room. The food options are a bit limited if you stay more than a few nights and the hotel's location means it is a bit of an effort to find restaurants outside. Also, they do need to install fly deterrents in the enclosed breakfast buffet area.

Beautiful pool. Nice atmosphere and friendly staff

Everything took long: check-in, getting food and drinks etc. And a shame you don’t have clear view of the lake

Amazing hotel with more than 400 mango trees and a wonderful staff! Probably, being a fully female-led hotel makes the difference not only in envisioning a new way of doing business, but also in guaranteeing a high standard level of service!

Alles!! Zeer vriendelijk personeel, ruime kamers, mooi zwembad en tuin. Fijne rustige muziek, heerlijk buffet, één van de beste hotels waar ik ooit geweest ben!

The hotel far exceeded my expectations and I wish I had booked more than one room so we could have taken advantage of the place more! Staff were exceptional and the setting perfect.

程よい規模の新しいホテルで、清潔で静かに過ごせる良い施設でした。また、夏休みの時期にも関わらず、他の日本人や中国人など東洋系のお客さんと出会う事が無く、そこも良かった。

SPAで家族4人でアユルビーダマッサージ体験をした際、4人家族だと一度に受けるとが出来ずに二人二人に別れてしまいました。また、二人に別れてしまったのに、アロマバスが一つしか無いので、二人目はずっとスチームバスで待たされる事になり、蒸し鶏になりそうでした。せっかくマッサージで気持ちよくなっていたのに、疲れ果ててしまいました。それなら一人づつ、10分〜15分ずらして初めてもらえれば良かったのにと思いました。

La piscina è spettacolare. Il giardino di manghi altrettanto, sembra di stare in un’oasi di pace. È stato un soggiorno bellissimo, sarei stata lì molto più giorni! Staff super e cibo ottimo!

The hotel is in a peaceful location.

We felt that some of the staff at the hotel were not very friendly or accommodating. It also seemed quite disorganised particularly at breakfast. It’s a buffet so staff are there to clear plates and bring drinks. We had to ask for coffee five times before it arrived, the first time they brought tea, we asked for water which never arrived. It actually felt over staffed in the hotel at times so we couldn’t understand why they were not able to get these small tasks right.