Name: Amaya Lake Dambulla
Address: Kap Ela, Kandalama, Dambulla PO BOX 12, Dambulla, 21100, LK

10/10

Exceptional

20 Jul 2026

Rajneel

Great location for many activities such as Sigiriya rock, elephant viewing and safaris. The property was immaculate and staff were very helpful.

Friends

10/10

Exceptional

03 Jun 2026

Jonathan

A beautiful resort situated on lake Dumbulla. Very peaceful and quiet with wildlife all around. The swimming pools were exceptional, clean and perfect temperature for the heat and humidity - we could stay in there all day!

All the staff are super helpful, friendly and go above and beyond in anything that was asked.

Being close to the Rock Fortress was great to be able to get there early before sunrise. Highly recommend staying here.

Family_with_children

10/10

Exceptional

01 Apr 2026

Katherine

Serene

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

05 Feb 2026

Judith

Lovely calm resort. Felt like a retreat. Loved the location. Set in the jungle. Dinner was lovely.

Partner

6/10

Pleasant

18 Jan 2026

Natalie

Expected more given the price. Amenities in the room weren’t great. Wouldn’t recommend to stay here, nicer places in the area. Not horrible, but not great.

Family

10/10

Exceptional

30 Dec 2025

Angela Ilenia

The resort is beautiful, the surrounding lake makes the perfect spot for a morning stroll. The staff was very attentive, the room spacious. We had both a la carts and buffet menu, both were delicious. Convenient location to visit the Lion Rock.

8/10

Excellent

29 Dec 2025

Stephen

good food, good staff

4/10

Poor

21 Dec 2025

Janaka

This property needs a serious renovation and repairs. The Amaya group is milking the property as much as possible without the considerations to customers.

Leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

08 Dec 2025

nadine

We stayed in a Signature Premium Suite and can't fault the room at all. It was in good shape, spotlessly clean and very spacious. Staff were incredibly friendly and the golf buggy shuttle provided by the hotel was very helpful, especially when it was raining. The food at the bar was lovely, as were the drinks. Both the pools were really big and the hotel is in a beautiful location. Only downside for us was the buffet for dinner which is why we decided to eat at the bar the second night. Would highly recommend this hotel!

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

26 Jul 2025

Anuruthan

Loved the lake and surrounding area. It was so serene. Breakfast was included and was amazing. It was cozy detached cabana type of room. Friendly staff.

Leisure Family

2/10

Poor

09 Jul 2025

Ayman

Room too much dirty
Water come from ac
Phone broken

Business_and_leisure Family

6/10

Pleasant

06 May 2025

Ravinder

The location of the property is excellent but the housekeeping services are below average. The restaurant staff was excellent- Mr. Jayararatne and waiter Mr. Imalsha are extremely good and made every meal a pleasant experience

Leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

10 Apr 2025

Christina

We loved staying at this hotel and found the setting and scenery very beautiful. the hotel consists of little bungalows inside the forest, right next to the lake. I would like to see more information about the hotel services to be more readily available in the rooms and public areas (ie spa & other facilities). the pool should be renovated and enlarged. Also the hotel should provide some paddle boats and kayaks for rent so that people can enjoy the beautiful lake.

Friends_and_family Family

6/10

Pleasant

21 Aug 2024

Verified traveler

A very average stay. I’m not sure I would recommend this. The staff are lovely but the rooms are very dated. I don’t think it’s worth the price when there’s many other amazing properties in the area.

Partner

8/10

Excellent

08 Aug 2024

Chandrangani

Like the place very much. Excellent staff and excellent food

Leisure

10/10

Exceptional

03 Aug 2024

Verified traveler

Great!

Super friendly stuff, very nice place. Highly recommanded

Friends_and_family Family

10/10

Exceptional

09 Jul 2024

Thomas

Great massage and dinner.

10/10

Exceptional

20 Apr 2024

Sangeetha

Excellent customwr service all round from everyone

We had an absolute great time, i must say the level of customer service was excellent and 5 star, ranging from oir porters, to front desk to the ladies and gents who served us and worked in the restaurant!! Well done!! We shall be back again, beautiful relaxing location as well!!

