Laya Safari
Location: Palatupana, Yala, Thissamaharama, Thissamaharama, LK
Star Rating: 4 Stars
Property Type: Hotels
About this Property
Recreational Amenities:
Enjoy the outdoor pool and fitness center for leisure activities.
All-Inclusive Rates:
Indulge in meals and beverages covered in your rate for a hassle-free stay.
Dining and Entertainment:
Savor a meal at the restaurant, unwind at the bar, or enjoy room service.
Call now to book your stay at Laya Safari and experience a luxurious beachfront retreat in Palatupana.
Important Information
- Reservations are required for spa treatments. Reservations can be made by contacting the hotel prior to arrival, using the contact information on the booking confirmation.
- Up to 2 children 1 year old and younger stay free when occupying the parent or guardian's room, using existing bedding.
- No pets and no service animals are allowed at this property.
Policies
Check-in: 02:00 PM - 12:00 AM
Check-out: 12:00 PM
Instructions: Front desk staff will greet guests on arrival at the property.
Amenities & Facilities
- Meeting rooms
- Fitness facilities
- Proposal/romance packages available
- Express check-out
- Newspapers in lobby (surcharge)
- Free WiFi
- 24-hour front desk
- Terrace
- Garden
- Luggage storage
- Express check-in/check-out
- Designated smoking area
- Concierge service
- Elevator
- Fitness facilities
- Breakfast available (surcharge)
- Safe-deposit box at front desk
- Express check-out
- Meeting rooms
- Pool umbrellas
- Billiards or pool table
- Tours/ticket assistance
- Wheelchair accessible parking
- Playground on site
- Free self parking
- Airport transportation - pickup (surcharge)
- Beach umbrellas
- Free pool cabanas
- Beach sun loungers
- Pool sun loungers
- Beach towels
- Beach volleyball on site
- Newspapers in lobby (surcharge)
- Couples/private dining
- Private winery tours
- Proposal/romance packages available
- Banquet hall
- Wheelchair-accessible van parking
Rooms Available
-
Jungle Retreat (Standard Double Room)
1 Queen Bed
614-sq-foot room, balcony/patio with garden views
Layout - Separate sitting area
Internet - Free WiFi
Entertainment - Flat-screen TV with satellite channels
Food & Drink - Coffee/tea maker, minibar (fees may apply), electric kettle, and room service (limited hours)
Sleep - Premium bedding, a down duvet, blackout drapes/curtains, turndown service, and bed sheets
Bathroom - Private bathroom, deep soaking bathtub, and separate shower with a rainfall showerhead
Practical - Safe, desk, and iron/ironing board (on request); rollaway beds (surcharge) available on request
Comfort - Climate-controlled air conditioning and daily housekeeping
Accessibility - Lever door handles
Non-Smoking
Max Occupancy: 3 (3 Adults)
- Coffee/tea maker
- Minibar
- Safety deposit box
- TV
- Bathrobe
- Desk
- Private bathroom
- Slippers
- Satellite channels
- Electric kettle
- Wardrobe or closet
- Bidet
- Bottle of water
- Room service (limited hours)
- Wheelchair accessible
- Daily housekeeping
- Premium bedding
- Separate sitting area
- Turndown service
- Blackout drapes/curtains
- Separate bathtub and shower
- Free WiFi
- Down comforter
- Deep soaking bathtub
- Rainfall showerhead
- Balcony or patio
- Bedsheets provided
- Visual fire alarm
- Lever door handles
-
Deluxe Double Room with Balcony and Sea View
1 Queen Bed and 1 Twin Bed
656-sq-foot room, balcony/patio with sea views
Layout - Separate sitting area
Relax - Private plunge pool
Internet - Free WiFi
Entertainment - Flat-screen TV with satellite channels
Food & Drink - Coffee/tea maker, minibar (fees may apply), electric kettle, and room service (limited hours)
Sleep - Premium bedding, a down duvet, blackout drapes/curtains, turndown service, and bed sheets
Bathroom - Private bathroom, deep soaking bathtub, and separate shower with a rainfall showerhead
Practical - Safe, desk, and iron/ironing board (on request); rollaway beds (surcharge) available on request
Comfort - Climate-controlled air conditioning and daily housekeeping
Accessibility - Lever door handles
Non-Smoking
Max Occupancy: 3 (3 Adults)
- Coffee/tea maker
- Minibar
- Safety deposit box
- TV
- Bathrobe
- Desk
- Private bathroom
- Slippers
- Satellite channels
- Electric kettle
- Bidet
- Bottle of water
- Room service (limited hours)
- Daily housekeeping
- Premium bedding
- Separate sitting area
- Turndown service
- Blackout drapes/curtains
- Separate bathtub and shower
- Free WiFi
- Down comforter
- Private plunge pool
- Deep soaking bathtub
- Rainfall showerhead
- Balcony or patio
- Bedsheets provided
- Visual fire alarm
- Lever door handles
Guest Reviews
- toby (10/5): - Reception staff were extreemely helpful and friendly
- Verified traveler (4/5): A 2-star catfishing as a 4-star - Despite being told we had “the best room”, the blinds were broken, the walls were peeling, the shower was broken, the bathroom was mouldy, and the fridge was broken.
