Palagama Beach

If you want a pristine clean Marriott this isn’t for you but if you want an authentic Sri Lankan beach chalet with lots of rustic charm read on. Ours was literally right on the beach and had comfy sofas, a 4-poster bed with full mossie netting, a private outdoor shower and sink and loungers on the deck. There is a 25-metre infinity pool which looks right out to the sea and comfortable gazebos with lots of cushions for chilling and maybe an afternoon snooze. There is a food here, served by Denzel the guest manager, is amazing. We had Sri Lankan curry & rice, with all the side dishes, and the second night was grilled local seafood (pictured) - squid, the best tuna steak I’ve ever eaten anywhere and 3 enormous prawns. Yes, there are little things which could be improved but that does not detract from the fact that this is a hidden gem in a beautiful location with fantastic food

Nous avons eu la chance de séjourner dans cet hôtel au bord de la mer seuls, ce qui a rendu l’expérience encore plus magique. La piscine est superbe, le cadre enchanteur, et le personnel aux petits soins. Un véritable éden où l’on peut se ressourcer en toute tranquillité. Je reviendrai sans hésitation

We spent 3 nights in this paradise. The resort impressed us even before we arrived. We made our booking in Oct 2011 for our stay in Jan 2012, and the resort was kind and proactive enough to write to us about how visa requirements are revised for entering Sri Lanka in 2012. If not for their email, our entry into Sri Lanka at immigrations would have been slightly more troublesome. Palagama Beach is operated by a team of highly professional and well-trained staff, headed by a foreign team who spoke fluent English, French and German. The service was attentive, responsive, seamless but non-intrusive. We had 3 meals a day at the Palagama Beach property, and the quality of the food was well beyond expectations. We enjoyed young coconuts, freshly harvested from the indigenous coconut trees on the property. The resort's beach location means that there are no outside restaurants in its vicinity (except for restaurants at neighboring hotels/resorts), i.e. all resort customers are basically captive audience. Even then, the food -- both Western meals and Sri Lankan curries and seafood were available -- was excellent value-for-money. We went dolphin watching and saw ＞100 of them, with birds hovering over the water -- it was a picturesque and moving scene of nature. We went kayaking in choppy waters and found a young Sri Lankan staff member at the boathouse extremely helpful even though he could hardly communicate in English. We took morning and afternoon walks on the beach, observing local fishermen arranging their net after a trawl of shrimp and white fish, and local women taking goat to graze. I would definitely recommend this resort to all nature lovers, and would personally return here ourselves in our next trip to Sri Lanka.

Nous avons passé 2 nuits au Palagama Beach, et nous avons adoré débuter notre périple ici. Véritable havre de paix, nous étions les seuls clients, la piscine et la plage en mode privatif pour nous 3. Denzil a été aux petits soins pour nous ! Un grand MERCI pour sa gentillesse et ses attentions, cela a rendu notre séjour mémorable 🙏🤩

Very nice hotel with beautiful cabanas. Infinity pool with direct access to the beach. Great staff, very good food. Only the acces to the hotel is a bit strange. The hotel is a great if you want to stay at the hotel and enjoy the beach. However we didn’t have luck with the weather. During the night we had a major rainstorm, and we had some rain in the cabana. The next day, the staff did everything to fix the leak. Despite the bad weather, we had a great day. Dinner was very good local food. You see that COVID had a big influence on tourism in general in Sri Lanka. Two hotels near Palagama were closed/ abandoned. But the staff does everything to give their clients the stay/holiday the need/deserve.

We visited Palagama Beach in November 2022. We really enjoyed the peaceful stay. Beautiful sunsets, cabanas are truly authentic Sri Lankan. Our Cabana was right at the ocean had a great view, most of all you can hear the ocean at night and it was so peaceful. We did not get anyone trying to sell stuff at the beach pretty much had the pool and the beach to ourselves. The Staff is very helpful and kind, specially the manager Viraj. He was very attentive provided us with delicious meals. There's also Mini the dog who is very friendly and greet you as you come by.