Reviews of Hotel Samanala Sigiriya
4th,mile post,sigiriya, 21121 Sigiriya, Sri Lanka
Loading
Guests also reviewed these properties:
Santpoort-Noord, Netherlands
SantʼEufemia Lamezia, Italy
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Mira, Italy
Bratislava, Slovakia
Pristina, Kosovo
Evanston, United States
Magazzini, Italy
How guest reviews work
Each review score is between 1-10. To get the overall score that you see, we add up all the review scores we’ve received and divide that total by the number of review scores we’ve received. We use a weighted review system which means that the more recent the review, the bigger the impact on the total review score calculation. In addition, guests can give separate ‘subscores’ in crucial areas, such as location, cleanliness, staff, comfort, facilities, value for money and free Wi-Fi. Note that guests submit their subscores and their overall scores independently, so there’s no direct link between them.
You can review an Accommodation that you booked through our Platform if you stayed there or if you arrived at the property but didn’t actually stay there. To edit a review you’ve already submitted, please contact our Customer Service team.
We have people and automated systems that specialise in detecting fake reviews submitted to our Platform. If we find any, we delete them and, if necessary, take action against whoever is responsible.
Anyone else who spots something suspicious can always report it to our Customer Service team, so our Fraud team can investigate.
Ideally, we would publish every review we receive, whether positive or negative. However, we won’t display any review that includes or refers to (among other things):
- Politically sensitive comments
- Promotional content
- Illegal activities
- Personal or sensitive information (e.g. emails, phone numbers or credit card info)
- Swear words, sexual references, hate speech, discriminatory remarks, threats, or references to violence
- Spam and fake content
- Animal cruelty
- Impersonation (e.g. if the writer is claiming to be someone else)
- Any violation of our review guidelines.
To make sure reviews are relevant, we may only accept reviews that are submitted within 3 months of checking out, and we may stop showing reviews once they’re 36 months old – or if the Accommodation has a change of ownership.
An Accommodation may choose to reply to a review.
When you see multiple reviews, the most recent ones will be at the top, subject to a few other factors (what language a review is in, whether it’s just a rating or contains comments as well, etc.). If you like, you can sort and/or filter them (by time of year, review score, etc.).
We sometimes show external review scores from other well-known travel websites. We make it clear when we’ve done this.
Guidelines and standards for Reviews
These guidelines and standards aim to keep the content on Booking.com relevant and family-friendly without limiting expression of strong opinions. They are also applicable regardless of the sentiment of the comment.
Contributions should be travel related. The most helpful contributions are detailed and help others make better decisions. Please don’t include personal, political, ethical, or religious commentary. Promotional content will be removed and issues concerning Booking.com’s services should be routed to our Customer Service or Accommodation Service teams.
Contributions should be appropriate for a global audience. Please avoid using profanity or attempts to approximate profanity with creative spelling, in any language. Comments and media that include 'hate speech', discriminatory remarks, threats, sexually explicit remarks, violence, and the promotion of illegal activity are not permitted.
All content should be genuine and unique to the guest. Reviews are most valuable when they are original and unbiased. Your contribution should be yours. Booking.com property partners should not post on behalf of guests or offer incentives in exchange for reviews. Attempts to bring down the rating of a competitor by submitting a negative review will not be tolerated.
Respect the privacy of others. Booking.com will make an effort to obscure email addresses, telephone numbers, website addresses, social media accounts, and similar details.
The opinions expressed in contributions are those of Booking.com customers and properties and not of Booking.com. Booking.com does not accept responsibility or liability for any reviews or responses. Booking.com is a distributor (without any obligation to verify) and not a publisher of these comments and responses.
By default, reviews are sorted based on the date of the review and on additional criteria to display the most relevant reviews, including but not limited to: your language, reviews with text, and non-anonymous reviews. Additional sorting options may be available (by type of traveller, by score, etc.).
Translations disclaimer
This service may contain translations powered by Google. Google disclaims all warranties related to the translations, express or implied, including any warranties of accuracy, reliability, and any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement.
Loading...
