Choosing Sri Lanka for our joint birthday holiday, my 21 year old daughter and I ended our first week of touring with a second week to relax in Bentota. As two female travellers, personal safety was important to us and this small, family-run Riverside Inn seemed to fit the bill.
We arrived to a clean, cool and spacious room with two big beds, floor to ceiling windows, lots of lighting, storage space, a fridge, ceiling fans, air-con and a private balcony with an impressive view across the river and overlooking the immaculate garden, which the family are up early tending to every morning. The hosts are a very welcoming couple who invited us to dine with them and offer any advice or services, including Tuk-Tuks, airport transfers and even medical assistance, at preferential local rates.
Fresh, generous breakfast served surrounded by wild, flowering trees, tropical birds, mongoose, squirrels and a friendly cat. The gate is locked at night so the property is very secure and the family live in the other half of the building and will greet you as you go out and when returning, great for female travellers, like a home from home.
At night, we watched the fireflies from the balcony during dramatic thunder and lightening storms always followed by hot, sunny days. The inn is also child-friendly and after a few days on the daily walk to Bentota, families from neighbouring houses and shopkeepers waved at us as we passed in this friendly neighbourhood.
When our flight was cancelled due to airport strikes, our hosts were very accommodating in letting us stay an extra five days for a great rate, saving us the time and trouble of moving elsewhere. If you want a tranquil place and space to chill out, a safe haven and to be looked out for in Bentota by a friendly and helpful family, whilst also staying a 10 minute walk from the waves at Bentota beach, you couldnt do better than to stay here. It's no surprise that many guests return here again and again :)
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