Reviews of The Backwaters Lodge

Very beautiful and peaceful place to stay. In the middle of nature, at the riverfront. The room was not that big, but ok. We got an extra bed for our son. The room was clean, with a terrace. Food was very good. We are vegetarians which was no problem for them. Staff was very friendly and helpful. After the safari's we could take a refreshing swim in the river. Which we really recommend. We did some kayaking too. No wifi in the room, only at the front desk and restaurant. However, no wifi required if you are in such a beautiful place. The place is a good spot for birdwatching.

Nothing. All was perfect, we would love to stay here again!

Great atmosphere, as if you’re visiting somebody at home instead of being at a hotel. Very welcoming and homely. Fantastic and authentic Sri Lankan food. Amazing staff.

In our opinion best place we’ve stayed so far. Such friendly and helpful staff and owner. Great activities and wonderful to swim in the river. Thank you.

Nothing

Backwaters lodge is the most serene location with a major push for eco environment , stunning location

Nothing

The location of the hotel is very serene. It is a nice and quiet surrounding. Staff is very friendly and the food is good. The lodges are basically 1,5 twenty foot containers on pillars. We enjoyed our dinner on the riverbanks by the bonfire.

The lodges: they were clean but in 1 of them there was a very strong smell of cleaning/disinfectant/anti-bug spray.

Lovely people, you feel so welcome. The environs is amazing as is the park. Great walks. Food is very good

The lodge was perfectly located next to the river, the staff was super friendly and the food was delicious.

At the end, the price was much more than we were thinking, because of additional service fees on the room, the dinner was expensive, eventually adding an extra 100 dollars on the 235 dollars, which was quite disappointing.

Good place near the river with nice seatings and terasses. Food is done very well. The cabines are sufficient. And the eco philosophy is great. The local tuktuk tour through the village is very interesting and pleasant, a must do.

For what you get the place is a bit overrated in price. Some seating inside the cabine would be nice, there are no chairs inside.

For people like ourselves who love the outdoors and wildlife, the location was perfect, as were the activities on offer. The food was excellent and the staff were friendly and helpful, nothing was to much trouble for them. The rooms were comfortable and the attached balcony offered good oppertunities to watch the local bird and butterfly life. All in all we had an excellent five night stay in the lodge. We were very sad to leave and will come again.

A coil or vaporiser in the room to deter mosquitos would be a bonus. Otherwise all was excellent.

Close to the secondary gate to Wilpattu, very friendly staff and nice surroundings of the rooms! It does take a while to get into the park and we felt we didn’t see many animals in the first stretch, so book a full day safari to not be disappointed. Only comment is that I realized they charge a 10% service charge on the entire bill, including the room fees, which led to us paying close to 25 euros in service charges, which is a lot.

The lodge is close to Wilpattu National park which is nice. The dinner was really tasty and the staff was nice.

Even though there are mosquito screen doors, once you go in the hut mosquitos do come in. In a jungle lodge where there are mosquitoes that carry viruses it would be a basic to hang a proper mosquito net above the bed. The hut is quite basic but very expensive. Price-quality is a bit off balance here. We booked a safari through the accommodation. The driver/guide was good at spotting animals, however his english was poor and he couldn’t share anything about the park or answer any of our questions. Other jeeps had both a driver and a guide, we would recommend booking that kind of experience.

Loved our stay here. Backwaters is a really charming hotel close to the river. We stayed in the family suite room which had a lovely view over the surrounding forest, and we saw monkeys just outside the window in the mornings. We rented a kayak one afternoon and enjoyed paddling up and down the river. The food was really delicious and very generous. The staff were really friendly and happy to help with any requests we had. We would definitely visit again.

Only a small thing, there was some construction noise going on, which was a bit annoying when wanted to relax outside.

Lovely lodge in the middle of nature. We enjoyed a safari and the surrounding nature very much. The staff is very friendly, with a special shoutout to shani who basicly runs the place and checked in on us every day. The place is not very big, which was nice. They had quite a lot of chill places and swimming in the river was lovely.

Because of the remote location, you are very dependent on the hotel, which made it pretty expensive (especially the food and excursions). Also felt more like staying in a resort then staying in sri lanka. We paid 100 dollars per night for our room, but we actually had many better stays at other places in sri lanka for 40 dollars per night. The room smelled very musty. No fridge in the room. No mosquito net.

Beautiful location, quiet, lots of birds, lots of activities and close to Wilpattu NP. The team was very friendly, helpful and the food was lovely. Hope to come back next year!

Lovely location, helpful staff and nice meals.

A bit expensive for the standard of accommodation provided.

Beautiful setting very well designed- so peaceful. Lakshi was amazing and went out of her way to make sure we were happy / she was very knowledgable and chatty but never “in your face” in fact all staff were perfect. Accommodation was very comfortable/ breakfast excellent.

Could have been a little more evening food variety as in reality I suspect not many people take a tuk tuk to eat elsewhere. If only staying a night or two then not a problem

Wonderful cabins in the forest very quiet and relaxing cool swim in the river. The staff were very kind and helpful when I had a migraine. They made the food more spicy for my husband. The owner is very helpful and interesting to talk too, they have done a great job of keeping the place part of the jungle. They organised a safari for us which was really nice we didn't see too many other jeeps and even managed to see a leopard.

Great location and wonderful staff, we enjoyed the food. The Slow Loris tour was excellent. In the morning we were sat by the river and a crocodile meandered by! Truly wonderful!

Loved, it, shame about the weather!

Close to the safaris and unique accommodations in the middle of the jungle.

A bit isolated

The breakfast was excellent. A mixture of local and western food

N/a

Very quiet and peaceful, nice area to sit and meet other travellers

Not a lot of transport options to get to the property.

we liked the concept of the containers for the rooms and not being overlooked.

The evening menu could have more for people who do not like spices or curry.