This place is amazing. The staff is amazing. We stayed for a week, but could have definitely stayed longer. Where to start...the room was large and comfortable, with the veranda being the star. The grounds are well manicured and all cabanas as well spaced out, giving some privacy to all guests and keeping noise from neighbors to a minimum. We also had a nice hammock amongst the trees set up to hang out in, which I did a lot. The location was absolutely beautiful - trees all around and the sounds of cicadas and waves were delightful. We got to see all sorts of critters on our stay, including a monitor lizard, a baby sea turtle, a mongoose, monkeys, peacocks and peahens, squirrels, an eagle and fireflies, just to name the highlights. We can't forget the lovely dogs, Daiya and Ruby, who were so well loved and looked after. The chef was also amazing, cooking us different curries everyday! We were lucky enough to have a private cooking class with him as well, taking home some wonderful recipes to remind us of our lovely stay. The staff are all professional and kindhearted - we truly felt as if we were staying with friends. If you're looking for a peaceful, relaxing getaway off the beaten path, this is your place. Absolutely loved our stay and can't wait to go back.
What a wonderful place! We stayed for a week in Dec 2019 and felt so calm and content by the end that we didn't want to leave. The guys running it are lovely and took really good care of us, and the food was fresh, healthy and delicious, so tasty we took an excellent cooking class here. The location is delightful, set deep in amongst the green nature, five minutes walk from a stunning wild beach with crashing waves. We saw all manner of animals, including peacocks, monkeys, mongooses, frogs, and two very happy and well-looked-after dogs. There's lots of space so it never feels crowded, even when full. We loved it here and can't wait to return as soon as we can. Come here if you want peace, nature and delicious food.
[It should be noted that we were initially a bit worried about staying because of some bad reviews (parties, noise etc.) but these were written before April 2019 when it was being run by different people. Since 2019, the new guys who took over its running have worked really hard to improve the place. You could not meet more friendly, smiley, peaceful, genuine and kind people. I highly recommend staying here.]
We absoultely loved staying at King's Elephant Cabanas and Restaurant. The host Amila and the whole team are extremily caring and will ensure you have the best stay and incredibly delicious food. The cabanas are clean, comfortable and have a good bathroom. This is a truly wonderful price for the quality of the staff, food and accomodation. It is a bit further away from some of the other guesthouses, but a 2 minute walk to the beautiful beach of Tangalle, making it a peaceful place to stay. We were supposed to stay 1 night and we stayed a week.
We had wonderful 4 days in King's Elephant Cabanas during our trip in Sri Lanka in January. Althought we didn't see any turtle laying the eggs at the beach, we really enjoyed our stay. The cabana was clean, the bed with mosquito net was very comfortable, the bathroom with no hot water shower was refreshing us every day. We had Sri Lanka's breakfast which was deliciuos. The area is quite expensive with restaurant, but we had a tuk tuk driver who showed us a local restaruant with reasonable prices and good food. The King's Elephant cabanas are 3 minutes walk from the wide amazing beach. Just 5 minutes walking to the right there is a natural swimming area with calm clear water and palms at the beach.
Awesome little setup, with a handful of cabanas and a two story, 4 room structure. Three years old, and run by a great group of young Sri Lankans. Nothing was too much trouble for them, ensuring that our stay was nothing short of idyllic. So quiet, with peacocks, iguanas, monkeys, a myriad of birds and mongooses (mongeese?!) wandering past your door. 300 metres to a deserted beach, which is not really a swimming beach, just a fun place to get smashed by waves! Evening meal should be ordered in the morning, to save you waiting! 15 minutes in tuk tuk to the busier strip of bars and restaurants: this place is not a party place, although the boys are a lot of fun, and love to chat and improve their English. Simple, clean rooms with good showers, mozzie nets, and wall-mounted fans. We spent six nights here unwinding after some full-on sightseeing in the hill country: awesome. Not really suitable for very small children due to location and the heavy waves.
I can warmly recommend this accommodation! It’s a great atmosphere with all the small bungalows, a bar and dinner area and lots of hammocks in the garden to relax. The rooms were clean and the staff is super friendly too.
Additionally it’s located in walking distance to the beach.
We really enjoyed our stay so that we even decided to prolong it!
Great place run by great people. The management who used to party over a year ago (bad review is about them) has been replaced by a lovely group of young people who are quiet, responsible and incredibly helpful. They were able to switch beds for us so that I had a firmer mattress when I asked. They helped arrange transport and were very informative about the area and sites. The chef makes amazing Sri Lankan food and we had an excellent cooking class with him. If you're looking for a quiet atmosphere outside of town, close to nature ans surrounded by beautiful wildlife (not dangerous, just cute!), this is an excellent choice. Looking forward to going back soon!
Well, I wouldn't say that it was missing since they never intended to put one there. On the bright side, you get to really bond with the person you are sharing the room with. Who needs privacy?! ||The resort was ran by 2 really lazy guys, they always just sat around. It's too bad, cause it has a lot of potential. We found them sitting around when we arrived, and then they "cleaned" our room in just 10 minutes. WOW! impressive! just that it was a little bit dirty, hairs all over the bathroom and a dirty mat next to the bed.||The room had barely any furniture, basically all there was was a bed and a fan.||They get points for fixing us a milkshake on arrival, but I wouldn't eat anything in their restaurant because of how many flies there were.||The beach is nearby and it looks very nice, but there is nothing to do in the area, no beach bars, no restaurants, it is impossible to swim in the sea anyway.||The only advantage was that we got to see a huge reptile (1.5m) on the hotel grounds, and also monkeys.||||The saddest part is that they had two very very cute dogs, one of which was a puppy. The poor thing had so many fleas that it could barely walk because of the constant itch. It is not that difficult to get fleas off your pet if you want to. I can only imagine what kind of human beings would put an animal through that suffering.
