This is a really unique place that will appeal to nature lovers who aren't afraid to 'rough it' a bit. The road to the centre is a very rough village road, so you will need to get a tuk tuk or 4WD to take you there. Cars and vans may struggle. It is realistically an hour away from Kandy.
We got the second river room, which is more closed in than the upstairs one, and furnished in a rustic, sparse way. The windows have no glass, so giant moths can come into your room at night. We hung up sheets to prevent this. The view from the outside balcony is lovely, with the river rushing past. There were a couple of mosquitoes, so bring some DEET repellent with you. The river room is near some staff quarters, and the staff also like to dip their feet in the river (swimming in the strong current might be too dangerous). So you will not be totally secluded.
The bathroom was outside our room, and staff will provide you a torch to get around. The bathroom was also quite open, but clean and with hot water.
The vibe of the centre is very relaxed, and there are yoga pavilions scattered throughout the hillside. Do take a walk up to the top of the hill for beautiful views of the surrounding countryside. For nature lovers, there are plenty of birds and bats to look out for. However, it is more of a relaxing resort than an outdoorsy place, and there aren’t many places to hike. We did a short hike to the waterfall (1 hour return minus swim time) and had a nice refreshing swim. This was the extent of the hiking.
If you choose to stay here, select full board (b’fast, lunch and dinner included, but fruit juices and alcohol are charged extra). It is too much of a pain to leave the resort once you are there, and it certainly is not meant to be a ‘base’ for exploring Kandy. All meals are buffet style, with a good selection of Sri Lankan curries. At b’fast, you can try delicious buffalo curd with treacle, fresh fruit from the property, savoury Sri Lankan treats, as well as toast with butter and jam. The fruit juices here are super fresh, thick and delicious. At lunch and dinner the curries are mostly vegetarian (we had some delicious eggplant curry and cabbage curry), with maybe a prawn or chicken curry thrown in, or maybe some fish cutlets. There is usually at least one specialty at the buffet, such as milk rice for breakfast or some dosai for dinner. Dinner starts with a delicious soup and coconut roti, and you can have beer or wine for an extra charge. You will certainly eat well here and the open restaurant area is beautifully decorated, well-shaded and comfortable.
A laundry service is also provided. One of the staff was able to obtain observation car tickets for the next leg of our train ride, which was much appreciated (how one obtains these much desired tickets still eludes me). The charismatic owner, Waruna, has three lovely dogs who are friendly with the visitors.
Overall we had a very relaxing and enjoyable stay. I think you need a minimum of two nights here to make the journey worth it. Personally, two nights was perfect as we are outdoorsy people who like hiking. But if you want to just unwind, do yoga and meditate, then you may enjoy staying longer.
- The Hotel Kandy
- The Resort Kandy
