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  • Sri Lanka Holidays
  • Ahungalla
  • Hotel Riu Sri Lanka

Hotel Riu Sri Lanka

TripAdvisor Review
Sri Lanka, Indian Ocean
Ahungalla

Hotel Riu Sri Lanka is located right on the shore of Ahungalla beach in south-west Sri Lanka. It is an ideal option for an exotic vacation where you can enjoy the incredible beaches of the Indian Ocean and visit the wonders of this unique country while taking advantage of all of the hotel's amenities and services.

Enjoy an exceptional stay together with your significant other, family or friends. You can relax at the hotel's spa & wellness center, thanks to the beauty treatments and massages (paid) available or at any of the hotel's three fresh water pools, the children's pool, the terrace-solarium or at the gym. If you prefer activity over rest, take advantage of our great adult entertaining program and RiuLand for kids, both includes various sports and other leisure plans, as well as Riu-Art activities.

Facilities

  • Beach volleyball
  • Fitness
  • Aqua fit
  • Spa centre*
  • Beauty salon*
  • Spa treatments*
  • Massage*
  • Entertainment programme for children
  • Entertainment programme for adults
  • Kids’ club
  • Please note some facilities may incur an additional fee

The Local Area

Tripadvisor Reviews

Trip Advisor
4.5 Excellent4,237 reviews
Excellent
72%
Very Good
18%
Average
5%
Poor
2%
Terrible
3%
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Value
TripAdvisor Review
50th birthday celebration

Riu hotel sri lanka you have certainly me proud today. Started with a beautiful reserved table for breakfast and lunch with excellent service from the restaurant crew and a happy birthday sing song and a cake. Followed by a happy Birthday from pretty much every member of staff from the entertainment to pool & bar crews. Then we returned to our room to be greated with a spectacular display from the wonderful house keeping guys prabash & dinusha who have looked after our room all week the things they can do with towels is phenomenal and a bottle of bubbles To top it all off. This hotel has exceeded every expectation and more well done to the whole team. Can not recommend enough would return next week.👍🥂

TripAdvisor Review
Good and not so good

We are currently staying at the hotel and have come to the end of our holiday. We had a nice time and like others have said there are some cons as well as pros. The hotel itself is lovely with friendly staff. Food is very good with a buffet as well as a tai, Italian and steak house. We can’t really fault the quantity and quality of the food with something for most people. As others have mentioned at weekends the hotel completely changes with many and I mean many locals with families arriving. This means the buffet is not just busy but packed. It’s a shame as although read about this prior to coming it really got too much at times. Tonight we ordered drinks. The barman said would bring them over. We waited for ages with no drinks. I went to find out when they would arrive to be laughed at. This is not accepted irrespective of of how many guests there are.evening entertainment is very poor with tributes but would have hoped for better quality from a RIU hotel. Would we come here again. I’m afraid not. The cons are too many. I am not a moaner generally but these points need to be mentioned. Will they care who knows but it’s a shame.

TripAdvisor Review
Beautiful Resort, Excellent Staff – With a Few Small Cons

We spend two weeks in this resort and that our review: Pros:

  • Approx. 2‑hour transfer from Colombo Airport
  • Spacious, modern rooms with a non‑alcoholic minibar included in the all‑inclusive package, refilled every 2 days
  • Excellent cleanliness throughout the entire resort, with bed sheets changed every 2 days
  • Friendly, professional staff who genuinely do everything they can to make you feel exceptional
  • Good variety of food across buffet and à la carte restaurants, though not premium — this is not RIU Palace level, with better food selection available on weekends
  • Alcohol is not entirely local, but not premium either; nevertheless, it is absolutely drinkable and totally unlimited (please enjoy responsible).
  • The hotel has a dedicated adults‑only pool, and staff make sure that no children enter this area, keeping it peaceful and relaxing at all times. for us this is the big deal.
  • Public beach cleaned regularly by hotel staff, even though it is not private
  • From Monday to Friday the hotel is nearly empty, and we genuinely felt like we were on a private holiday. for weekends see cons section.

Cons:

  • No private beach
  • Local salesmen are positioned at the only gate leading to the beach. They can be quite intrusive and often do not accept “no” as an answer. Some may follow you for a few hundred meters even after you politely decline.
  • Night snacks / late‑dinner options in the After Hours bar are quite poor, with very limited choice available.
  • Weekends are extremely busy — this resort is very popular among locals for short weekend getaways, which makes the property noticeably more crowded. Expect long queues at the bars and, at times, a lack of space in the restaurants. My suggestion: book the à la carte restaurants for the weekend to avoid the rush.
  • Daytime entertainment is almost non‑existent, and the evening shows are not at a high level. Even the music at the bar is played for only around 2–3 hours.

Summary: Despite a few areas that could be improved, Hotel Riu Sri Lanka absolutely gets our recommendation. The resort delivers a very good holiday experience, especially thanks to its excellent cleanliness, friendly staff, beautiful beachfront location, and calm weekday atmosphere. We genuinely enjoyed our two‑week stay and believe this hotel is a great choice for a relaxing, worry‑free holiday.

TripAdvisor Review
A lovely experience

This is a lovely hotel close to the beach. Things that stood out were the staff (they try very hard to please, nothing is too much trouble). The room and standard of cleaning was second to none, food and drink were good quality and available with no restrictions. Our particular thanks go to Marshall in the restaurant who made this a very special stay. The only negative, it seems to get very busy at the weekends.

Review by tomlaw1999 North Shields, United Kingdom
TripAdvisor Review
Amazing

I would like thank Leo the lad on the beach outside the Sri Lanka Riu hotel for arranging our excursions around Sri Lanka he an amazing guy who very friendly and polite I would highly recommend Leo to give you any advice on trips while staying in Sri Lanka

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