For dinner, we ordered lamb and mash potato as we had seen an image online that looked great. When it arrived, there were chips on the plate and the lamb was full of bones and fat which made it inedible.
The next day, we had to meet our safari driver at 5am. However, when we tried to go through to reception, all of the doors were locked and the lights turned off. This is different to the 24/7 reception advertised. We had to walk around the building in the pitch black. The welcome letter said to watch out for poisonous snakes and elephants. This was an extremely stressful moment, particularly as two young women in the middle of nowhere.
We spoke to the general manager who was originally apologetic and agreed that renovations were necessary. However, when we requested a partial refund to reflect the quality of service, he started interrupting us and lying that someone was on reception at 5am. What is worse is they refused to get it up on CCTV. Upon our departure, the general manager decided to go outside and speak to our driver. He complained about us which again made us feel unsafe.
It’s a shame because some staff were lovely, and the swimming pool and beach front are nice – but the only thing 4-star about this hotel are the prices.
They have still refused our refund request and Hotels.com have been useless.
- Maciej (2/5): - Avoid. Derelict, ghost hotel, with crumbling infrastructure. Although staff are nice and helpful. Stayed March 2025.
- Michael (2/5): - DO NOT STAY HERE. This is not a four star hotel. However they charge that way. Our room was filthy when we checked in. It did not looked like it had been cleaned in over a month. No hot water in main shower head. Electricity went out in middle of
the night. Blinds broke and fell from wall leaving dust and dead bugs everywhere. The pictures told a story of a beautiful resort. It is no longer that. I have never written a bad review before. When we complained to the GM on departure (after telling staff of issues throughout stay) he was rude and told us we should have complained earlier. The Sri Lankan people are beautiful, this man was not. There is an advertised spa service that does not exist. The staff also did not honor the Expedia Gold Status deal we signed up for. AVOID, AVOID, AVOID.
- Jason (2/5): - Worst hotel I have stayed in my life. The shower was barely working, the place was dirty and smelled bad. If it wasn’t for the fact that my boyfriend and I arrived super late, we would have never stayed even one night there! I don’t recommend at all
- Steven (6/5): Great location for safari - Great location to Yala park for safaris and as soon as we arrived they booked this for us and arranged that we had a breakfast to take due to the early start. Nice pool.
It is a really nice hotel but looks like it hasn’t been updated in many years, such as a snooker table with many tares on it. Room could have been cleaner. At checkout the staff member asked us to review for them when we were still there which I didn’t like so didn’t do.
- Lalith (6/5): - Didnleave the hotel after 1 day because of hot water issue
- Andie (10/5): - I'll start by saying we would definitely stay here again! The property manager was a very friendly and interesting man and very helpful along with the other staff members and the rooms were incredibly spacious with a great view of the ocean! My only recommendations to the owners would be to really play up the view of the rooms and make sure the blinds are up and windows facing the ocean are freshly cleaned. Having chose this hotel over others mainly because of the amazing windows it was a little disappointing to find out that a lot of the blinds no longer worked and couldn't be opened all the way. We were there during slow season so it was very quiet and not all the facilities were open but I can imagine it's a lot of fun when it's more full. We enjoyed the quiet though. The hotel has lots going on as well, atv dune rides, swing bar, infinity pool, and very soon horses for beach and jungle rides! And the proximity to Yala is perfect. They even have a resident elephant that might wander through while you're there! I would definitely recommend this hotel!
