Beautiful hotel in beautiful surroundings... You feel fully immersed in the jungle which is an amazing experience. The staff is amazing - lots of smiles and a really great service. Having said all of this, I don't think the hotel is a true 5 star hotel by western standards. The hotel is getting a little old and in some places it just feels a little run down, example the sun beds by the pool could do with an upgrade, certain equipment at the gym as well. Overall a great hotel, great service, amazing location - it just needs some attention and probably renovation to help bring it back to its former glory.

Stayed in April 2025

Heritance Kandalama is a spectacular hotel. Food / services / room / maintenance are all awesome. Highly recommended

Stayed in April 2025

We chose to stay at Heritance Kandalama for the experience of staying at a unique hotel. Our expectations were exceeded and we highly recommend staying a night or two as part of your Sri Lanka experience.

Stayed in April 2025

A grand hotel in a terrific location from which to explore the surrounding sights and experiences.

Stayed in April 2025

We had a wonderful hotel stay. We enjoyed the hotel's atmosphere and cuisine. The hotel staff is very welcoming, and Apsara in particular was quite helpful to us during our stay and taught us about the property's history. This hotel is worth a visit, and we suggest it to everyone.

Stayed in April 2025

The hotel is amazing, nature take over the place in an incredible way. A bit overate on how it’s manta in the place (common spaces and the services that provide)

Stayed in March 2025

Everything is good.

I like the ambience and the hospitality,specially the food.

Stayed in April 2025

Our stay at Heritance Kandalama was truly unforgettable! From the moment we arrived, every detail was perfect, and the level of service exceeded our expectations. The staff were incredibly attentive and made sure that all our needs were met. A special thank you to the duty manager, Shantha, whose kindness and exceptional hospitality made our experience even more memorable. His dedication to ensuring we had a wonderful stay was truly appreciated. The hotel itself is stunning, offering breathtaking views and a peaceful atmosphere that made for a perfect retreat. We highly recommend Heritance Kandalama—it's a gem not to be missed!

Stayed in April 2025

Amazing hotel design by famous architect geoffrey bawa. Great jungle experience.

Stayed in March 2025

The room condition is a bit old.The refrigerator is on the verge of death

To be honest, it is hard to say that the room condition or service quality is equal or better than 5-star hotels. So if you expect perfection as a hotel, you may be slightly disappointed. The room condition is a bit old. However, the experience of staying here cannot be evaluated simply by the quality of the accommodation. It is the best. Here, you can feel the philosophy of Bawa that you should be immersed in nature. If you understand Bawa, such as the depth of experience, the meaning of space, and nature and architecture, Heritance Kandalama is a place that has more value than that. The best hotel

Stayed in March 2025

Beautiful location & stunning views.

Stayed in February 2025

I’m wordless and speechless. This is once in a lifetime experience of the jungle. You must feel it. This is truly Bawa’s masterpiece. I’ve never experienced such interaction between nature and concrete like there. Make a plan for this trip now!

Stayed in March 2025

Hotel is a tropical modernist masterpiece but the dated rooms and mass tourism feeling lets it down.

Stayed in March 2025

Architecture buff all know why

Love to be back. Finally managed to upgrade to a suite for the panoramic view

Stayed in March 2025

Nothing.

Beautiful setting. Being able to watch birds and monkeys from hotel room and throughout the hotel. Enjoyed the Bawa tour. Village foods at the buffet were great.

Stayed in March 2025

Beautiful tranquil location and friendly staff

Stayed in March 2025

Extraordinary location in the jungle :)

Stayed in March 2025

It's quite a large and busy hotel, so it feels a bit less authentic and personal compared to other places we have visited. We chose to have dinner at the restaurant, and unfortunately, it wasn’t very good. Too bad, because the breakfast buffet the next morning was absolutely amazing, so we should have had dinner there instead.

By far the most beautiful and unique building we have ever seen. We spent almost the entire day walking around and exploring the hotel, so it felt more like an experience or a day trip rather than just an overnight stay. The various pools and the spa are also excellent. We would definitely recommend staying here for a truly special experience!

Stayed in February 2025

Though the place is stunning it’s still quite expensive (we paid nearly 500$/night w/o breakfast) for the whole experience.

The hotel is stunning in the middle of the jungle - something to experience once! Though the hotel is quite big (150 rooms) it’s well conceived and you don’t feel like being in a huge resort. The pools are very nice and the rooms are beautiful - with monkeys on your doorstep and bathing overlooking the lush vegetation. The upper a la carte restaurant was good.

Stayed in February 2025

Limited number of sunbeds around the pools

Architecture, location, experiences offered

Stayed in February 2025

Sound outside the room corridor….late night.

Everything

Stayed in January 2025

Expensive.

The hotel is little old but is located in a very unique place with beautiful surroundings. The food were excellent.

Stayed in January 2025

Quite a bit as mentioned in my comments.

We visited Kandalama about 15 years ago when it was more of a business hotel. Now it seems to cater for mass coach groups, primarily Chinese groups who seem to be coming for one day stays. I was surprised to hear a Sri Lankan singing songs in Chinese to welcome a group! As previous comments, the buffet was like "feeding time at the zoo" with badly behaved people pushing in as if they have never seen food before! The staff seemed overwhelmed. The rooms are a little dated and electrical sockets for charging anything are non-existent and you have to unplug something like a lamp to use the socket, which is inconvenient. The views are spectacular and our lake trip was amazing with a sighting of an elephant. The staff at reception and the naturalist were really poor. We asked several times about the various activities on offer, but all the staff told us that the naturalist deals with the activities and that he was on holiday and will be back tomorrow. We were told this everyday of our for day stay and no staff member had a clue bput the activities other than the costs,which is really poor. The assistant naturalist was terrible and it looked as if they had a stuck a safari hat on someone's head and said he was the assistant naturalist! His English was poor and the boatman who were rowing were telling him which species of bird and where the birds were. It was independence day when we visited and they put Sri Lankanflags on all the breakfast tables and that's it. No explanation, no celebration no nothing! All rather lack lustre!

Stayed in February 2025

Even with Genius discount it is an expensive stay, they also charge you European prices for foot and drinks. Some experiences like special dining were not affordable 400-600 USD per couple.

Unique and peaceful experience in a hotel designed by Geoffrey Bawa. They also organize lots of different tours to see some wildlife. Amazing buffet dinner with many choices.

Stayed in February 2025