Friends_and_family Family

6/10

Pleasant

18 Dec 2023

Ravitha

Property has only one restaurant. It get crowded quickly. Had wait long for a table, food etc especially hopper stand. Management shd fix this bottleneck

Leisure Family

6/10

Pleasant

04 Aug 2023

chiraj

Property needs better upkeeping. Stayed here after a few years and noticed it has gone down in quality. Pest control wasn’t done, rooms were not very clean, the toilet water kept on running unless you try to flush several times till it stops, tv remote wasn’t working. Staff was helpful but felt they were limited by the resources. Management has to do a better job!

Leisure Family_with_children

10/10

Exceptional

28 Jul 2023

Jennifer

Beautiful resort and friendly staff.

Leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

25 Jun 2023

Bimal

Amazing place. Very friendly staff. Great Food. Will go there again.

Friends_and_family Family

10/10

Exceptional

27 Oct 2022

Olegs

Amazing Hotel

The hotel is really amazing. Perfect place for the family stay. Huge beds, calm area, tree house, swings, and much much more what people with kids will enjoy.
When buffet breakfast or dinner offered, it has a big variety of different cousin - European, SriLankan, Indian, etc.
Staff was amazing, polite and friendly. Starting from cleaners, and ending with receptionist. Special thanks to staff who served breakfast and dinner. They are amazing.
Three nights in this hotel wasn't enough for us. Definitely will return and stay in this hotel again.

Friends_and_family Family

8/10

Excellent

19 Jul 2022

Mareena

Staff was very friendly . Food was very good .

Leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

02 Jan 2022

Mrs H M S

Amazing relaxing stay

Friends_and_family Family

8/10

Excellent

17 Dec 2021

Gerard

Great but remote

Hotel was lovely and the staff were very friendly and attentive. But, the hotel really feels like it's in the middle of nowhere. You can't easily get into town. If you want a get away from it all time then I would happily recommend. Otherwise, be aware that you are limited to the resort itself.

Partner

8/10

Excellent

04 Apr 2021

Verified traveler

It was very peaceful. Good value for money. Staff very friendly and helpful. Fantastic Breakfast.

Leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

17 Feb 2020

esther

Wonderful stay.

Wonderful stay. Spent 3 days here. Good location between Sigiriya and the cave temple in Dambula. Arranged tuk tuk for us. Pool was great, large with a deep end. Food was varied and very good. Would definitely stay here again.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

07 Jan 2020

Verified traveler

The hotel is located in very quiet location and surrounded by a nice lake and greenery. Well maintained garden. Excellent place for relaxation. Close to Sigiriya rock and many more.

Leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

03 Feb 2019

Verified traveler

Good ..and help staff..beautiful place.i wanna come again

Self

10/10

Exceptional

20 Dec 2018

Constan

Extremely nice comfortable stay. Hotel is located in middle of fully nature covered park. Amazing feeling, which make you forget the stress.

Family

10/10

Exceptional

09 Dec 2018

Verified traveler

Very peaceful. Near to nature. Well maintained. Very cheerful staff. Good food.

Business Self

10/10

Exceptional

20 Sep 2018

subhabrata

An excellent experience

There are many positives
Excellent lay out
Mind blowing walking places ...simply wow . .just continue walking among the trees !!!
Superb food choices
Electric buggy ride to room and back ...as many times
Fantastic hotel staff ....with our extensive travel in many places in world we wpuld treat this as probably the best

10/10

Exceptional

21 Aug 2018

Colin

Family stay with two young children

We stayed in the Superior Room which has a private pool. The whole stay was wonderful. The staff were very attentive and there are golf buggies to ferry you around. The a la cadre was much better than the buffet but the food was still generally good. The swimming pools are excellent.

Family

8/10

Excellent

10 Jul 2018

Ruwan

Everything good except cleanliness

Excellent service, food was good. however the cleanliness in the bathrooms are far from it. Simple things as soap scum in the shower is very visible and bit of an odor in the bathroom.

Family

10/10

Exceptional

07 Jul 2018

Soo

Great hotel for a calm peaceful holiday

Great location right on the Kandalama lake. Very easy to find and get to. Was blown away by the peace and quiet of the place. I would definitely visit again. Staff was so nice even the ground staff who were sweeping and cleaning. The room is actually a stand alone building with lots of privacy and really comfortable. Got hot water and Air con which is nice for a hotel so far away from Colombo.

10/10

Exceptional

27 Jan 2018

Lorinda

Fantastic hotel

Fantastic hotel to stay. Staff are amazing, nothing is too much trouble!

Family

8/10

Excellent

14 Jan 2018

anne

Picturesque hotel on the lake.

