Hotel Pinnalanda - New Deal! Half Off Airport Pickups Available

i was staying next door, but came here for dinner - great choice ! A lovely evening. Soft music playing when I entered and of course, a gorgeous view ! 

I went at sunset ... watching the bats flying back to roost is magical. Attentive professional waiters, great atmosphere. I had the pepper steak - it was delicious ! I was eating early ... 6 pm. About 7 pm a musician arrived, playing soft acoustic guitar & singing gentle, lovely songs. Twas a lovely night.

We had a lovely time at Grand Hotel Pinnalanda, this was our 2nd time at theirs. Such lovely and helpful staff, always goes above to help their guests. “Ela” and Miraj both were very attentive to all the guests and helpful at their best. There was some issues with the electricity in our room, but Mahesh (electrician) and Miraj took care of it during our stay, going above and beyond to ensure we are not disturbed with the power issues. A huge thank to Shantha, the manager who is a people pleaser and always tries to make every guest returns to them again. He even helped us buying tickets for the elephant bathing session. The two lovely ladies at the reception (sorry we couldn’t take their names) were welcoming, polite and friendly. We are definitely going there again next time we visit Sri Lanka. To the owners of this property - Your strength is your lovely staff, take good care of them! There’s a lot of room for you to improve things in this property for more guests to return to you on their next visit to Pinnawala. Try and invest some money on improvements in the property and your guests will pay happily to enjoy as your hotel has the best view of the river. Also we believe that you don’t need to keep the minibar filled in all rooms, not even 5 star hotels do that nowadays. Instead, invest some money on improvements and maintenance of the property. It’s a lovely property that needs a bit of love from the owners.

We (family of four) stayed at the Hotel Pinnalanda for one night after our arrival into Sri Lanka. The hotel is basic but has everything you need for a short stay. The staff are very welcoming and friendly. The view and the close proximity to elephants is what makes this place. It is truly amazing to experience the elephants so close, even whilst having breakfast in the morning. We didn’t see or witness any bad treatment towards the elephants at all (some reviews suggest this takes place) and we also didn’t get pressured into feeding them or having pictures with them. The food was good and the staff very helpful and willing to change certain things for my fussy daughter. There was limited options but that was understandable and not the hotels fault, due to the current crisis. Overall this is a good base for a very short stay (1-2 nights max as nothing else to do in the area) if wanting to see elephants close up.