Payagala Vacation Rentals

"Its a truly beautiful hotel. Bawa knew how to design. Highly recommend"

"5 star worthy hotel on a beautiful beach. Food was outstanding with a huge choice - recommend all inclusive as the prices were also 5 star! Best desserts ever had. Great tour guide on the beach and hotel water sports. Most seemed to travel through - we stayed 10 days. Will definitely be going back. Only tiny complaint was the pool bar staff were quite slow and not up to the standards as the rest of the hotel but not far to walk to get your own. Seemed short staffed with a few weddings and conferences on. Good for couples and kids. My son learnt to surf on the beach. "

"Very good"

"There isn’t much close by just the beach and huge amazing pool. Wish there were more shops"

"We went for this hotel based on the trust in the Riu brand, location, all inclusive basis and general good reviews. Overall the hotel was very good. We’d stop short of rating it as excellent based on some of the amenities looking / feeling slightly tired - probably on the basis of having been worked hard. Some key thoughts; We visited during the Middle East war / crisis and consequently the hotel was much quieter than normal. Therefore everything felt more spacious, less crowded and easier to access. We wondered how our very good experience might of been if the hotel had been close to full as we were told is the normally the case. The food was outstanding - particularly for an all inclusive. The choices were broad and quality excellent. The themed restaurants were also superb and easy to book. The Pan Asian and Sauté restaurants were particularly good. The staff were brilliant, so polite, helpful and curtious - a real credit to the hotel and Riu. There were 3 big pools but only one with an easy bar access which was also strictly (and enforced) adults only. That suited us but with parties including under 18s may be an inconvenience and something to consider. The rooms were big, clean with functional facilities and simple decor designs. The hotel is right on a stunning public beach. You can swim but need to take care due to big waves and strong currents. Overall, we’ve done lots of all inclusives and this one is defiibately up there as one of the better we’ve experienced! "

"A family business run by Himmel. The property sits right next to Bentota Lagoon. There is a daily shuttle to and from the beach. The accommodation is in a block of two floors. The rooms are clean and spacious with plenty of storage space and a large furnished patio or balcony overlooking the pool and lagoon. The rooms are kept very clean by very friendly staff. Breakfast is plentiful with a good choice. Himmel also runs a travel firm called Zeus Travel which provides transport to where ever you want to go. We gave him a list of places we wanted to see and he worked out an itinerary of day trips for us. He also acted as guide and came with us on each trip. The result was highly professional excursions on which we had a fabulous time. Overall we had a fantastic 10 days holiday with Himmel, his family and staff and the Lagoon Bentota comes highly recommended for a true Sri Lankan experience."

"Outdoor surroundings are beautiful, clean and well kept with easy access to a sandy beach. Pool is large and easily accessible. Food is lovely with a huge choice in the buffet. There's also an Italian restaurant and noodle bar on site. I think all rooms have a lovely view over the Indian Ocean. Staff are very attentive, kind and helpful. I thoroughly enjoyed my stay and I hope to return next year."

"Lovely serene location and not far from restaurants. Great staff, restaurant and rooms. No complaints at all"

"Great breakfast "