Beach Hotels in Thiranagama, Hikkaduwa

"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! "

"If your absolute priority is a place with direct beach access, then this might be ok. But for the money I paid $22 for an ac room, you can get much, much better a short Tuk Tuk ride away. The place is very old, rooms feel dirty, although I expect they have been swept and mopped, but it just feels very dingy dirty. Everything is extremely old and decrepit. This place really needs a bit of tender loving care. A few thousand rupees per room spent on panting the walls and changing the toilet seats and bedding etc would go a very long way to improving this property. I am not a backpacker, so perhaps am being harsh, but I decided not to stay in the room and left, spending less money on a spotlessly clean and modern ensuite room 10 mins down the road (not in the main Hikkaduwa strip, so if location is everything, you might be ok with this place. "

"Staff were nice. A bit rundown... as expected for price and location. "

"Very nice people "

"Pros: Great location with an amazing beachfront experience, a pretty good breakfast, and the staff let us hang out in the hotel area a few hours before our check-in. Cons: A bit old rooms, very cold inside with no possibility of making it warmer. We are from Ukraine, and the staff was trying to talk in Russian to us, literally the whole stay. We repeated several times that we don't speak Russian and we don't understand them, but they didn't care. "