This is a really nice hotel. The bungalows are set in lovely grounds overlooking the lake. The bar and dining area has the same view. the rooms were very comfortable and you didn’t have to leave your key in to Jeep the power on. Always a pain if you want to charge devices. Only downside is that because you are out of town you are captive to est at the hotel and the food and drink can Be a bit pricey. Overall though, a great place to stay.

8/10

Excellent

04 Jun 2017

Amaya amazing place to stay

would stay again

we three ladies enjoyed the walk around lake and staff where pleasant and will to answer questions with a smile

10/10

Exceptional

02 Apr 2017

Judith

Tropical Calm

A wonderful tranquil setting to retreat to after visiting the many local attractions. It is both a hotel that serves as a base from which local tours can be taken, or a respite from touring to relax by the pool for days at a time. You can enjoy the peace of your room, the many spa treatments or the yoga classes on offer.

Family

8/10

Excellent

21 Dec 2016

Verified traveler

Pleasant stay. Warning: If you take the little complimentary shampoo (glass) bottles they will chase you down.

8/10

Excellent

14 Dec 2016

palinda

Living under trees

Cool place with trees everywhere over you. Lake shore is a nice place to spend the morning and evenings. Enough things to do within the premises for two days. Had a cool breeze throughout the day even when outside the premises it was hot in the noon.

Family

2/10

Poor

01 Aug 2016

Paheer

Rip off merchants.

We paid the full amount and booked two rooms. The total amount $524 was taken from my credit card by Expedia. We stayed at the resort on 3rd Jan 206 and checked out the following day. The Hotel charged our credit card $674 as the room charges, without telling us.
Following day when we realised of this fraud we contacted Amaya.
They agreed to refund the money.
We kept contactig the hotel and kept reminding about the refund. They kept saying yes. Now it is nearly seven months and the Hotel has not refunded the money.

10/10

Exceptional

13 May 2016

ZAKIR

SL hills lakes

Amazing property with beautiful views

Family

10/10

Exceptional

22 Apr 2016

Gregory

Tranquility at Amaya Lake

The Amaya Lake resort was simply wonderful! Built on the Kandalama reservoir, the tranquil resort offers beautiful views of the lake which has a great variety of bird life! The resort offers 2 swimming pools and restaurants, be sure to try them both. The resort is well out of town, so you will have to have or arrange your transport. The resort is close enough to enjoy both Sigiriya and Dambulla.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

07 Apr 2016

Honeymoon in SL

A jewel in Dambulla

Beautiful and tranquil location on a quiet lake. Stayed in a wonderful cabin surrounded by nature. A charming Eco tourism hotel. Fantastic pool, delicious food. The friendly local staff takes great pride in offering guests an outstanding retreat.

10/10

Exceptional

26 Feb 2016

Carola S.

Swimming under the full moon

This hotel was really magic! We swam under the full moon at night in the hot huge pool of the hotel. It was very comfortable place with golf carts taking us to and back from our bungalow in the huge garden by the lake. This hotel is very romantic!
The a la carte restaurant is very beautiful and stylish and the fish cooked inside a banana leaf is siply delicious.
At 5 minutes drive there are the famous Buddha Caves to visit which are a historical place, with frescos and old sculptures of different Buddhas dating from the year 1000 AD.
This was pur best treat in Sri Lanka I would say, really not to be missed!

Family

10/10

Exceptional

26 Feb 2016

Carola S.

Swimming under the full moon

This hotel was really magic! We swam under the full moon at night in the hot huge pool of the hotel. It was very comfortable place with golf carts taking us to and back from our bungalow in the huge garden by the lake. This hotel is very romantic!
The a la carte restaurant is very beautiful and stylish and the fish cooked inside a banana leaf is siply delicious.
At 5 minutes drive there are the famous Buddha Caves to visit which are a historical place, with frescos and old sculptures of different Buddhas dating from the year 1000 AD.
This was pur best treat in Sri Lanka I would say, really not to be missed!

Family

8/10

Excellent

06 Jan 2016

DG

Individual chalets close to Kandalama Lake

Overall, a pleasant stay. Enjoyed the location, food and pool. Hotel rooms comfortable and clean. Breakfast buffet has a wide selection and good quality. Food and service at Signature restaurant excellent at lunch, but they are unable to cope with the numbers at dinner time.

