Avani Kalutara

Sri Lanka , Kalutara
SOUTH WEST COAST-KALUTARA, St. Sebastian’s Road, Katuturunda
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50 reviews shown

10/10

Exceptional

14 Apr 2026

Geoffrey

From the very beginning the staff were super friendly and accommodating. The room was clean and modern, and the bed was very comfortable. The pool area was as clean and the staff nice and friendly.

Partner

8/10

Excellent

26 Jan 2026

Mahabaduge

On the whole, value for money.
Staff excellent.
Cleanliness could improve

Leisure Friends

10/10

Exceptional

05 Nov 2024

Ruwan

Best coustomer service ever

Leisure Family

8/10

Excellent

28 Sep 2024

Indi

Beautiful setting
Modern rooms, very comfortable

8/10

Excellent

12 May 2024

Susan

We were disappointed on arrival at the hotel insects in room and broken electric socket broken and very limited choice of food. Spoke to the assistant manager who was extremely apologetic and arranged to change us to an upgraded room and for us to eat at their sister hotel next door. Staff in this restaurant were very attentive and the food quality and choice were amazing

Leisure

10/10

Exceptional

12 Feb 2024

Pauline

Avani Delight.

A very comfortable and enjoyable stay. Can’t fault anything. We were half board and there was an excellent buffet selection including freshly cooked and bbq to suit everyone’s tastes. For me I especially enjoyed the salads and non spicy dishes but the local breakfast I sampled was easy on the palate. Wish I could’ve sampled everything on offer. Loved the way the salads were presented in mini pots as well. We were given breakfast boxes on request to take away our pastries which was excellent. Enjoyed the sunset walks and there’s a shallow sheltered lagoon with soft sand underfoot and that was simply fabulous. Pool was lovely too. Room was serviced very well by Isuru who unfortunately wasn’t there when we left so hope he sees that. Very creative towel sculptures left on the beds everyday and lovely turn down. Thank you Avani! A most enjoyable stay.

Friends_and_family Friends

10/10

Exceptional

18 Mar 2020

David

The resort was very smart, and beautifully appointed. Staff were constantly cleaning, and tidying in the grounds, and the restaurant workers and poolboys very attentive.

Leisure Partner

6/10

Pleasant

11 Oct 2019

Verified traveler

Staff need to improve service levels not told about the pool being out of order, even through we could use the next hotels pool not very convenient. Only three rooms occupied on one night so lonely place to be !

Self

10/10

Exceptional

08 Jul 2019

Verified traveler

It was the best place to stay as a family.. Was clean and a quiet place. Loved it.

Friends_and_family Family_with_children

10/10

Exceptional

19 Apr 2019

Verified traveler

The actual cost to stay and have food/drink is ok, but once the various charges/fees are added, becomes expensive comparison with rest of islands stays etc

Friends_and_family Family

10/10

Exceptional

24 Mar 2019

Paul

We enjoyed our time at the resort. The pool area was great and the food was good. It was also nice to have the option to go to the adjourning Anantara resort for additional meal options and spa facilities.

2/10

Poor

20 Mar 2019

Jennifer

Our holiday was ruined as the hotel failed to tell us prior to our stay they were double booked with a corporate booking and MID STAY (10 night booking) we were told that the following day we would be moved to a different hotel. I have a young toddler under 2 this was extremely upsetting. The hotel they moved us to was complete opposite of the relaxed open plan setting being a horrible high rise that also gave us food poisoning.
The hotel knew of the double booing but failed to inform us prior to our stay. We were there as a group with family staying in Avani the neighboring hotel Anantara as we were there for a family memorial. This split up our group and ultimately ruined our whole holiday and our family groups holiday.

Friends_and_family Family_with_children

6/10

Pleasant

05 Feb 2019

Good service and good food.
But terrible location!

