Find Hotels in Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka

For me the owner is a business man, always selling things. He is not the typical Sri Lanka polite and service oriented

The hospitality at Living Inn is some of the best we have encountered. Ever. This is an absolutely stunning location: you feel as though you've escaped into the jungle. The food is unbelievable - be sure to have the hoppers at breakfast! The location was perfect for our bike tour around the ancient city, and the loaner bikes from the guesthouse were an added bonus! We thoroughly enjoyed our stay and wouldn't hesitate to return.

Great Irish pub, the green man, nearby. Hotel can be hard to find. Money changer on site.

As soon as I got there the staff were very welcoming. The rooms were the nicest I've had during my stay in Sri Lanka. The food was excellent and very cheap. I was very happy with my stay.

Binara home stay was great. Definitely book the Double Room with balcony, because it was lovely! Very nice ambiance in the room, clean, with nice green view. Binara is very helpful, we rented bikes from him to explore Polonnaruwa and when we missed dinner one of the nights he made up for it with the most AMAZING breakfast the next morning. As for food in the area, there is not much, so definitely eat at Jaga Foods which is located 7km from the Homestay, Binara can call and arrange a tuktuk with the restaurant to and from for a much reduced price than the local Tuktuk drivers as it is the restaurant's private service. Food is insanely affordable and you will be shocked at how many different dishes he brings you for a set price. Definitely a must!

Since I've been there I recommended this place to anyone planning to go Polonnaruwa. It is not in the busy city centre, but anyone who travels around Asia and Sri Lanka knows there is nothing better then nature and a bit of silence around. And Ruins Villa ensures that to you. Plus the owner and his wife are just lovely people, so it's shame not to meet them. We initially wanted to spend there maximum 2 nights and finally spent 4. First - it is the best possible location if you want to visit Polonnaruwa ruins - you just take the bike, ride 10-15 minutes by the beautiful canal to the main entrance and finish all day visit only 50 meters from Ruins Villa. From there you can also book a 1/2 day safari to see dozens elephants living FREE (not like those in sanctuaries). And if you decide to stay longer after intensive visiting - you can have one day bus trip to Kalkudah and relax at beaches there before you go further.

Good location, very basic but clean and tidy , very nice and helpful hosts, beautiful food. Definitely recommend

Ok let's deal with the cons its on a busy road leading into town centre but you are way back from the road good sleep The pros it has hot water. big rooms. balcony. great dinning area in garden. the breakfast is the best I have ever had in Sri Lanka all home cooking everyday there was a different meal for just over 200rp you got so much I could never manage to eat it all lady a fantastic cook. The whole family where great they organised private safari. Tuk tuks they were all so kind I enjoyed it so much I stayed longer. it's less the 1km from the ruins of ancient city they have bikes also you name it they put themselves out. this small family run business needs looking at first. Alan Jan 2018

Room was as pictured and expected-- nothing fancy but clean and well-maintained. The owner was very friendly and helpful, giving us suggestions, directions, and even taking my husband to the bank when we had some trouble with our debit card!

Not far from town and this is a small town, this is a relaxed family run place and they make u feel comfortable and the food was very nice and some dishes I hadn’t had before. They are one of the few offering AC and it was a big help. You don’t need all the time. A friendly stay

Thanks for helpful support! But I couldn't charge my mobile due to different type of socket...

Very friendly and helpful family, cheap and delicious homemade dinner (no need to eat out), large Sri Lankan breakfast, clean room with veranda to rest. While we were sightseeing Polonnaruwa somebody took our bikes and the owner was very cool with it and solved the problem. There was however no hot water (like in many other places in Sri Lanka), wifi did not work.

The place is actually in the town next to Polonnaruwa, a 7-minute drive away. However, the hotel is on the bus line, so there are plenty of buses to take you to the city or the entrance of the ancient city. Also, I was able to catch the bus to my next destination in front of the hotel. Breakfast is great and filling; the wifi works well, and there was drinking water. The only downside is that the room is poorly ventilated, so it is extremely hot inside during the summer. Therefore, consider getting an air-conditioned room, even if you typically are fine with just a fan.