- Verified traveler (8/5): Visiting Yala - We stayed here for four nights to visit Yala. The hotel is less than 10 minutes drive to the park. The service, and friendliness of the staff is superb. The view from the rooms, pool, and restaurant was beautiful. We could hear the waves crashing from our room. The wooden decks are definitely in need of replacement due to exposure to the salty ocean air, but the interior of our room was nice and comfortable. A lot of the rooms look like they were being upgraded during our stay as well.
- eannine (10/5): - Amazing views, great food, friendly staff. The only downside is the hotel is a little tired but I would still recommend.
- Lei (6/5): - Entire place is old and run down. Repairs are desperately needed. Restaurant staff were standoff-ish and certainly not inclined to move faster than a snail. Really very disappointed in this place.
- Verified traveler (4/5): - Wildly overpriced with terrible food and relatively unclean premises.
- Tanja (2/5): 2*, at MOST - The lenght of this review is directly related to my level of annoyance and irritation.
1. ROOMS
The room advertised online /surrounding views is literally one of the 22 rooms - the other 21 has blinds around the entire place or everyone would look directly into their neighbours rooms.
The shower also inexplicably has blinds - which has a nice gathering of black mould.
Everything else in the room is old and shabby - shabby 'white' mats next to the bed, stained mustard couches, frayed towels.
The bathroom window was so dirty you could barely see outside.
The porch is worn out and faded, as well as the furniture.
2 pillows on the bed, with an additional 2 in the closet, sans pillow covers.
The icetray was broken with hair in - still waiting for a replacement.
Also the aircon was leaking and only one bedside lamp was working.
2. STAFF
The young staff mean well, but has clearly not had any training - english is v v basic which can get rather frustrating.
Also v unproffesional with check-in as they kept chatting in Sinhalese (I assume) and giggling like teenagers.
On the first morning we returned to a dirty room at 1pm - when we called reception they informed us that we had our "Do not disturb" sign on the door - a tad impossible as we didn't even have one in the room.
Also not ideal to walk out of your room and then have to step over 4 pairs of shoes that the cleaners have kicked of in front of your door.
Room service is also a shambles- the wrong thing arr - see rest on TripAd
- DTLAdj (10/5): - Perfect location for a Yala safari. Super clean rooms and soft mattress.
- Constan (8/5): zing Jungle life experince - Amazing jungle life experience.
Excellent beautiful hotel.
Only issue was staff not picking up the phone and service was not good.
- J (8/5): - Needs upkeep and modernisation. Staff are excellent though.
- Diane (10/5): Fantastic base for a safari, lots of wildlife - Stunning location right on the beach, noone else around. The room was fab, second/third floors so great view from the balcony, sunset especially. Not many guests while we were there so dinner was table d'hote, several choices, all were tasty, well presented, fresh and plentiful. Staff friendly ans attentive. Best bit is wild elephant who seems to regularly roam around the grounds, eating the palm fronds and drinking the lily pond! Also saw boar, hares, iguana, plenty birds in grounds.
- Andre (10/5): - Wonderful location. Service excellent.
- Tanya (8/5): - Nice hotel and friendly staff
值得推薦給華人的酒店,他們很重視華人的業務,不會有歧視行為;對我們的要求很有耐性的解決。
- Verified traveler (6/5): - We arrived at 11pm and went on safari at 4:45am so didn’t really spend time here. It was ok for a bed for the night.