6/10

Pleasant

23 Dec 2018

Verified traveler

It's a nice hotel with a great location - the river on one side and the sea on the other. But Avani is primarily a family resort with lots of kids and large families as guests! Also they don't have a spa in the premises but guests can use the Anantara spa which is amazing but a little pricey. Even though we had a good time, it just felt that the hotel was a little bland, lacked a certain character..

10/10

Exceptional

23 Dec 2018

Lauren

Beautiful Resort & Room with Excellent Service

I was staying at the Avani Resort for a friend’s wedding. My friend was getting married at the Anantara Kalutara Resort next door and because rooms there were sold out, she recommended booking at the Avani. I was glad I did, because it was just a 5 minute walk to their hotel next door and everything at the Avani was impeccable. The hospitality we experienced from the moment we arrived was warm and welcoming, and the room and amenities were top-notch. The room and bathroom were very clean and spacious - we also had a view of the ocean. There’s a pool and fitness center, the beach is literally a 30 second walk from the pool, and there are a couple restaurants with many types of food options. The food at the restaurant was good, especially the breakfast which comes with many types of juices, fruits, bread, and Sri Lankan specialties. I would 100% stay here again and I would highly recommend this resort to others coming to stay in the area!

Friends

8/10

Excellent

02 Apr 2018

Verified traveler

Lovely smaller hotel with everything you need

We had a great stay here with our 2 year old. Great pool and the drinks prices were very affordable. Breakfast buffet was good too. The room service menu was a bit limited and quite expensive compared to some of the other hotels we've stayed at. The complimentary soft drinks were a nice touch and they were very kind about providing warm milk for our little one for all his feeds. There was no shower gel or body lotion, which was a bit of a pain as you expect that at hotel chains. But overall we had a great time.

4/10

Poor

11 Jan 2018

steve

Disappointing

We arrived early morning and they tried to put us in a room that was directly below building works going on with hammering noticeable, this in peak season We then finished up in a room next to the bar and also cleaning facilities which was also very loud The general quality was not what you would expect from a £280 per night resort, with lack of regular maintenance particularly noticeable Food choice was very limited and expensive Transfer cost of £81 from airport was unacceptable, we got there for £5 using bus and train

4/10

Poor

07 Jan 2018

Verified traveler

Totally disppointed

Avani was advertised as a 5 star resort. However we have found that the rooms are more like a 3 star tourist class hotel. Can’t believe that they have patches of rust on the mirror and has a rusty looking IKEA quality bin in the toilet. The rooms are also small. Room amenities are also not good. The swimming pool is tiny and when water Volleyball is played, there is no space to swim. One can only stand in the water. The service of the staff was also poor, particularly those in the restaurants and bar, They are not friendly, not helpful and sometimes almost rude. Food quality in the restaurants are also not good and expensive. Buffet spread is limited and not tasty. The cooked scrambled eggs as if it is a fried egg. Wifi is incredibly unreliable and super slow. It keeps dropping off, making it impossible to surf the net.

Family

10/10

Exceptional

06 Jan 2018

John

Good Hotel - Service First Class

Stayed 3 nights in total over New Year.
Hotel was very clean and comfortable.
Service was top rate. We left at 4:30 one morning to go on a day trip (with a third party tour guide) and the hotel packed a little breakfast pack for us to to for the journey.
Food at breakfast and lunch very good and very reasonable priced.
The New Year Hala which we attend (charge is compulsory for staying over new year) was the best New Years party I’ve every been too.
To be honest couldnt knock the hotel or Service in anyway.
Only thing to be aware of is not much to do in local area. However lots of tours available via hotel

Partner

6/10

Pleasant

24 Dec 2017

Verified traveler

View from balcony was good.

Found some things too expensive and not worth the money. For example bicycle rentals were too expensive and they weren't even in good condition.

8/10

Excellent

04 Nov 2017

jane

Good all rounder

A lovely hotel with a stunning location. Great service, and lovely food. It was a relief to return to after a long day of sight seeing.

10/10

Exceptional

18 Aug 2017

Meeta

Definitely recommended

Attentive and responsive staff. Menus could be improved. My mothers 80 birthday dinner was arranged by the staff and it was wonderful.

