Blue Turtle Hotel

If you're stopping to visit Yala it is a worthy place to stay. Didn't dip in the pool but the room was spacious, clean with a balcony provided. Staff were helpful, especially after I had inexplicably left a bag behind. There's a few really good restaurants within a 10 minute walk away worth checking out.

The hotel is located not far from Yala national park. The room was clean

The hotel grounds are well kept gardens and a big pool area, but beware of the millions of mosquitoes. The whole place overall is a bit lifeless and run down. The beds around the pool are torn. The rooms are old, we had the creakiest, most uncomfortable bed, very old air conditioner, and the bathroom is big but very outdated and needs a really good clean. If you are on the ground floor, the upstairs room and stairs are very loud. The one staff member that we dealt with was pleasant. Did not eat here apart from the included good breakfast as it was always so quiet. They do provide a takeaway breakfast for the early safari which is good. There's a big parking area and the location is tucked away down a quiet road. But overall would not come here again. However Tissa itself is not a nice place either. Compared to Ella and Sigiriya, there is no effort to make this a nice area for tourists. The restaurants are scruffy and all the people seem to just want to make money off you. It is much more expensive to eat here than everywhere else we have travelled so far (Negombo, Kandy, Sigirya, Ella). We did not go to Yala as it gets bad reviews (even from locals) for being too busy and at risk of animal exploitation. Every jeep safari is a private tour which is not good for eco-tourism, so every morning we were told that about 200 jeeps queue through the park looking for a leopard which you have a 50% chance of seeing. We did a safari to Bundala NP instead through 'Yala Leopard Eye Safaris' and it was wonderful. Our guide was so knowledgeable and it was like we had the park to ourselves and we saw everything that you get to see in Yala, plus thousands of amazing bird species.

Nice place a little of the beaten track going out for a meal or drinks involves getting a tuk tuk . The rooms are nice big nets over the bed to keep the bugs out TV,fridge,kettle with tea and coffee bathroom with products provided.The star of the show is the pool good size with sun beds available Food is available and nice we ate evening meals and breakfast both were good value and filling

We had a pleasant two night stay at the Blue Turtle Hotel. The room was decent and clean enough, though a bit dark. The bathroom was very spacious. The pool was nice, though not sparkling clean. The restaurant was good, and despite what some other reviews say, we found the food to be fine. As we had paid for breakfast with the room, they kindly packed it to take with us when we left at 4.30am for a safari. The staff were very attentive, and the manager even supported us with directions to drive to Dikwella as we were checking out. The location of the hotel is not that great, though it does the job for people who need to stay in the area in order to be picked up for a safari. On a separate note, it is quite shocking (and off-putting) to see how defensive (and borderline rude) some of the hotel's responses are to the less favourable reviews on here. Especially those highlighting challenges relating to accessibility etc. The hotel should remember that platforms like this are not only channels to make valid complaints, but also for guests to share their experiences to help others who might have specific requirements.

Unfortunately, due to a family bereavement curtailing our holiday, we never got to stay at the hotel, but they were so courteous, understanding and kind when we notified them that I need to say thank you and reassure them that we will stay with them when we return to Sri Lanka again.