Nice clean comfortable rooms. Location is out of town and address not accurate on google maps so maybe ring the owner to get the correct directions. The owners are very nice and food in restaurant was adequate. Preferrably have your own transport, however it is located on main road.

Food is abundant and delicious. Hotel is nice and clean. Staff is lovely. Only issue is mosquitoes are aggressive and they get inside mosquito net somehow, with some repellent you should be fine.

does a great job managing his guesthouse!When we will go back to Polonnaruwa we will defenitely stay at his guesthouse again.We enjoyed the best breakfast we had in Sri lanka,our simple but very clean room and the excellent wifi.But the best thing was our wonderful host,who always offered his help,rent us his bikes for free and arranged everything for us.Thanks again,you made us feel comfortable and we had a wonderful time at your place!

I arrived at the place in the early morning around 2 AM where as I entered the estimated arrival time at booking the same. This was closed. Then I had to make phone calls to the numbers displayed. One answered then he asked some person nearby to open. It took me more than 15 minutes to enter to the place. Then when I entered the room there were cockroaches in the room and in the bathroom. The bathroom was also not good. The mattress was rock hard and there were mosquitoes. (A mosquito net was available and had to use it) A very bad experience. Only plus point is that it is situated walking distance from the Kanduruwela bus stand.

Small guesthouse but fully satisfied. I got a conner room on the 2nd fl. with a small but nice terrace equipped with table and chairs where breakfast was provided. The room and bathroom was very well cleaned. Furnitures were not new but all usable. No A/C only a ceiling fan but was good enough for me (in October) Good hot water. Amenities provided was a small soap and also shampoo too. Most of all I like the owner Mr Sumith who was very friendly and helpful. When I was sitting on the terrace in the evening he kindly brought me a mosquito repellent coil. There was some bicycles for rental with a reasonable price, and I think was the best way to explore Polonnaruwa ancient's town. Breakfast was good and delicious; local egg Hopper roti, pancake, fresh fruits and fresh grounded coffee (not instant stick coffee). And also a small bottle of water. I fully recommend this value-for-money B&B.

Place surrounding is not clean and staff not supportive. My Agoda booking they knows when I'm arrived there :( . I am not recommend this place.

We had a wonderful stay from the minute we arrived. We were greeted and ask to sit on a table overlooking the garden and offered a hot or cold drink while our room was prepared. This meant lights and aircon being put on and allowing the room to cool before we entered. After we had finished our drinks our bags were taken upstairs and we were shown to our room. Our room was bright and spacious with two additional chairs and a garden facing balcony (room 2). We ate dinner at the tables alongside the garden. A Sri Lankan feast of chicken curry and rice was served to us along with a mountain of rice and around 6 fresh vegetable side dishes and dhal and all for only 600RS per person. The peaceful setting ensured a good nights sleep and to be woken by the amazing dawn chorus was a treat. In fact it didn't go on for too long and so we fell back to sleep for a while. Breakfast we chose the usual option of toast and jam to follow a fried egg. A nice fresh juice and decent coffee washed it all down. Sri Lankan breakfast is available. We were heading off to the coast for a day trip and were kindly provided with additional towels. When the owner came to say good morning he had heard we were off to the beach and brought a big bunch of bananas and 4 pieces of homemade coconut and honey cake so we didn't go hungry, so thoughtful. We were in fact only booked in for one night but the hospitality was so great we extended for another evening. This place is definitely one of the secret jewels of Sri Lanka.

During our 3 weeks stay in Sri Lanka the day in Polonnaruwa was probably our best. Thisal Guest House is perfectly located near the ruins as well as ATMs and some shops. You can rent bikes to discover the ruins. For dinner the very friendly and helpful family served us an enormous and delicious portion of rice and curry with estimated 15 different curries. We also did the safari with the son of our hosts which we can only recommend. Although it's not cheap you should really think about doing it. We saw a lot of elephants and compared to our safari in Yala NP this safari in Kaudulla NP was much more quiet and relaxing.