Family

10/10

Exceptional

07 Mar 2017

Andrew

Friendly, clean and relaxing hotel - perfect!

Could not fault our stay. Welcome and check-in was superb. Room was so clean and well looked after during our stay with some lovely peronal touches. Food was very good - both breakfast and dinner. The pool service and pool itself was perfect. Such a relaxing few days and every single member of staff was friendly, helpful and courteous. Can highly recommend this hotel for peace and relaxation. It was a tuk tuk ride from the main shopping area, but we didn't even want to leave the hotel except for a walk along the beach to the local beach restaurants and a lovely massage!

Family

8/10

Excellent

25 Jan 2017

Kamil

Perfectly snugged between a lagoon and the ocean.

The perfect place to rejuvenate your soul and body.

8/10

Excellent

14 Nov 2015

Aditya

Great hotel for relaxation

Great service! The hotel staff are very attentive and our kids enjoyed the pool. The receptionist Udeshi went out of her way to ensure that our little one was okay.
The sea was unfortunately too rough to swim in. Food variety and quality could be better/authentic at the hotel.

Family

8/10

Excellent

27 Sep 2015

David

Very good holiday hotel - exactly as stated

Very good. Staff were helpful and informative and always polite. I really can't understand some of the other reviews which seem to be picky comments about trivial issues made for the sake of whinging! The hotel was spotless and delivered exactly what was described. What more do you want? Complaints about bar prices seem out of place. The buffet (there is also a la carte) provided an excellent meal in three or more courses, was plentiful and varied. At Rs 2,600 you would, in the UK, be lucky to get 2 pints of warm beer and a bag of fish and chips!

The gardens are well maintained and patrolled unobtrusively and, if you wander from the pool to watch the fishermen in the lagoon, you should see kingfishers, chipmunk-like squirrels and the occasional snake and iguana amongst the palm trees.

Warning: the hotel-arranged taxi transfer was more than a little expensive. Cost me US$85 arriving and Rs5,000 (privately arranged local taxi) departing - almost 3-times cheaper.

Don't go in the monsoon season if you want to swim in the sea - the waves and undertow will have you in East Africa before you're missed.

10/10

Exceptional

15 Jul 2015

Verified traveler

Excellent

All I can say the staff the hotel the view was a mazing, I really felt welcome when we arrived I will for sure be back with new friends and family.

8/10

Excellent

15 Apr 2015

Sam

Good hotel near to the beach and bay

Hotel is away from the busy towns and in a very quiet natural environment not far away from Colombo. Close to the beach surrounded by coconut palms with well maintained gardens. Birds and squirrels are to be seen in the area and very soothing to the eye. Staff are very friendly and helpful. Food is excellent with lot of varieties in Sri Lankan and Western style. Definitely would like to go back there and recommend to anyone.

10/10

Exceptional

31 Jan 2015

Verified traveler

nice hotel with nive room's view

I liked this hotel ,, every thing in it is good. you can spend your day on it

8/10

Excellent

29 Dec 2014

Linda

Lovely peaceful setting

Lovely location and hotel? A few minor changes would make it easier for someone with difficulty walking. (room rug needs to be taped down so it isn't curled up an poses a tripping hazard - breakfast needs to be served downstairs or a lift put in - shower needs to have anti-slip strips installed) very friendly staff. $90 \"required\" Christmas Eve dinner +wine costs made us cut out stay there short so we would not have to attend.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

27 Dec 2014

Traveler

Great facilities

This is a wonderful place that is hiddeN away. IF you like being in a secluded place and lover massages, being lazy and meeting people from all over the world; this is it!

6/10

Pleasant

18 Aug 2014

Carl

Nice hotel, but too commercial...

Avani room was lovely including the sea view. The location of the hotel is good too - the building works mentioned in the Expedia write up didn't affect our stay in the slightest. The staff too were very helpful apart from being a bit slow to check us in and out.

