Choosing Sri Lanka for our joint birthday holiday, my 21 year old daughter and I ended our first week of touring with a second week to relax in Bentota. As two female travellers, personal safety was important to us and this small, family-run Riverside Inn seemed to fit the bill. We arrived to a clean, cool and spacious room with two big beds, floor to ceiling windows, lots of lighting, storage space, a fridge, ceiling fans, air-con and a private balcony with an impressive view across the river and overlooking the immaculate garden, which the family are up early tending to every morning. The hosts are a very welcoming couple who invited us to dine with them and offer any advice or services, including Tuk-Tuks, airport transfers and even medical assistance, at preferential local rates. Fresh, generous breakfast served surrounded by wild, flowering trees, tropical birds, mongoose, squirrels and a friendly cat. The gate is locked at night so the property is very secure and the family live in the other half of the building and will greet you as you go out and when returning, great for female travellers, like a home from home. At night, we watched the fireflies from the balcony during dramatic thunder and lightening storms always followed by hot, sunny days. The inn is also child-friendly and after a few days on the daily walk to Bentota, families from neighbouring houses and shopkeepers waved at us as we passed in this friendly neighbourhood. When our flight was cancelled due to airport strikes, our hosts were very accommodating in letting us stay an extra five days for a great rate, saving us the time and trouble of moving elsewhere. If you want a tranquil place and space to chill out, a safe haven and to be looked out for in Bentota by a friendly and helpful family, whilst also staying a 10 minute walk from the waves at Bentota beach, you couldn’t do better than to stay here. It's no surprise that many guests return here again and again :)

Not a dislike, and the owners have good English, but one tip we found during our stay was using google translate to Sinhala made for smoother communication with our accents.

The property was well maintained, the territory is clean. Very! quite location near the river Bentota. 15 min walk from the beach. But you can ask to call for tuc-tuc or cath it near the house. Beach is very long with fine sand and not big waves (in February). Ou can take two sunbeds under umbrella for 1000 rp. per day. There are sunny spaces ans shadow spaces in the inner yard of the house. So you can stay on sunbeds there if you don’t want to go on the beach. We stayed on the ground floor in a left side of the building with a glass door to the garden, it looks like a fairy tale) It was quite, we never heard the neighbors. We never experienced any mosquitoes in February. The room had a king bed and two twinbeds put together, and still there was enough space for three people to rest in the room. Fridge in the room. Big bottle of water every day and whenever you may need it. Several euro power sockets. A very powerful air conditioner and two fans on the ceiling. On the third night it was ok to sleep only with fans on as you get used to heat on the island. Room cleaned every day, very tactfully, new towels every day, which was wonderful, as they never get dry during the day due to humidity on the island. Well made bathroom with a window to the garden. The owner takes care of his plants himself, so the area is very green. His spouse is a very pleasant woman, as well as himself, they gave us some very useful advice regarding our further travel plans. Breakfast was very good, omelette, toasts with butter and jam, fruit smoothie and a fruit plate, coffee. Yes, it is the same every day, but you will not be hungry after it for sure and keep in mind that it isn‘t a big hotel with a lot of staff, but the owner’s family makes and serves breakfast (7$ per person) themselves, which is very cosy and personal. We are grateful for the attitude to us and definitely would stay again while visiting Bentota. My warm regards to Kumar and his kind family!)

The entire premise is super spotless and super clean. The host and the family were super nice and helped us with everything they could. We felt more than welcome. The host explained us every fruit in his beautiful garden. All in all the garden is a perfect place to calm down with a great view. The breakfast and the one dinner we had was very tasty and was always presented with huge attention to detail in the beautiful garden. It almost felt like fine dining. The rooms are spacious, clean and the beds are comfortable. A/C worked fine and the water was warm.

At times the wifi was a little slow and leaves some room for improvement.

What a beautiful, quiet and peaceful location but what made it special was the hosts who were just the most amazing people. Nothing was too much trouble, they even went out of their way to get medical advice and medication for my daughter who had taken ill during our stay. We had the pleasure of enjoying a beautiful seafood curry cooked by Mrs Kumara..missed out on a cooking lesson but I will return to take advantage of that one!

Nothing - it was the perfect end to our travels through Sri Lanka!

- we requested Sri Lankan food for breakfast and were treated to a huge variety of skilfully prepared dishes! - unobtrusive host

- A bit out if the way

We enjoyed our stay in this lovely hotel with huge and comfortable rooms overlooking nice river.

There was detergent smell in the room which was overwhelming at times, far away from the beach which made it uncomfortable to walk at dark and pricey laundry were main disadvantages but overall stay was more than satisfying with super friendly hosts. Would definitely consider staying there again.

Most Peaceful place in Bentota area. Great breakfast cooked by the owner and his family. A small Paradise.

Lovely guest house with very comfortable beds and a beautiful and peaceful garden. The owner is very attentive and really makes an effort so that your stay is special.

Excellent Location Good for laid back, leisure long vacation types

Little hard to find, even by the locals

Very nice and clean hotel at quiet river side. Beautiful view, tasty breakfast and dinner