La Pentera

Sri Lanka , Nuwara Eliya
THANAMALVILA, Lake Road Thanamalvila 91000
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18 reviews shown

2/10

Poor

04 Jun 2025

Nicola

DO NOT STAY HERE!!

i was bitten and scratched by the dog here. It waited outside the room. Sleeps on the chair outside. It blocks the top so you can't get down the dangerous stairs. It goes for your legs/feet because it wants attention. We was badly over charged for rice for dinner. No wifi. No AC. 20 power cuts. We only had electricity for 2hours on and off out of the 12hours we was there. We couldn't wait to leave. The owner/family hardly speak english when we said how unhappy/upset we was and about the dog/stay he laughed in our faces. He hit the dog hard with a branch to get it away from us after saying no harm no harm. It really disstressed me even after it bit and scratched me because it was crying. I contacted hotels.com who have done nothing to take this place down for saftey concerns and ay least a partial refund. I will now take this further once i am home.

We stayed for 1 night in the hot tub cabin (didn't use the hot tub due to no electricity)
Everything is dirty. There are cockroaches in the shower. The stairs are not save especislly when wet i slipped twice and are missing slats in them. The hot tub is dirty anyway and the shower leaks through to it from above. The toilet also leaks. The netting around the bed has holes init honestly the list goes on. Book somewhere else.

Partner

8/10

Excellent

13 Dec 2021

Michaela

Great wildness experience near Udawalawe park

Amazing value for money, great food and super friendly staff who go over and above for you. They organise a lovely fish boat around the lake for us, too

Partner

8/10

Excellent

16 Mar 2020

KERPAL

The venue needs a bit of a repair in places other than that it was great place to stay the staff are really great and willing to assist you anyway they can and food was fine.

We would stay again as plenty of wild life all around you.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

03 Aug 2019

Dennis

La Pentera is a unique property and it is conveniently located around 30 minutes drive to the entrance of the Udawalawe National Park. Our host is very friendly and helpful, going above and beyond our expectations and making sure we have the best time in the property. The evening walk around the lake area is awesome, and the hammocks, swings and mini rock climb is nice too. We had our best Sri Lankan cuisine in this resort, the chicken curry is full of flavours and spices. Definitely recommend you to stay here and would highly suggest staying for 2 nights, and do their full day tour to the safari park, lunch and river swim. We wished we had more time to do these activities.

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

27 Aug 2018

Carolyn

Really special place

We stayed here for one night, using it as a base to visit Uda Walawe national park. Stayed in a tree house which was a memorable experience ! The staff were really helpful - very responsive via email before we arrived, helping us to organise a canoe ride and a safari which were the highlights of our holiday. From the moment we arrived, we were well-looked after, with excellent food and service throughout. Would definitely recommend La Pentera to others.

10/10

Exceptional

21 Feb 2018

Aaron

Wonderful stay

we loved staying at la Pentera. It is close to beautiful national parks. The staff is very helpful and arranged all of our activities many of which were free. The food is tasty. The tree house accommodations are beautiful and ingenious! Wish we could have stayed longer. The pictures in the listing do not do the site justice. It was magical.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

10 Feb 2018

Jane

Quirky luxury tree houses near Udawalawe National

An amazing place well managed. Stayed in one of their new quirky tree houses. Very comfortable. Food delicious. Well positioned for safaris to Udawalawe Nation Park and Elephant transit home.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

30 Oct 2017

Beverly

Superb three day stay.

Staff were superb, very friendly and keen to please. We really enjoyed our stay. The food was particularly good for vegetarians and the chef produced tasty food every meal. We enjoyed the trips out, particularly the spontaneous trip to the mango and coconut plantation. Service was always excellent with extras added, like cakes with our tea. We are looking forward to returning in the near future.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

13 Mar 2017

Verified traveler

treehouse

We had an absolutely wonderful stay.
The treehouse was amazing, the lighting at night
created a beautiful ambiance.
The staff went above and beyond to ensure we
would have a memorable experience.
Thanks for everything,
Catherine, Wayne and Tori Preney

10/10

Exceptional

12 Mar 2017

Verified traveler

A very special hotel in the jungle

We stayed at La Pentera for 2 nights in Feb as part of our Sri Lanka tour. We arrived at about 6pm and were greated by Francis the manager and his wonderful team and a welcome drink. The driveway leading up to the 4 chalet hotel is impressive as is the whole hotel concept. Francis had called us in advance and was prepared for our arrival. We had booked the tree house but were also shown the clay house which we chose instead. The room was air conditioned, clean, safe and comfortable. We had a wonderful Sri Lankan meal cooked by the chef using organic vegetables grown on the grounds of the hotel. They were the tastiest vegetables I have ever eaten. We also enjoyed a nice bottle of wine. We set off for Yala National Park at 5am in the hotel jeep with breakfast (sandwiches, fruit and drinjs) The trip was really well organised and the driver, Francis (who accompanied us) and the tracker were excellent and tracked down the elephants but the leopard was evasive. We returned to the hotel late afternoon & after a short rest, the team took us to the very peaceful lake at the back of the hotel. They offered to drive us to the road where the elephants would be crossing to drink water at night but we passed and enjoyed another great meal and after delicious breakfast the next morning and a look at the organic garden, Dimu the charming driver, drove us to Galle. This hotel in the jungle was a unique experience and the excellent team who are new are eager to please & will make it special!