Used the hotel as base to visit Sigiriya rock fortress and Polonnaruwa ruined city which is 2 hours away - driving by the Minneriya forest reserve and through wild elephant country. A wild elephant crossed the road just in front of our vehicle. Exciting!

Family

10/10

Exceptional

15 Oct 2015

Verified traveler

Great hotel

Great relaxing time reading, photographing nature and spa.

10/10

Exceptional

15 Sep 2015

Mahesh

Suppurb

Truly we had a wonderful time there

Family

8/10

Excellent

22 Aug 2015

wendy

Expensive but luxurious

Drumming on arrival not pleasant when hot and had headache,staff were welcoming but one was hassling us to hurry. Room was lovely, pool also, food excellent - all this luxury costs a lot as expected. Driver well looked after.

8/10

Excellent

12 Jun 2015

Pamudi

An ideal spot to getaway...

I booked this hotel to get away from the city and enjoy some peace and tranquility. I got what I looked for. My stay was during weekday nights so it was not crowded at all. The vast garden was beautiful and full of bird songs.we had the pool all to ourselves. The lake was so beautiful. However the variety of food options were rather limited and repetitive, unless you go for the buffet which is about USD 25 / person. We usually prefer a light meal, so spending that much for a buffet was meaningless. So we chose from the room service menu which had a rather limited choice. As for the room, everything was spotlessly clean and the beddings were comfortable. The best thing is that all the rooms are individual chalets and if you happened to have noisy neighbors, u r unlikely to be disturbed.

Family

6/10

Pleasant

19 Apr 2015

Verified traveler

Bad experience at checkout ! Reception staff must improve.

4/10

Poor

10 Mar 2015

Marcelo

Never again !

If you like to have gecko in your room
it's a perfect place to stay

I understand that there is forest outise rooms should be preserved for such inconvenience.

1 night and 5 geckos were enough to hate that experience !!

8/10

Excellent

24 Dec 2014

Coveri

Nice hotel but uncomfortable service

The hotel is nice and big. The room is very good except the shower room leaking water. The room is far away from the lobby. So in the wet season it will take almost an hour to get a vehicle to take you to the lobby. Really annoyed. Meanwhile the internet is really bad.

8/10

Excellent

26 Oct 2014

Shir

Very nice resort

Very nice staff, spacious and clean rooms, very quiet and peaceful surrounding. No internet in the rooms and overall the internet quality was not good at all. many small insects at the dinning area.

8/10

Excellent

15 Sep 2014

Verified traveler

A good hotel - closer to the environment

Good friendly staff. Very relaxed, pleasing environment. Room facilities are bit old. Food served in an open area and you can see many flies hanging around - but the food is really good.

6/10

Pleasant

08 Sep 2014

Ankit Shrivastava

Okay Experience - Overall

It's a beautiful property. However, I was not particularly pleased with service. They were little slack and laid back in their approach.

8/10

Excellent

21 Aug 2014

Jerry

The hotel has a resort look. All bungalows are located along the lake. Good money for a short stay. The rooms are a bit old. We actually have some unpleasant smells inside the toilet. Hotel could have used some air spray or diffuser.

10/10

Exceptional

03 Aug 2014

Matt

Amaya-zing

We stayed here for 3 nights and although quite away out from Dambulla this did not give us a worry as the facilities, pool and meals were all you could ask for. We had some issues with our TV and the air-conditioning which were rectified immediately.

Partner

8/10

Excellent

11 May 2014

ADG

Enjoyable stay

It was really good and the people around were very nice and helpful.

8/10

Excellent

06 Mar 2014

Fenugreek

Very pleasant place but not near any town

A very comfortable hotel in excellent grounds. Great pool and helpful staff.

6/10

Pleasant

02 Feb 2014

Verified traveler

Great setting, lousy staff

Stayed here for two nights. Good is the location by the lake ( but remote from anything else) , rooms are decent with big bathrooms and hot water. But the service was poor. At dinner, they did everything they could to steer me to the buffet (ala carte will take very long, buffet better). When I got my order, it was terrible and when I mentioned I could not eat it because the meat was so tough, the response was \" we will tell the cook\". White wine was served warm. Worst was when the air conditioning in my room quit working. I asked twice at reception to fix it. Both times told they would send someone down. No one ever came. When I mentioned it in the morning at reception, they said nothing.
Hotel is probably fine if everything is working and you are with a tour group willing to follow the herd, but if expecting anything like good service, decent food or attention to problems stay somewhere else.