- Verified traveler (2/5): - My partner and I just spent two weeks in Sri Lanka staying at hotels with similar prices as Laya - Laya was by far the worst one. The hotel is operated by the military - likely seized after the civil war. It has a creepy vibe. We went for a walk and were followed on the beach. The property has not been maintained and is derelict and in disarray - broken boards, black mold on the blinds in the room. The restaurant is very expensive and almost inedible. We waited 1.25 hours for lunch one day. Safari's are overpriced compared to what you can get elsewhere. Do not stay here.
- Ahmed (10/5): All inclusive safari stay - Everything was really impressive unless the swimming was prohibited 🚫 on this dangerous beach
- Verified traveler (2/5): - I liked the beautiful nature around the hotel..
I can not recommend this hotel.
- Verified traveler (10/5): - Right on the beach, nice big shower. And nice big room
- Verified traveler (10/5): - The catering was nowhere as good as last time. We understood that the hotel was suffering after the terrorist attacks, but the food was not good. A simpler menu with more fresh food could have been provided, rather than trying to keep the whole menu and failing to do individual choices. I’m sure normal standards will come back when more visitors do.
- J (10/5): - Great rooms with stunning views. Rooms could use a little cleaning since curtains were moldy from the damp air. Other than that stunning.
- Verified traveler (4/5): - Overall it wasn't a terrible stay but the staff are completely unprofessional.
1. Tell you the wrong price of the restaurant buffet and then proceed to add 1000 rupees to the bill
2. Knock on your hotel room door and immediately try to open it. What the hell?
3. Try to 'escort' you back to your room after dinner citing 'wild animals around'. There are better ways to try and earn a tip, this isn't one of them.
Just forget it - stay at Jetwing instead.
- Matthew (10/5): Good hotel with potential with a little work - The hotel is set within the park itself so you are very likely to see the wildlife during your stay. The room itself was lovely, a large 4 poster bed on a raised level with steps dropping down into a living area with a sofa, TV and tea/coffee making facilities. A nice touch is the water bottles are 1 litre rather than the usual 500ml. The room is air conditioned and spacious, the bathroom again was large with both a bath and separate walk in shower with wood flooring and a stone wall. There are complimentary body wash, shampoo, conditioner and shower cap and a ring light magnification mirror too. The balcony has two chairs and leads out onto a walk way with the beach right in front, as we were on the ground floor we could wall right out onto the beach from our room. We also woke up to a herd of buffalo outside the next morning! The breakfast was included with our room and theres a good selection, the only downside is that you have to choose what you'd like the night before, even the fruit juice must be chosen the night before which for me was a negative as you may feel like something different on the morning. We chose toast and pastries and there was a good selection, the banana cake was delicious! There is also tea and coffee. We had dinner at the hotel which was a set 3 course meal. The price was quite reasonable considering although the cocktails are more expensive than most places and a 10% service charge is also added. Overall I would happily stay again.
- Peter (6/5): Great opportunity - Hotel has great position,needs a lot of attention.
Prices for food and drinks over priced.
Staff very friendly.
Great to see Elephant at the front door.
- Verified traveler (2/5): Good location, bad service. - Good location, bad service. Mouldy bread for a la carte breakfast. Poor response to problem with leaking aircon, laundry gone awry.
- Verified traveler (6/5): - Nice rooms that are dated and in need of some maintenance.
- Verified traveler (8/5): - Nice hotel in great location near safari park. Food and drinks are expensive though
- Verified traveler (10/5): - The staff very friendly & helpful - amazing location & outlook
- Verified traveler (4/5): - Whilst the hotel is in a beautiful location right on the beach and close to Yals National Park, it is in desperate need of renovation. There was mould in our room, fixtures and fittings coming off the walls and the electricity kept cutting out. The staff were all very friendly and helpful, including the manager who, to his credit, let us check out a day early and offered us a refund.
The hotel really has lots of potential. According to the manager, they are planning to do some renovations at the end of the season so hopefully things should improve in a few months’ time.
- Gary (10/5): - Beautiful quiet location,but still very close to Yala to go on a safari .Right on the beach with stunning views from the rooms
- Verified traveler (10/5): - Pool is lovely. Seeing animals from poolside and our room is a bit hit. The restaurant was excellent.
- Alain (10/5): Great Hotel - Great location overall. Nice place to stay to plan a safari at Yala Park.
