Sundaras Resort & Spa Dambulla

Very nice place to stay in Dambulla High CP value, highly recommend

What a wonderful place this is! Great food, perfect location and so friendly staff. We loved our stay so much and already want to come back!

I am writing a detailed review because my family of four (kids 7 & 12) absolutely loved our stay at Sundaras! We have never had a staff so authentically welcoming, friendly, and helpful. We felt like long time friends during our three night stay. HOTEL: It feels like the hotel and pool are nestled in the middle of a tropical forest… tons of lush greenery and trees everywhere! The thatched pool bar, restaurant, and dining cabanas created a cool jungle vibe. It’s a small hotel with about 30 rooms. The guests were a mix of families, couples, and a few small groups of friends. Our room with two beds was spacious for the four of us. The beds were solidly comfortable- nothing fancy but slept well. The AC worked great (believe me you will be thankful for this). Our room had a small patio with two benches and view of the pool. The pool was kept at a comfortable temperature (even for us adults). Of the five hotels we stayed at in Sri Lanka, Sundaras had the only swim-up bar… it was a real treat having cocktails while our kiddos had milkshakes next to us in the pool! There is a jacuzzi- it’s not hot but the jets feel great after a long day of touristy activities. At night, the pool is illuminated by multicolor lights and the pool bar starts playing music. LOCATION: Dambulla doesn’t have a touristy center of town (which wasn’t a big deal for us), but it’s located close to many attractions. We booked our stay at Sandaras because it was a 10-minute walk to the cave temple and golden temple. FOOD: The restaurant and pool bar offered tasty food and cocktails. Our breakfast was included in our rate, and consisted of a large platter with fresh tropical fruits, string hoppers (noodles), dhal curry, rotti, mini pancakes, toast, eggs, tea, and coffee. All our meals were great. Fyi, they had the most delicious wings’ sauce I’ve ever had! You should also try one of their cocktails with the Sri Lankan liquor, Arrack. TOURS: We booked all of our tours and transportation through the hotel, and we were highly satisfied! It was great to have drivers/tour guides that we regularly saw around the hotel. I highly recommend the safari in Minneriya National Park; we saw tons of elephants. THINGS TO KNOW but didn’t bother us: - Music at pool bar goes until 9-10pm (it wasn’t too loud in our room but might bother some light sleepers). -Electricity would randomly turn off for 30-60 seconds about four times per day. Not sure if this was something common to the area or restricted to the hotel. -The hotel is undergoing expansion on the upper levels of the building. Its visible but the lush trees do a good job of hiding it. There was no construction work going on while we were there, so I can’t comment on the noise. Overall, there was something very special about this hotel and its staff. We highly recommend it!