The hotel is very geared towards western tourists and families in particular. If your thing is to chill out by a pool whilst the kids occupy themselves, this is the one for you. For this though, you pay a premium, not Sri Lanka prices.

Drinks and food are quite expensive. The resort is well guarded by security, but local traders are constantly trying to get business from the fencing surrounding the resort. Same is true if you venture on to the beach too.

All in all, a nice enough stay, but we generally prefer something a little quieter and more authentic.

8/10

Excellent

11 Aug 2014

Adeeb

Great except internet access

I enjoyed the hotel.

Family

6/10

Pleasant

15 Jul 2014

John Birchall

Nice location

We had a very pleasant stay at Avani. Unfortunately they have this silly custom of not selling alcohol on a night of a full moon. In our case this coincided with a Saturday evening of our two night stay. I feel this should have been communicated in advance at time of booking or a discount made to the room rate to compensate for the lack of an advertised facility.

Partner

6/10

Pleasant

26 Jun 2014

O. Lia

Nice Place

Satisfactory. Impovements in attitude, understanding and service given would be possible. Worth staying there and with the good special rate through hotels.com it was value for money.

8/10

Excellent

01 May 2014

Daniela

not as expected

Good hotel but nothing to do inside. Only beach and pool, no night activity at all.

Family

8/10

Excellent

22 Apr 2014

Sivakumar

Great location

Very relaxing and enjoyable, great location and good deal

Family

8/10

Excellent

09 Feb 2014

Ananomus

A time to relax!

This hotel forces you to unwind and just breathe. It has the effect of a retreat with everything from the bungalow layout to the friendly (if somewhat too laidback) staff that very quickly learnt your name, to the view of either sea or lagoon that surrounds the hotel from all angles (very unique). There is a wonderful elephant called 'Monika' that comes to the hotel to take the odd tourist for a ride and she also serves as a bridesmaid for the odd wedding (there are plenty of those 'al fresco' in this hotel. This hotel is the ultimate relaxation place for when you really need to be forced to do nothing (for your own welfare) and when the hardest decision you need to take in a day is what to have for lunch or which book to read (yes they even have a library with novels left behind so no need to bring your own). The only negative is; watch out for the beach-boys.....I'll leave you to find out what I mean.

8/10

Excellent

13 Jan 2014

Raimund

Nice hotel, amazing people

We had a great experience in avani hotel. People were so friendly and kind to us. We enjoyed a lot and we would definitely recommend this hotel to everybody who wants to spend time in kalutara.

Family

6/10

Pleasant

31 Dec 2013

Tokyotravellers

Nice on the surface

Service was average overall, food was average. Nice looking hotel, but below the surface it just wasnt overly impressive.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

30 Dec 2013

Abhinav Gogia

Loved it

The staff was so friendly and caring that they took care of all our needs. If we go to Kaluthara we will surely stay at this property again!!

6/10

Pleasant

27 Nov 2013

Alan C

Left felling a little dissapointed

At first glance the hotel is beautiful looking and currently has some redecorations going on. My room was not ready upon arrival, even though I had requested this prior to arriving. Then the towels in my room were not clean nor looked it (ragged looking towels and not what i was expecting!)! Black hair on the bathroom floor as well as a red substance (either paint or lipstock) on my bed sheets. Not once during my 5 day stay here was my shampoo/shower gel/conditioner replaced by any of the room staff. The food in the resteranut was delicious - both breakfast & dinner were sumptious occasions and i have to say the food was the saving grace for me!

Family

10/10

Exceptional

10 Jun 2013

Nicola

Incredible hotel!

My experience was an amazing one! The hotel was immaculate inside and out. It was so clean and the staff were all so friendly and helpful! I had an amazing luxurious experience and I would really recommend this hotel to anyone looking for a great hotel in SrI Lanka. Everything from the food, the pool, the room to the staff was excellent. It really made my whole trip! Thank you to everybody there!