- Verified traveler (4/5): - We liked the bar and the wifi.but the room was dlapilated and need renovation.bed linnen and towels need replacement. Even though its a beach front hotel we werenot allowed to swim as the beach was red flagged 24 hrs. We wouldn't have booked if the beach was not available, Toomany safari jeeps inthe park pollutiing the animals.Suggest restrict the jeepsand increase the passengers in the jeep some jeepscarry only1 person when ithas 10 seats.
- Verified traveler (8/5): - This is a great place to stay if you are planning to visit the national park at Yala. The staff are great and the facilities are good. The food in the restaurant is quite good. The only negative is that the resort is starting to show signs of aging and wear but you shouldn’t put you off, It’s still a good value place to stay
- Verified traveler (8/5): - The setting is beautiful- we saw wild boar, many birds, a tortoise and even an elephant wondering around.
Pool, service and food are excellent.
- Verified traveler (10/5): - Wonderful setting. Loved the big windows looking out to the ocean. If we had any concerns, it was that the rooms are completely inaccessible unless you can climb a few stairs.
- Jeff (10/5): - Spent 3 nights at this beautiful hotel with excellent location and all rooms looking out to sea, Close to Yala National Park - 15 minutes. An eventful hotel with wildlife inside the hotel grounds, Wild Boar by veranda, iguanas, hares etc and the sound of firecrackers at night to ward off the elephants. Feel of safari and yet safe.
Room very nice and comfortable with slight problem of no hot water first night but this fixed and from then on no problems. AC, Fridge, coffee making facility all good and no mosquito bites.
Restaurant and Bar good service and not over priced. Large choice of Food and all was presented very well. Pool very good.
Bathroom good with view from bath looking out to the beach and sea. Bathroom could be improved with a tiled floor and wall with better pointing of the existing feature tiles.
Quite remote so best to get any necessaties before you arrive. Hotel provides accommodation and food etc for any driver you may have so your vehicle is not far away.
Overall considering value for money I would grade 9 out of 10, only lost point for no hot water first night.
- Matt (10/5): - Great place and views. With amazing wildlife. The water could have been hotter in the shower though
- Chloe (10/5): Beautiful location. Wld recommend - We loved the location . best curry we had in sri lanka. Room was soooo comfy and a wild elephant came by at 1 am. Amazing. Staff were sooo helpful and kind. We should have booked the safari with hotel on arrival. They seemed more successful than ours
- Caroline (8/5): Awesome staff and location but needs refreshment - The location is amazing, the staff is friendly and professional, the food is delicious, the rooms are nice.
Overall this hotel needs refreshment. Our driver told us it is owned by the state but no longer maintained properly. Example: the beige curtains were full of black stains (Humidity). The wooden floor must be maintained.
- Verified traveler (8/5): - Amazing hotel loved the room and location to safari park beautiful infinity pool. No complaints on location and room. Food awful and very expensive service terrible in restaurant, we eWorld have stayed an extra night if food was better Also peeping tom hanging around rooms at night. With torch to keep animals away
- Steve (6/5): - What can I say?
The positives:
- fantastic and friendy staff
- beautiful location on the beach and close to Yala NP
- food above average
The negatives:
- lack of maintenance. The property is tired and there appears to be no effort or expense being put to rectify it.
- the pictures do not tell the story. They are misleading.
- price. You expect something a lot better for the price paid.
- what little work that has been done is substandard ie paint splatter on floors and furniture.
- plunge pools in villas are not filled therefore unusable.
Overall a letdown only saved by the wonderfull staff and location.
- Verified traveler (8/5): - We absolutely loved the situation of this hotel. We stayed in the very end room and when we were on the balcony overlooking the sea it felt like we were on our own in Paradise. Such an incredible spot. We would return here again and again. We tried to change our intunersry to stay here longer but sadly it was fully booked. The food at dinner was disappointing and the room could have been cleaner but we overlooked all of that for joy being there brought us.