Reviewed: 29 August 2025 · Stayed in August 2025
Verified reviewAs a family run, welcoming, haven of peace and a green oasis of calm this is the perfect guesthouse - however, I wouldn't really say it's a hotel! The pool was fantastic, the gardens, flowers and plants were beautiful, the food was delicious (breakfast is part of the stay and we also had a delicious Sri Lankan dinner here) and the rooms, although basic, were very clean & comfortable. As for the family they were incredibly hospitable and looked after us as if we were part of their own family. I would highly recommend this place. Even though it's on the outskirts it's only a 4-minute tuk tuk ride into the main part of town. What we also enjoyed was the free 2-hour jeep tour around the village. Thank you so much!
Reviewed: 18 August 2025 · Stayed in August 2025
Verified reviewLovely location and beautiful pool on the first day we were there. Comfy beds and tasty breakfasts. I can see how this is usually an absolute paradise. The family run the place together and are always out and about keeping the place tidy. The lady who welcomed us was really lovely the entire stay.
We had a couple of hiccups unfortunately as the pool stopped cleaning and the water went all green so we didn't really want to swim in it and the monkeys kept going for the electricity wires. This meant that when we had been quite active in the mornings and wanted to come back and crash we felt a bit limited to our room. It was a shame as I can see how this place could be incredible and I'm sure it usually is.
Reviewed: 16 August 2025 · Stayed in August 2025
Verified reviewThe hosts are reactive to our requests
Very poor wifi, towels and bed sheets cleaned but used (in bad condition)
Reviewed: 1 August 2025 · Stayed in July 2025
Verified reviewReviewed: 26 July 2025 · Stayed in July 2025
Verified reviewReviewed: 8 July 2025 · Stayed in June 2025
Verified reviewReviewed: 6 July 2025 · Stayed in May 2025
Verified reviewReviewed: 2 July 2025 · Stayed in July 2025
Verified reviewGood size rooms Garden and pool
Reviewed: 1 July 2025 · Stayed in July 2025
Verified reviewThe pool is a highlight in beautiful garden setting, refreshing after a busy day touring around. Dala the receptionist went the extra to help make our stay personally supported. Delicious dinner and breakfast. Quiet setting.
Room would benefit from updated detailing of electrical outlets, bedding and bathroom consumables. Managing insects could improve stay.
Reviewed: 29 June 2025 · Stayed in June 2025
Verified reviewVery nice hotel, kids were enyoing in swimming pool. Very tastfull food.
Reviewed: 19 June 2025 · Stayed in June 2025
Verified reviewPersonal war supper
.
Reviewed: 19 June 2025 · Stayed in June 2025
Verified reviewService was amazing, the place is tranquil and staff are very helpful and kind
Reviewed: 11 June 2025 · Stayed in May 2025
Verified reviewGreat location to go up Sigiriya! Family and facilities were great. Pool was a great place to relax after a hot hike. Great spot!
Reviewed: 29 May 2025 · Stayed in May 2025
Verified reviewAn overall amazing experience. The staff were so kind and went out of their way to ensure we had a comfortable stay. They looked after us so well made our trip to Sigirya much easier by organising us safari and transport for reasonable price. 10/10 amazing hosts!
Reviewed: 3 May 2025 · Stayed in May 2025
Verified reviewReviewed: 29 April 2025 · Stayed in April 2025
Verified reviewGreat location and kind staff. Nice property!
Reviewed: 27 April 2025 · Stayed in April 2025
Verified reviewStaff were very friendly
Photos don’t reflect the true quality of the rooms. The beds and pillows are also hard as rock. The property is a little further away from the ‘town’ than is comfortable walking distance especially at night with the roads. Communications were very poor with the staff especially at check out. We had agreed the price beforehand of $135 and when I went to pay the bill they tried to make me pay $257. They couldn’t even justify this price with a breakdown of costs and the staff only spoke Sinhalese. I booked the property based on the amazing reviews of Saman but Saman wasn’t even there.
