Athgira River Camping - Udawalawe

A really cool place to be based for a couple of days to safari. The glamping setup is super. The tent we had was a great size for a family of 4 with beds for everyone. Love the outdoor bathroom and sleeping 'in the jungle' was a fabulous experience. The two pools on site are a great way to cool down in between safaris. The boys loved the bigger pool in particular. Nice and cool and loads of space to swim and burn excess energy. The food was very good - we had breakfast included and due to location you kind of have to have the dinner option whether you have it included or not. So be prepared for additional spend. We were a party of 6 that had breakfast included but managed to spend an additional 90,000+ LKR on food and drink whilst staying 2 days. And we were by no means excessive.

We were charged an additional fee for an air conditioned room even though I booked one room with air conditioning as per my booking. The way the room options are setup on Booking.com are not clear and the property knows this as they used it as an excuse to explain the additional cost I had to pay. Knowing that many people have complained about the lack of clarity when booking should be the catalyst to get the property to change their listing. Please edit your listings to only include the facilities included in whichever room is booked! I have no problem paying for services, but it should be very clearly communicated what the booking actually includes. There is nothing worse than thinking you have booked something, turning up to the property and the first thing you get told is you need to pay more. Creates a negative impression right from the outset and impacts how people review at the end of the day as it's a sour note to start with. Then we had it again at check out where I was told I had only paid for one safari not two, even though I was under the impression, given when booking the safaris, that I was paying for both. The issue here is that if I had known that I hadn't already paid, we might not have gone on the second one. Once again, clarity is key. My booking also showed that I would have tea/coffee making facilities but we didn't. A light bulb in the room wasn't working and the tap was missing from one of the sinks in the bathroom. Made the front desk aware, they said they'd fix it. But didn't. So just be aware if you get tent 61 :-)

Be aware with Air Condition scam! False details on Luxury Tents!

Location is RemoteReception is a dark cave and slow peopleWe booked a Luxury Quadruple Room which is Air Condition facility included in Booking.com. They have confirmed it at the check In Reception and asked us to pay full since its a booking.com reservation. So we paid. Then they have taken us to Tent 61 which is a standard Tent with one fan located almost end of their property.far corner.. Then we head back to reception we asked about the Air condition and luxury tent we booked. We showed all the evidence but they claimed there is an error in the booking.com site. They requested to pay more money for a Air Condition Tent which was uterly disgusting. Totally its a money scam.We requested a full refund. It was not our fault. They said sorry and ask us to wait more than 1 1/2 hours to pay our money. We were late and my three children were tired. They didnt care at all.Management and accounting depatment was very bad. They were told us to wait another week to get our money back because they are on leave. we had to write a letter to get our money back. This is the first time I feel very dissatisfaction about a hotel in Sri Lanka. They should not advertise anything that they dont have. Specially at Udawalawe its a warm and full of bugs. We were big family with 2 adults and 3 kids. This is why we booked a luxury tent with higher price. But at the hotel they gave us a tent 61 basic tent with one fan and demand more money for AC.. Booking.com should investigate this matter in details please. This situation should not happen to any customer again.

The staff took care of us like a 5 star hotel would do. They organized a safari on the day and transport the next day for us. I was impressed by the quality of their services.

The tents were big, and clean. The pools were good.

The reception area and restaurant are quite dark, and lacked atmosphere. The “air con” is actually a fan. We asked for an extra fan and it was no problem.

It’s rather a camping experience with all pros and cons. Staff very friendly but location could be cleaner.

The property is gorgeous and very natural. There are no eye-sores, everything is very blended with nature. The two swimming pools were really lovely and the restaurant buffet dinners were delicious. The best part was the general manager who went above and beyond to make sure we had a great stay. He engaged with our kids and made sure they stayed busy with basketball, volleyball, arranged a village walk across the river, and made special arrangements on our safari to celebrate my son's birthday. He was like a traditional hotel general manager who treats everybody like his personal guest. It's a really special place and definitely a great base for visiting both Udawalawe and Yala parks.

Amazing pools, great setting with the tents and lots animals around.

slow food preparation. Travelling with hungry kids is not fun if you have to wait for more than 40 min for the Food

Exceeded my expectations lovely setting.and close to the National Park. I was initially concerned with lack of airconditioning but it wasnt an issue at all. Loved the 2 swimming pools. Welcoming staff. The buffet food was a pleasant surprise- really good options. Loved that a special effort was made for Christmas celebrations.

No safety box.

