Amanwella

Amanwella is nestled next to the sandy Silent Beach cove, overlooking beautiful waves. It is a comfortable 2.5 to 3-hour drive south via the highway from the Colombo airport. We stayed in an Ocean Pool Suite overlooking the ocean. The suite was spacious and comfortable. True to the Aman brand, the resort provided ample bottled water, constant replenishments of cookies, crackers, and fruits, and lovely daily turndown gifts. The bathroom is one of the best we have ever experienced, featuring a full-length window with ocean views. We loved the beautiful infinity swimming pool overlooking Silent Beach and the sunset. The signature Aman tea break was a highlight, offering a wonderful selection of teas and pastries. The library is also highly charming and zen. We enjoyed being greeted by peacocks in the morning and evening, though they are a tad shy. Impressively, the area has no mosquitoes at all. We felt incredibly safe with the security team stationed at various guard points. For any trips into the surrounding vicinity, the resort can easily arrange a tuk-tuk. The staff is the resort's biggest asset. Mahesh at the pool is a star—super hardworking and made us feel right at home. Ruwan is an excellent driver and guide; he was highly attentive, took great initiative, and helped us tremendously on our excursions. Omila is very warm, calm, and full of sincere gestures at the beachfront dining venue. Dinusha and Pathun took care of our breakfasts, thoughtfully remembering our meal choices and warm water preferences from the day before. Niroshan served us wonderful tea breaks and was very attentive. Manga and Samantha provided superb massages that eased our muscle tension. Janith led a great village walk with a cheery smile and positive attitude. Not to forget our friendly porter, Damith. A special thank you goes to our butler, Jeewan, who was highly responsive and attended to all our hotel needs. Manager Ashwin offered friendly greetings and chats, and GM Morten is incredibly sincere—we met him a few times, and he puts great effort into making stays memorable. The security officers, gardeners, and housekeeping team are also unsung heroes and heroines. We cannot name everyone, but thank you all for making us feel like part of the Aman family and ensuring a truly memorable stay.

After one of the most exhausting travel days we've ever experienced, arriving at Amanwella completely changed everything. Due to poor arrangements by our tour operator, we spent over 10 hours travelling, missed two activities we had been looking forward to, and arrived feeling physically and emotionally drained. From the moment we arrived, the team made us feel genuinely cared for. A special thank you to Lakshmi, who welcomed us with such kindness, listened patiently to our situation, arranged a seamless check-in, and even offered us a complimentary late check-out so we could properly rest. When I thanked him, he simply smiled and said, "It's my passion." As someone who studied Hospitality, those words meant so much to me because they truly reflected the service we experienced. Our heartfelt thanks also go to Sujith in the restaurant. His warmth reminded me of a father's care. He told me I looked like his daughter, surprised us with two extra prawns after one was accidentally dropped during service, and even folded a beautiful frangipani flower for me. It was the little gestures that made us feel so welcome. The food was also outstanding. I would also like to recognize the beach team. They looked after us with genuine care whenever we were by the ocean, always making sure we were safe. Before we left, one of the team members even gave us a few beautiful seashells as a keepsake. One small moment that especially impressed us happened when our luggage tag was accidentally misplaced during departure. Instead of simply apologizing, the team handled it with such care and professionalism. They immediately arranged replacement luggage tags and even thoughtfully gave us two extra ones. Finally, thank you to our butler, Resendu, who was always attentive, thoughtful, and happy to help with every request🩵🩵 Our stay can't be that fulfilling without you. Last evening, sitting on our balcony listening to the waves, we felt the exhaustion and disappointment of the day simply melt away. Amanwella is more than a beautiful resort—it is a place filled with genuine warmth and heartfelt hospitality. We will definitely return, and next time, we'll stay much longer. ❤️

We have stayed at many Aman Hotels. This one ranks among the worst. While overall the amenities are OK, there is unfortunately no gym and no spa. And our shower leaked water into the room (we were informed that nothing could be done about it, « it’s a design problem », we were told). The worst part was the service. While some people at restaurant were good and attentive, most of the staff is only reactive. Many of them just appear to stand around with unclear tasks, and service at restaurants can be slow. Messages like « I eat gluten and lactose-free » or « I prefer no chillies in my food » need to be repeated at each meal, and seemed at times to genuinely puzzle the staff (« Aha, no lactose for you, so can you eat tomatoes? », we were asked). It took us five attempts over a period of three days to have a light repaired by a staircase descending to the beach, which effectively prevented us from going down to the beachfront restaurant for an evening meal because it was deadly dark and we almost tripped when we attempted to take it. It took several attempts before a mango was finally delivered to our room (the cleaning staff explained that this was not their responsibility, it’s « food and beverage » that handles that). And sometimes our room was just not serviced during the day (to ensure service, we got into the habit of calling reception when we left the room, this worked). We are not great shoppers at hotels, but the Amanwella shop was so sad and so devoid of anything remotely interesting that we left after a few moments. I can continue, but I don’t want to clobber the staff, who are nice people, but clearly lack direction and training. The real problem appears to be in the management itself, which is very different to what we experienced at Amangalla, another Aman hotel only one hour away. The service there is irreproachable - we attribute this to a hands-on and very present General Manager. With a few changes in the structure (adding a gym and a spa, repairing other defaults like inundation from showers) and, especially, a more enlightened management, the Amanwella can be a great place. But until that happens, you might as well avoid it and stay at other hotels (of which there are quite a few in the area).

The hotel is very tired and needs urgent renovation which I am told will be done next year. Food at the hotel is OK but not exceptional its quite expensive best to eat out there are some very good cute restaurants just take an UBER the hotel transfer price is ver very expensive

A very disappointing stay at Amanwella, really not what you would expect from Aman or the price they ask. The resort is in desperate need of renovation, rooms are tired, floors are marked and chipped, doors don’t close. Simply not what it should be in this price zone. The location is nice but not amazing, it sits above a public beach with public access going straight through the middle of the hotel which doesn’t give you the privacy you would expect. A gym is also strangely missing, which in a hotel chain which positions its self towards wellness seems at odds. The worst element is the food. We had arrived from Wild Coast Tented Lodge in Yala which was absolutely wonderful and here the quality dropped off a cliff. There are two restaurants, with bland menus which don’t change from day to day (and very few Sri Lanka options?!). The food is very average, lacking taste and feels a bit like standard home cooking…again not what $1600 a night should deliver. Breakfast is the best of the three meals with a wide, varied selection Finally, in terms of attention to detail it wasn’t there. We received a message during turn down referring to an enjoyable Christmas stay…in mid Feb! To finish on a brighter note, the service is warm friendly and staff are willing to go out of their way to help. To sum up, either the resort needs serious improvements and changes or the price needs to be divided by 3.