Dear Alexandra, thank you for being our guest. We highly appreciated all the comments we receive from tourists. Here is our vision: 1. Meeting at the airport. We offer you 23000 LKR for the NIGHT driver, including entrance ticket to the airport, payment ticket for highway, fast and safe delivery to the hotel. As the flight arrived late in the evening, a taxi arrived at our hotel in Sigiriya at about 00:00. People are working all day and they were sleeping this time. It takes about 10 minutes to wake them up. We did not have an agreement to arrange a VIP meeting at the hotel. As a result you pay 18000 LKR instead of the agreed 23000 LKR for the transfer (which is additional service). Why? We are very sorry, that your bag was in the water. After maximum 30 minutes after arriving you can use your room. Breakfast was for free. It is indicated in your booking.com confirmation. As you did not inform us beforehand about your gluten free diet we offer you a usual breakfast in UNUSUAL time at 11:30, instead of announced: from 07:00-9:30. Breakfast was not ok for you. We are sorry about it. Then you asked for a transfer to Sigiria. You were delivered to Sigiriya on tuk-tuk and paid nothing for it. After some time, when you finish eating and say our driver by phone: "we are ready, please come"... tuk-tuk came to the SAME place to bring guests back to the hotel, but there was nobody at the same place. After the driver called the guest and guest told, that found another tuk-tuk. Fine. Safari: first you were ready to go to a more expensive Mineriya National Park for safari. This time there was too much water after rain and almost no elephants at the park. We clarify this fact, find where there are more elephants and arrange a good and cheaper safari for you. You were happy. And after you asked to bring you to Habarrana resort and Spa, which is situated about 9 km from our hotel (go and back -18 km). Normally it costs 5000 LKR. You use this service and pay NOTHING at all. So, as a result you pay 5000 LKR less for your transfer, pay nothing for tuk-tuk to Sigiria and nothing to Habarrana. And then you rate us only 4 for all efforts. We are very sorry for your experience, but in our country people pay an agreed price and feel grateful, when other people do their best to care about you. With respect, Hotel Samanala Sigiriya. p s.: night time is a dangerous time to walk on the streets of Sigiriya because jungles are around and there are wild elephants can be on the road.
Dear Alexandra, thank you for being our guest. We highly appreciated all the comments we receive from tourists. Here is our vision: 1. Meeting at the airport. We offer you 23000 LKR for the NIGHT driver, including entrance ticket to the air… Show more
Reviewed: 25 April 2025 · Stayed in April 2025
Verified reviewOur stay was amazing. Super friendly family that runs the place and they dropped us and picked us up multiple times completely free of charge! It’s a very cozy place and we had a great time. Good value for money!
There were some spider webs in the bathroom, that could have been cleaned. Other than that everything was perfect.
Reviewed: 14 April 2025 · Stayed in April 2025
Verified reviewThe garden and the area around the pool was gorgeous and very well kept. Room was simple, AC was working good, hot water from the shower. Overall the family was friendly. Location was good near the Sigiriya Rock. We recommend to rent bicycles.
Difficult to communicate, as the English level was not the best. Breakfast was nothing special. The owner was trying to sell some excursions overpriced however, the free tour was good.
Reviewed: 14 April 2025 · Stayed in April 2025
Verified reviewFriendly staff and great food walk destination to the sigiriya rock,beautiful pool and clean
nothing
Reviewed: 6 April 2025 · Stayed in March 2025
Verified reviewThe women who worked there were wonderful, friendly and welcoming. The room was clean and we had a lovely breakfast and dinner there.
The "owner" or guy who runs the hotel - confused me with another guest they were expecting who had arranged a pick up from Sigarya airport. I proved that I was not said guest yet Saman insisted that I was and that I had misled them. I received abusive calls from the driver who used obscene language towards me. I did not receive an apology from either the owner/manager even though I gave evidence that I knew my own name and was not the guest they thought I was! Also, our air con unit was over our bed and leaked throughout the night which meant we had to get up and move the bed a couple of times throughout the night.
Reviewed: 28 March 2025 · Stayed in March 2025
Verified reviewThe family who run the resort are really lovely people who went out of their way to make our stay perfect. They can organise anything that you need for sightseeing. Great pool in a lovely garden setting. 😀
Reviewed: 25 March 2025 · Stayed in March 2025
Verified reviewNice pool and friendly staff. We got a nice free tour from the owner.
Room seems to be mould on the ceiling and walls.
Reviewed: 15 March 2025 · Stayed in March 2025
Verified reviewSaman was an incredible host who was amazingly generous with his time, getting up at 5am to drive us to Lion's Rock and then again the next day because there was torrential rain on our first attempt. He arranged an excellent safari for us and nothing was too much trouble. All the staff were wonderful, helpful and full of joy and smiles during our 3 day stay. The pool was great and we had lots of fun watching the antics of the monkeys. We would love to return one day.
The shower was cold.
Reviewed: 9 March 2025 · Stayed in March 2025
Verified reviewBeautiful outdoor setting with great pool. Staff kind and attentive. Cool cafes close by.