Great location and friendly staff. very convenient for safari trips.

we stayed two nights, thefirst night's food was a little disappointing. On the second night it wa much better - with very tasty Sri Lankan curries

It was very atmospheric and well maintained. There was a lovely restaurant and pool area and the tents were comfortable. The staff were very attentive. The manager gave us an upgrade to a luxury tent when he found out it was our 40th anniversary holiday and were treated to dinner on our terrace, which was lovely. The safari and the separate village tour were both well led and worth doing. Sachinthana, the trainee naturalist accompanied us on both of them and was very attentive.

Unfortunately, we were targeted by a troop of monkeys in our first tent. They stole things from the terrace and even managed to get into the tent one afternoon while we’re out at the pool. They were probably initially attracted by some biscuits we left on our terrace and were just doing what monkeys do, but it was a bit unsettling.

The property is nice.The safari was well organized.

The wifi doesn't work.In the tents, more expensive, you can ear your neighbours...The food quite expensive is not at all up to the mark. Even no fresh juices!If you have not booked your breakfast in advance they try to charge it more... And it is not included...

The tent was great. The air con worked really well, the extra fan was great too. The bed was comfy, the bathroom was great.

The coffee at breakfast could have been stronger! Apart from that, all good.

The property is situated in a quiet location, slightly remote and far from any facilities, but it’s near a river and also features a pool, which we enjoyed relaxing in for a couple of hours in the afternoon.

This was a rather unusual and uncomfortable stay. We chose this accommodation for one night because we planned to leave very early the next morning for a safari. The property offers their own safari tours, and they seemed visibly disappointed or annoyed that we hadn’t booked with them. The room we booked was okay, but the price-quality ratio was definitely disproportionate. The bathroom was dirty, and we found the area under the bin in the room quite unpleasant. Additionally, the basic room lacked AC, and since it was essentially a plastic tent, it got very hot very quickly. They insisted on offering us an upgrade to a room with AC for an additional €20–30, but considering we had to wake up at 4:30 am for the safari, it didn’t feel worth it. The staff’s behavior added to the discomfort. They were overly persistent, constantly asking us to have dinner at the hotel or pre-book breakfast for the next day. When our safari guide arrived to pick us up, the manager even came outside to check who it was, which felt intrusive and made us uncomfortable. We mentioned the next morning that they should avoid pressuring guests so much, but overall, the experience left us feeling uneasy.

Incredibly well designed camping experience, the perfect balance of hotel amenities (Great pools, restaurant & bar) with the rustic outdoors. Tents are great, balcony lovely and so peaceful in the evenings. We played badminton and took the bicycles out for a spin through udawalawe. This was the most friendliest village we came across all trip, a lovely home feel (although we had great experiences throughout). If you want a stay that's different to all the others in Sri Lanka, look no further!

Nice area by the river and in the jungle.The bed in the tent was very comfortable and the linen was great and more then enough for two people.We also liked the veranda overlooking the pool and the river.The 6-hours-safari arranged by the hotel was amazing, we were lucky to see lots of different birds, many elephants and crocodiles and even lizards.

The veranda became sandy as we walked around in the resort area, a brush have helped a lot, easy to sweap away the sand. The prices in the restaurant were too high. Not easy to find another restaurant in this remote area. No competition, high prices ?.

The safari tour was excellent.The same guide also took us to the elephant transit home.

The staff were quite confused & a little disorganized. We had to be firm about when we wanted to do the safari. & was glad that I had email back up to confirm the arrangements.As you don't sign what you eat/drink at the time, our final check out bill was incorrect & took time to be rectified. That said most of the confusion relates to the language barrier. The camp is very remote so once you are there, there is nowhere else to go.

Athgira hotel was beautiful and staff were extremely accommodating organising our safaris and meals around these. We had a very early 5.30am start for our second safari and staff had tea and coffee ready for us and then a later breakfast awaiting our return. They also organised a game of cricket with their staff and our teens! Had a great time.

Really beautiful surroundings, and the staff were absolutely amazing! In particular the ladies in the restaurant, they were so kind and helpful, the most welcoming and wonderful ladies.

The nets over the beds smelt damp, the food was a bit cold.

We stayed in a river view tent and the view from balcony was great. The food was very good with a good range of choiceStaff very friendly

Accommodation is fun and clean. Food is disastrous and overpriced.

restaurant buffet are overprice and poor quality. USD15 for a breakfast buffet with basic low products. You have to ask to get refills, ... personnel is lost and run aroud but you need to ask 3x to get something like a glass of water...