- Verified traveler (4/5): Great Location but hotel needs a complete overhaul - We spent 14 nights in Sri Lanka of which 2 nights were at Laya Safari. Unfortunately this was the least favourite hotel we stayed at. We chose this hotel based on previous reviews, the hotel photos and its close proximity to Yala national park. The hotel is dated and in desperate need of a complete refurbishment. Apart from the fantastic sea view from the room and the balcony, there is nothing else that I can praise. The blinds in the room are broken and every time we opened the balcony door the blind got caught between the doors, as we could not pull the blind to above the door position. The room floor and bathroom was not clean. We ordered room service the first night and it was so difficult to explain what we wanted as they did not understand english very well. The breakfast choice and quality was not as good as the other places we stayed. We had lunch after the morning safari and it was only ok. Although the waiting staff are friendly they do not speak/understand much english and it was difficult to communicate. The hotel is in a fantastic position and very close to Yala, but we would not stay here again as there are other better places close by like Jetwing and Cinnamon.
- Annie (10/5): - Beautiful location, and gorgeous rooms. Staff are very friendly
- Verified traveler (10/5): - Excellent experience. We got a room next to the beach, very unexpected place next to the jungle.
Room is quite nice and comfortable, can hear the waves at our porch. Hotel staff are Super helpful, and very friendly. Will definitely go back again
- Jlly (10/5): - Great hotel, right on beach and very convenient for Safari Park and Bird Safari. Staff are outstanding, food exceptional. Very impressed.
- Verified traveler (10/5): - Unique experience in the jungle with wild animals coming to the hotels.
- Verified traveler (6/5): - The hotel did not offer any activities for recreational purposes other than a pool table.. If you go during off season there will be nothing to entertain you.. The staff aren't the most helpful either..
- Adia (8/5): - Nice beach view, friendly staffs. Guess it’s one of the best hotels in the area.
- Gary (8/5): Great location for Yala Safari - Very nice hotel in a great location for Safari at Yala National Park. Staff were very friendly and helpful. Room was really nice with a comfortable bed, lounge area and great shower. One downfall was that during a storm some water came into the room but staff cleaned this up promptly and was understandable given volume of rain. The pool was really nice and very clean. I was disappointed with the food, the menu was quite westernised and tasted ok, would’ve preferred a traditional menu.
- Verified traveler (10/5): - Lovely place to base your self for a Safari.
- Verified traveler (10/5): - Wonderful spacious hotel.However the standard double room is not exactly the same layout as the deluxe room.It does not have sea view and is a much smaller room.The difference is not clearly stated in the hotels.com website.There is no picture of a standard double room there.We were upgraded to a deluxe room for $50 a night.The sea view was spectacular and we saw animals,buffaloes and rabbit.It is very near the entrance of Yala National Park.Really enjoyed the stay.
- Paul (6/5): Could be asuperb hotel - The people were wonderful, the room staff and utul, at the restaurant. But there is a problem with the management. As soon as you prepare to enter the lobby, you are greeted with decomposing timber that lead to the lobby. In fact there are holes in the timbers and one cannot even properly walk on them. Hard to believe but true.
But the staf so everything to please, and an instants notice.
Room had lizards (apparently harmless) crawling on the ceiling and there appeared to be some sticky black discharge on occasion from the air conditioned that stained the sheets and the staff changed the sheets as soon as this was reported.
Serious management problems.
- Claes (8/5): Good service - Despite getting the wrong room because of misinformation on the hotels.com website i e it did not say exactly the difference between deluxe room and standard which was so-called jungle room. The hotel handle though this in a professional way so we were very pleased with the stay. Unlucky tat we could not have a swim in the ocean.
- Verified traveler (8/5): - Great stay and lovely views. The room conditions is bit dated but clean and functional. Buffet or meals menu could be improve and only one restaurant in the resort. Next door resort has really good restaurant and tasty menu as option.
- Kaushal (8/5): Amazing views and service - The location of the property is fantastic with beautiful views of the Indian Ocean, close to the Yala National Park. The infinity pool was great as well. Staff is exceptional with exemplary service orientation. Our requests pertaining to a baby and vegetarian dietary requirements were met to the best extent possible. The room was great - however, age is beginning to show with blinds that get stuck, hazy glass in parts obstructing the beautiful views. As we checked in the room it smelled of smoking which was promptly fixed upon request. All in all a fantastic experience.