4/10

Poor

19 Apr 2013

jasem

nice clean hotel with bad reception staff service

i booked a double bedroom, they checked me in a twin room (have to change the room twice. where they checked the rooms personally to see which one is a double room. tv cable channels not working in my 2 rooms (although it was working everywhere in the hotel) until the time of next day check out (10 AM), after calling the reception more than 5 times for more than 5 hours. very bad reception service and careless staff and manager (who did nothing after talking to him and was very negative and Unhelpful

8/10

Excellent

14 Apr 2013

Cat

\"You get what you pay for\"

Travel time to hotel was extremely long- 2.5 hours to travel 60 km. once we arrived we were greeted with nice cool cloth and fruit drink. One thing I didn't like was the actual check-in. Staff was unorganized and seemed to be short a few or maybe inadequate. Overall- i wouldn't return because of location. If you'd like to see Sri Lanka, don't stay in one place. Travel around for 2-3 nights per area, much easier way to see the major attractions.

6/10

Pleasant

30 Mar 2013

Verified traveler

Beach was not up to our expectation and no privacy

The resort is nice, artisticly done but lacks interesting on going activities. No privacy at the pool or beach as there there some agents who would constanly be asking you to take a trip or go with them to a nearby restaraunt. I would not recommend this place to my friends, Bentota would have been a better choice.

10/10

Exceptional

24 Mar 2013

Verified traveler

avani kalutara resort

this is a resort type hotel, i was lucky to get a great rate on expedia and stayed for 3 nights

the service is excellent, very attentive staff. my room was extremely comfortable and housekeeping did a great job cleaning each day. had free wifi which is very handy

the gardens around the hotel are really beautiful. very tropical with large frangipani trees and palm trees. the grounds are well manicured.

the pool area is great, lots of chairs to lay on and enjoy the sun.

the hotel is right next to the beach and also a estuary/small lake. i went fishing and there are a lot of other activities you can do

the food is excellent, great breakfast buffet and really nice western meals. enjoyed a real beef hamburger after 8 weeks in india which was great!

the on-site spa is very professional, i went for 2 massages and they were very relaxing.

overall a really great stay

highly recommended

6/10

Pleasant

27 Feb 2013

Verified traveler

Good stay, not got its own private beach

Great setting, staff need more training, rooms need a little more maintenance.

Very expensive for an ok stay

Very hard to get to and from

Partner

6/10

Pleasant

16 Feb 2024

Børge

4 stjerner, -vel!

Vi ankom på lørdag og følte at vi var relativt usynlig for hotellet de første par dagene med unntak av vikarierende renholdsansvarlig for vårt rom. Vi hadde vanskelig for å forstå at dette er et 4 stjerners hotel. Servicen tok seg betraktelig opp fra mandag da flere av det faste personalet kom på jobb. Området er meget vakkert med en fin strand og et flott og rolig område inn mot lagunen. Imidlertid følte vi at tilgangen til stranden var noe begrenset da vi måtte gå spissrotgang til sjøen for å bade blant svært pågående selgere som ønsket å tilby oss sine tjenester til en mye bedre pris enn hotellet. Det gjorde oss litt fanget innenfor hotellets gjerder. Maten var veldig god og servicen i restaurant og bar tok seg betraktelig opp utover uken. Hotellet bar noe preg av slitasje spesielt i området rundt bassengene hvor tredekket var full av snublekanter og planker som gav etter. Lite som bar preg av HMS fokus.
Vi benyttet oss av nabo og samarbeidshottelets SPA service. Dyrt, men meget god service og behandling. Her er det rom for å prute på pris. Vi beveget oss etterhvert rundt i området og møtte mange hyggelige lokale som bøy på seg selv og inviterte oss inn i sine hjem og liv.
Totalopplevelse er vel en god 3, men med litt mer innsats fra hotellets ledelse og tilsatte kan dette bli et godt 4 stjerners hotel.

Partner

8/10

Excellent

16 Feb 2024

Max

you were not allowed to swim in the sea, strong currents (red flag)

Leisure Partner