La Polena

Beautiful beach front location, felt like paradise. Lovely breakfast served on the beach every morning. Thank you for your hospitality!

Great location and nice breakfast

Could do with a small tv in the room and better seal on the doors and windows as AC cannot hold the temperature on hot days which most days are

Location of hotel right next to beach and also you eating breakfast on beach.

I'm vegetarian so local more cater for fish and crabs menu. So I struggle a bit to find vegetarian food...

Pros: The location right by the beach is beautiful. The hotel provides private sunbeds and serves a nice breakfast right at the beach. You feel like you’re in a secluded place, get to watch surfers all day and are just a short walk away from Polhena beach (the hotel beach is nicer, although quite rough/dangerous for swimming) and an area where you can see and swim with lots of turtles. Plenty of restaurants nearby aswell as scooter rental and place to get your laundry washed. The owner gave us a great tip on where to find turtles (by the doctors house, it’s a restaurant/club. We were originally headed to the tourist hotspot but thanks to him we went to a much better place).

Negative: We were very disappointed with the room. If all you need is a bed and a functioning warm shower, then it‘s enough. If you‘d like a bit of comfort, don‘t stay here. This is the sole reason we left. Already after the first night we considered cancelling the next two nights that we had booked. Only stayed because the beach and surroundings really are quite nice. The room consists literally of an uncomfortable, hard bed, two bedside tables, a rug, a desk without a chair, one coat hanger and a bathroom which you can see in from the bedroom (door and walls are mostly out of transparent glass, zero privacy when travelling with a partner or friend. Don‘t enjoy being watched while sitting on the toilet). The walls/corners are full of dead insects. Zero kind of decoration or anything to make the room just a little bit nicer. According to the homepage there should have been a safe and wifi, we didn‘t have either. During our whole 3 week stay in Sri Lanka this is also the first room where we didn‘t have at least a fridge or a kettle for coffee/tea. And it’s the least nice room out of all. And we have stayed in plenty same priced and cheaper homestays. (photos were taken just before we checked out, hence the unmade bed)