Thambu Illam

The people, the deco and architecture, the breakfast

What a lovely place to stay. Just four rooms and the most generous and welcoming staff. Everything was clean and comfortable in this authentic Jaffna boutique stay. The clean and clear pool helped to beat the heat after days out exploring. Breakfast was amazing each day and the team had great restaurant recommendations. The range of options was fabulous! We took two days of personalised tour’s with the wonderful Prasath who was recommended by the hotel staff. Ask specifically for him and you’re guaranteed to see Jaffna through local eyes. He was a wonderful guide and truly lovely guy. Make sure to book him!

We loved everything.

Beautiful house, well located. Good facilities. Excellent breakfast. Helpful and attentive staff.

Wonderful place in Jaffna. The house exudes an olde world charm and is a delight to stay in. The pool is a welcome plus especially in the afternoon heat. The staff were friendly and had many recommendations of things to do and places to eat nearby. A wonderful place to stay in Jaffna

Located a short distance from the city centre this is a old house renovated and upgraded. Cosy and homely atmosphere. There is a small pool and an adjoining dining space. Extremely courteous and responsive staff.

The staff should park their motorcycles out of the main driveway. The noise from the road and surrounding houses is quite loud and disturbing if you are in the front room. The triple room - foldable bed was not comfortable for a good nights rest.

Beautiful old Dutch colonial style family home with a handful of bedrooms with ensuites. Fairly centrally located but quiet. Narayan who looked after us was charming. Highly recommend fantastic fruit platters and curd for breakfast and chicken nasi for dinner. It seems a lot more expensive than other Jaffna options but was small and intimate which we prefer.

We had a lovely stay here, it was an ideal base to explore Jaffna - cool, calm, comfortable. The staff are very attentive and lovely. We enjoyed the pool and sitting in the porch in the evening, it's a really beautiful home. The welcome was really warm and we felt well looked after. Breakfast was nice and really reasonably priced.

There is no onsite restaurant or bar so you need to know what you want in advance - but this expected and explained in the booking, and there is a menu provided for food.

This is a lovely little hotel in Jaffna. The staff were so lovely and went out of their way to be helpful. Special thank you to Mathu. They even gave me a birthday cake on my birthday. They are happy to arrange tuk-tuks and any food and drinks you may want. The room itself was very clean and comfortable. The property is a short tuk-tuk ride from the centre of town or you can walk. Highly recommended.

All great

The hosts were so friendly, helpful and welcoming. Beautiful home, large bedroom and nice pool area. We were able to order dinner and breakfast into the property for a great price, and our hosts arranged our future transfer at a great price. Thank you.

Bed was wonderful, and the room was comfortable

The furniture could be renovated as it was a bit used. When it rained, it was difficult to get from THE restaurant to the lounge.

Comfortable room, beautiful building with good communal area and pool.Lovely staff

loved the old house which is very beautiful and the sitting room in our room which was comfortable and spacious. the garden is very nice.

Breakfast was simple and fine. Thambu Iilum would benefit from having its own kitchen though

The staff and the building were very nice. They swimming pool was small but very clean. This is a small but very friendly guest house. Our plans changed so we booked out early. The daily rate went up but the flexibility to change was appreciated.

It is a historic building so the bathroom is necessarily small, not much can be done about that. Not the best value for money we have found in Sri Lanka.

The house itself is lovely. The rooms are off a central open courtyard. The staff were really helpful. The food good. The pool needs some maintenance. Considering the history of Jaffna and Sri Lanka generally the hotel and the staff provided a comfortable friendly environment.

The staff were so helpful and kind . Madhu (the manager) was extremely helpful, welcoming and friendly . The other staff were super polite and helpful as well . Note there is no restaurant onsite so breakfast and other meals are arranged by the staff and served at a nice table with china etc . The food was good, plentiful and very low cost so this is not an issue. The rooms were large and very authentic and comfortable . This is a traditional house with 4rooms to rent set around an open inner courtyard . Gorgeous ! You are 5 mins from central jaffna in tuctuc (300 rupees). Overall an excellent authentic house type hotel experience , the staff were superb and we would definitely return

As the house is traditional the rooms are not soundproofed but this is not really an issue but there is some traffic/ bird noise. It would be a nice touch to have a washing machine for guests to use .

I loved the whole experience and recommend this place without hesitation. Thambu illam is elegant and comfortable with beautiful furniture. It is small, once the home of the owners, and the staff are impeccable. I was genuinely taken care of by the staff, who were very helpful and attentive. It is quiet and private.

I have nothing to say for this question! There was nothing that I did not like.

Natrajan was kind friendly helpful from check in to my entire stay! Cozy 4 rooms - very clean comfortable and well appointed

Rooms are a bit dark

Such a beautiful house, the pictures don’t do it justice it’s even nicer in real life. Staff is amazingly friendly and helpful. Helped us organise excursions in the Jaffna area. Breakfast is great and we also had dinner in the hotel a couple of nights which we also really enjoyed. Wouldn’t stay anywhere else if we ever go back to Jaffna

Friendly staff who helped me with tuk tuks and comfortable room, unique property and quieter location outside of main town but close to a few eateries.

Staff were very friendly and helpful. They offered to go out and buy us dinner/snacks when we didn’t want to go out. The place was very clean and reminded me of a typical Sri Lankan home.