- Ash (10/5): Excellent property - We had a great holiday here. Fantastic views of the Indian ocean. Excellent staff, with special mention to Mr.Upul who made us at home. Requested authentic Sri Lankan food and we got awesome stuff. Thanks
- lorraine (8/5): - A great hotel on the beach and close to gates of yala safari park.
- Kylie (8/5): Ok stay - Laya Safari was ok shower bathroom and bed nice. Pretty run down but nice ocean views very windy during the day. Pool was lovely and staff very friendly. Food was not so great very basic. Breakfast buffet better.
- Verified traveler (8/5): I will stay here again if I come back to Yala - Friendly staff and good service
Very nice bathroom, but the floor was very slippery
I highly recommend you to have the hotel to arrange your breakfast and lunch box if you are going for full day safari. The tour company, well, the hotel food is much better.
And here at Laya Safari they are very helpful with your requests
But could need some maintenance
Should be against the law to have a nice place like this and just let it fall in to decay. The rooms are very nice, but why not put some light in the room. It is very dark and you cannot work on your desk top
But the staff rectified this. Same, leaving the room at 5 in the morning and it was pitch dark. I asked them to keep the light on during the night and so they did
The bathrooms are beautiful with stone walls. They should have put stones on all the concrete. Would have been beautiful, now it looks like a concrete apartment block from East Germany in the 70's
- Ada (10/5): - Super good and the environment is very good. We enjoy the view, room and the pool. Nice stay good food
- Verified traveler (6/5): Nice hotel right on the water - Nice on paper but needs a little TLC.
Rooms are lovel , however the plumbing from upstairs was VERY loud!
Also, we booked what we understood to be a to be a room with a double and single bed, only took be told on arrival that they only have double bed rooms (i guess the single bed read the lounge?!)
In general, an ok place to stay. Good location..
- Verified traveler (10/5): Good times! - Staff was helpful, rooms were very clean. Pool was a little dated, and service was a bit slow sometimes, but very accommodating. All-in-all we had a great time. View was beautiful!! Beachfront was gorgeous with wonderful crashing waves.
- Verified traveler (10/5): Amazing - Very good very nice rooms n awesome food n service
- Roberta (10/5): Yala - Laya Safari was a great hotel in a remote area. The staff was very accommodating, filling all of our requests. Great swimming pool, good food and very nice beach best for taking long walks. I wish I had more time to stay longer and would recommend this hotel if Yala is on the itinerary.
- Verified traveler (10/5): - Closed to Yala National Park entrance. stunning view of the beachside. Comfortable stay.
- Debbie (8/5): Beautiful view of an very rough beach! - The staff was great. The pool is cold but nice. The food is good. The views are amazing.
- Donica (10/5): A must stay - Customer service, the restaurant, hotel and facilities was fantastic and immaculate. The hotel overlooks the beach which was a great way to spend the mornings and the pool was a great way to end the evening. From the moment we arrived we felt welcome and the hotel staff were extremely courteous, they offered to have breakfasts ready at 5am for our safari which made our stay here memorable. My friend and I have been boasting about this hotel and would like to bring our families and friends back to Laya. Thank you for such an amazing experience.
- Verified traveler (8/5): Beautiful but in need of some up-keep - My wife and I were absolutely thrilled with Laya Safari. The setting was spectacular and the staff were excellent. It was off season, so, we were virtually the only guests--which suits our tastes. The problem was the up-keep of the room. First the door lock was in need of repair. You had to figure out the trick to get the key to work or else it would just spin and spin. Second, the gorgeous view of the ocean was obscured because some of the sail cloth blinds did not work. They could not be drawn up. Others could not be drawn down. There also seemed to be problems with the lights, perhaps just needing a bulb change. These were unfortunate annoyances to an otherwise excellent visit.
- Sara and Steve (10/5): Fantastic place on the beach! - Staff so friendly. Beautiful views from the fabulous cabanas. Peaceful. Great food. Customer service was out of this world! Definitely recommend.
Photos