Isana Beach House

Things are pretty quiet in Sri Lanka now, but you can still get fuel and other necessities. This place, Isana, is a real gem. I'd been there before and it's even better now; several upgrades. Still the same great cook!

We initially booked for two nights and even extended our stay to spend more time in the beautiful hotel with picturesque beach. For the whole three nights we were Rheinblicken guests and it felt more like our own huge private Villa than a hotel. The staff was available and helpful all day long! Definitely worth a few nights!

We had the hotel basically just for us (there was just 1 other guest that left the next mornign). Unfortunately the pandemic hit hard in Sri Lanka which resulted in many hotels closing for 2 years. When we arrived it looked like they were not even expecting us, and we had to wait for the room to be prepared. Nevertheless, they quickly called reinforces and prepared everything for our stay. The hotel is very isolated, which is great to relax. The beach is just unbelievably calm, relaxing and stunning. You can be swimming while seeing monkeys in the palm trees, and without seeing any other tourist for hours and hours (contrary to Unawatuna and Mirissa areas). The dinner was delicious and carefully prepared. The staff is also lovely, and we could see they are doing their best to start recovering the business. The only reasons I can't give 5 stars to this are: the clear lack of maintenance in the hotel (many parts need an urgent fix and restructure) and also, they just changed the bed sheets of one of our beds while preparing the room. When I went to sleep in the single bed, I realized it was all dirty, with dozens of small dead bugs (inside and outside of the bed/sheets) and mold. However, we called the man in service that night, and he quickly changed the bed sheets. You have EVERYTHING it takes to become a 5* place, just PLEASE do some maintenance and be more careful with hygiene. I believe this was due to the fact they were closed for 2 years, and didn't had costumers since the reopening in that room. But everything else is fantastic.

If you are modern architecture freak, don't miss that. This house openly inspired by Geoffrey Bawa's architecture is little jewel. Rooms are not equiped with AC, but due to air circulation, you won't feel hot. You just need to fortify yoursel against the mosquitos little bit. Family which runs the house will take care about your needs flawlessly and kindly, even will drive you around in motoricksha. Food is hi-cuisine level, although the super-tasty srilankan breakfasts are simple. Order whole fish and prawns for dinner, it will be one of the best meals of your life. Forget about beach restaurants, it won't beat this.