10/10

Exceptional

26 Feb 2017

Monica

Peaceful location with amazing staff

We were a group of four girls staying in La Pentera for just one night, as we had a short time in Sri Lanka. Before travelling over, I had arranged with Francis, the manager, to have a driver collect us in Galle. The journey was long, maybe about 4 hours but the driver (Dimuthu) was brillinat! He stopped for toilet breaks and even bought us some sweetcorn during the journey. From the moment we arrived, we were treated exceptionally well. Francis got to know all our names in the short time we were there. The food was fresh and really tasty. Go for the parata!

I had a safari booked for the next day with a different company but cancelled it and booked one with La Pentera instead. We left at 6:00am, brought sandwiches and water with us. Francis and a guide came with us for the safari. It was great and they stopped to point out different animals and for photos to be taken. After the safari, we went to visit a lake which is a five minute walk from La Pentera. We then drove to a river nearby and had a swim. We left for Adam's Peak that afternoon and our driver, Dimuthu, drove us there. Again it was about 5 hours but we had some stops along the way. Dimuthu even climbed Adam's Peak with us at 2am (dedicated!) and drove us to Colombo that afternoon.

We had a wonderful stay at La Pentera and we were so impressed with the commitment of the staff to making our stay as enjoyable and as memorable as possible. Our only regret is that we couldn't;t have stayed longer.

10/10

Exceptional

17 Jan 2017

Abdul

We spent 4 nights in the tree house. It was great experience, the surrounding is beautiful and peaceful. The staff is really helpful and attentive. I strongly recommend taking a trip in the fishing boat at the near lake.

10/10

Exceptional

09 Jan 2017

Perfect play for nature and wildlife lovers

La Pentera offers an amazing place to get up close and personal to the nature. It is a short walk down the lake where we can take a leisure canoe ride to watch the waterbirds up close. I am blown away by the diversity of waterbirds and the various animals that come forth to the watering hole.

Even while I was enjoying breakfast in the hotel, I saw monkeys having their breakfast of fruits plucked from the plants grown on the huge rocks located in the hotel. The hotel is visited by many birds and I can heard birds singing throughout the day.

The hotel is located near Udawalawe Safari Park and it is a great place to educate the children on the various animals that co-exist with humans on this planet earth. We saw elephant herds, roaming buffaloes and peacocks amongst others.

It has been a wonderful experience.

8/10

Excellent

26 Dec 2016

Susmita

Unique Experience Stay

La Pentera is a new property which has a unique concept of a tree house. The property is quite far from the Udawalawe National Park - about 30 km or so. The directions are also unclear, even if you use googlemaps. The property is new and in great condition. However, there are things that could be better, especially the food. The bathroom has hot water though there is some water leakage. A great experience stay but could be better.

Family

8/10

Excellent

26 Feb 2018

Tessa

Try This hotel...

Very Nice place with good service and friendly staff.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

18 Oct 2017

Kim

Feels like you sleep in the jungle

Very nice place and experience to sleep up in a tree! The service was excellent and friendly stuff. They did us a big tasty takeaway breakfast 05am because we were going on early morning safari to Udawalawe. There is no windows in the room or bathroom but it was not a problem for us, it makes the athmosphere, feeling like you sleep in the jungle. There are bambu curtains insted of the windows. I recomend this for one-two nights sleepover. The bathroom is clean and shower is good like in a 3star hotel.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

23 Feb 2017

Sara

Very good experience!

Had a very good experience staying here! The most friendly staff who helped with everything and had good suggestions!
Great homemade food and overall very home-like atmosphere. Recommended to everyone who wants to try something else.

Family

10/10

Exceptional

12 Dec 2016

Verified traveler

Prachtige kamers met super personeel

La Pentera heeft ons erg verrast. Wij waren de aller eerste gasten welke mochten verblijven in het gloed nieuwe hotel. Bij aankomst werden wij ontvangen met een kokosnoot met een rietje en een brede glimlach. Wij hadden de boomhut gekozen als verblijfplaats. Deze is echt prachtig.

Als verwelkoming kregen wij een rondvaart in een traditionele kano over het naastgelegen meer. Op en rond het meer hebben wij de meest uitzonderlijke vogels gespot en zelf apen gezien. Ook zagen wij de locale bevolking vissen op hun eigen wijze.

Daarnaast was het eten erg lekker. Het was eten zoals de Sri Lankanen zelf deden.

Denk er wel aan om anti muggen/insecten spray mee te nemen. Je zit namelijk midden in de jungle.

Samen met het personeel hebben wij ook mogen genieten van een safari in het Udawalawe park. Vogels, krokodillen en olifanten en nog veel meer!! Prachtig!