8/10

Excellent

06 Jan 2014

XUE

Great view

nice experience, even the view is better than Heritance hotel

8/10

Excellent

05 Jan 2014

Matt

A good stay

Amaya lake was set in stunning grounds. Lakeside area is beautiful. The only downside to this hotel is, with such vast grounds, this hotel is crying out for a lakeside fine dining restaurant as an option other than the house restaurant. Hotel is totally missing a trick not offering this.

Food was average. Not much choice on the al la carte and insects and bees all over the sweeter buffet items which wasn't great. And then as with every 3-4 star buffet you have the random disgusting individuals eating as they go from dish to dish cranking their plates full of food. Call me a prude but this disgusts me.

6/10

Pleasant

19 Dec 2013

de lieme

A beautiful place but completely overprice!

Amaya lake is a beautiful place, rooms are good, surrounding amazing as well as the swimming pool. BUT the food is really bad, and all prices (food, drinks, massages etc) are over prices, more expensive than Paris! A bad buffet dinner will cost you 25€ per person, insane in Sri lanka! The ayuverdic massage are bad (the doctor in ayuverdism on their menu is maybe there 1 per month, the rest is poor kid from the village ...) We left one day earlier with no regrets!

10/10

Exceptional

22 Sep 2013

Wataru

Wonderful stay feeling real Sri Lanka nature

It was wonderful time to stay here. In the morning time, we can see the excellent sun rise when we were walking around the natural garden in front of the hotel. There we can see a number of sort of native animals & birds were hopping & skipping to find the new day. As for the room, restaurant, pool and massage facility everything was more than we expected.

10/10

Exceptional

20 Aug 2013

Isuru K

Great location and getway

It was an awesome stay that one could never forget

Partner

8/10

Excellent

20 Jul 2013

Verified traveler

Lakeside paradise

Travelling around Sri Lanka with two children and this resort was a very good stop-over. The pool was perfect for both Young and old. The resort was in general very clean and the staff was friendly!

Family

10/10

Exceptional

17 Jun 2013

Dorothy and Ian

Amaya Lake - a special place

The hotel was in a wonderful setting and having the trees named was a great help to travellers who have an interest in this. The gardens were lovely and it was great to see so many different birds. We especially liked our little lizard who lived just outside our chalet. The pool was one of the best we have seen on our extensive travelling. We loved the welcome floral decoration and the floral goodnight on our bed. We wish we could have stayed longer.

8/10

Excellent

16 Jun 2013

Ali

Perfect location and beautiful lake

Overall Everything was very good about this place. It is in a Beautiful location, has good staff, nice swimming pool and restaurant. There was a very nice welcoming decoration with flowers.
The only downside was the bathroom tiles which were not clean.

10/10

Exceptional

22 Mar 2013

Johanna

Nice retreat quite close to Sigiriya rock

We stayed at Amaya Lake for our first night in Sri Lanka as we wanted to see Sigiriya rock. The hotel was very nice at a quiet and beautiful location. The pool was very nice also. Food was excellent. The first room we were offered had a bit of a damp smell and we asked to change. Second room had a bit of a dampness to it also but better than the first one. Sheets were nice and clean and over all the room was very nice. Service at Amaya Lake was very good and helpful. Rooms maybe in a need of little refurbishing. This location was an ok value for money.

10/10

Exceptional

19 Feb 2013

Sara

Facilities: Nice ; Value: Average price;
Enjoyed our stay at Amaya Lake.

Family

6/10

Pleasant

03 Feb 2013

E Humphrys

Good but not quite good enough

The Amaya Lake on the face of it looks like a luxury hotel, the reception area and grounds are beautiful with a lovely view over the lake, but it just doesn't quite manage the luxury status on other aspects. The rooms are individual chalets, which again on the face of it are great, but the beds are hard, the towels are looking very worn and the bathroom is basic. The main disappointment was the food and the restaurant staff. The food was awful (and overpriced) and the restaurant staff unfriendly and unhelpful, a completely different experience to the other 5 hotels that we stayed in during our Sri Lanka trip. The hotel is about 10km from Dambulla, great for seclusion but not great when you need to go elsewhere for decent food (unless you have a car and driver which we luckily did)! Overall, I wouldn't recommend this hotel. The Heritance Kandalama would be a better choice. We went there for dinner one evening and it was lovely. Alternatively, look around the Sigiriya area.

Family