Wi-Fi worked. Good fan, room cool. Room was clean, bright and new, bathroom too with everything working well. Outside seating area. Had dinner there, due to language barrier other guests got givien part of our order (which they ate) and it took a while to explain in the morning when playing the bill, we'd thought it had been clear the night before that we didn't mind not getting part of our order but we weren't paying for it. Other than that everything great, would stay again. Also hired bikes from there. Staff friendly.

Very friendly staff. Good location. Good was nice. Parking is a bit of a hassle. I specifically asked for a quiet room but the one given was next to common TV area & was probably the noisiest there was. But the staff was very friendly and helpful.

It was a little bit uncomfortable. There was no blind in the window of toilet. Also when I pay, the manager tried to charge tax on the room. But when I reserve the room through agoda there was no tax. So I had to ask to correct the bill. I had a great experience in Polonnaruwa but one thing I want to point out is I should have to choose better guesthouse.

My friends and I stayed at Sanctuary Cove after a touring Dambulla, Sigiriya and Polonnaruwa all in one day. The location of the guesthouse was near the ruins. You can hire a tuktuk or a van for convenience. The rooms are very well-kept and have home-y vibes. We had a room with an AC and another one with fan only. Both were spacious enough and had their own toilet/shower area. Since Sri Lanka has a unique socket (not available in the usual universal adapter), we had to borrow from the owners. They were gracious enough to lend 3 adapters to us without any deposits. My friend also had to exchange some dollars and the nearest money changer is 1 km away. The son of the owner was even kind to take my friend to the money changer via his motorbike. We also saw their kindness when we asked our breakfast early as we had to go to Wilpattu the next morning. They served our breakfast at 5:30 am as scheduled. :) I highly recommend anyone staying in Polonnaruwa to stay at their place. Worth every buck.

We stayed for four nights and were impressed by the comfortable bed, cleanliness of the room, service provided by the staff, and the lovely pool! So awesome to have a really cool and clean pool to jump into after a sweaty day of sightseeing. The curry dinner we had here was outstanding as well. Breakfast is a little unusual-sandwiches and some local dhal and a smoothie type drink, lots of toast and an omelette. No real choice, but it’s fine. The family is very lovely and they can arrange tours/tuktuk’s for you if you need (we didn’t, but saw others doing so). The location was perfect for us as we were self-driving a tuktuk and could get around easily. I would highly recommend the Tishan Holiday Resort if you are in the area.

It was a great joy to stay at Hotel Royal Nest. The staffs are super attentive. Before we arrived, we sent a request for two single beds in one room as the two guys in our travel group wanted to have separate beds. This request was responded quickly by email from the hotel, and they did got a room with two single beds. The yard is beautiful. Breakfast nice. Staff extremely helpful and responsive. But the temporary manager for the Christmas time (the owner/manager went for a holiday) did not seem to understand the hotel that well, but still try to accommodate our needs. Location is ok. Costs 100 rupees for tuktuk to get to the city center for food.

Comfy bed and the room & toilet are clean, all you need for a good night rest after exploring Polonnaruwa ruins nearby. While the building facade is incomplete at the moment, I enjoyed my stay, staff were helpful and gave good tips. Had to start my journey early the next morning but the staff prepared breakfast for us to take away :)

Best place to stay to sightsee Polonnaruwa. We have arrived in the evening, stayed for two nights to have a full day to discover Polonnaruwa. We recommemend to rent bicycles arranged by guest house owners for a very reasonable price to discover all nearby places of interest. Also a home-made curry cooked by the lady of the house is a MUST! Absolutely lovely and delicious! You are far better off dining at the guest house than anywhere else. Breakfast was also great. We took non A/C room and it was perferct as fan, mosquito net and an open window were sufficient. The neighbourhood is quiet and evenings spent on the veranda in front of our room were just a bliss. These two nights were one of the best time we had in Sri Lanka during our 2-week travel around the island.