We travelled as a group of 4, including a toddler, to the Sigiriya area, and stayed at Vil Uyana for 3 nights. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and would be delighted to return. It's a proper eco hotel, the service is EXCEPTIONAL(you get a butler), and it feels like you are contributing to the local economy (they have 130+ employees, seem to train people up for work in hospitality, and have an engineering department where they actually build the buggies that cart visitors around) whilst having a wonderful time. The restaurant was fantastic, and catered well for a coeliac dietary requirement. The food was just wonderful.

Just a few minor points to note from a room selection point of view. The garden rooms have open slats in the shower are, which are lovely for ventilation , but also allow mosquitoes in. Keeping the door between the bedroom and bathroom closed, enabled us to keep the mosquitoes away from the sleeping area. Also, a note, all the rooms except for the garden rooms have multiple internal steps. Just something to keep in mind, if you have small children or the infirm in your party.

Everything about this hotel was mesmerising!

Everything was perfect!

Amazing stay. Our butler Fabian was simply great, but also all the stuff was very welcoming and always available. Room was super, we were upgraded to the suite with private pool; all very clean, functional and spacious. Bar, restaurants, receptions; all was great but the big plus is really the contact with the nature you can experience in such a resort, is truly like a safari. We have seen huge lizard, elephant, hanuman monkeys etc. Simply the best stay in Sri Lanka.

Additional activities proposed by the hotel are overpriced if compared to overall market price. At least this was my impression with Minneriya safari.

The resort is put together beautifully. peaceful and perfectly blended with the natural surroundings. Our water dwelling was just stunning. The attention to detail and the room layout are awesome. The service was outstanding. A special thank you to Ravindra and Amila, who looked after us throughout our stay. It’s great to have a personal butler, but what made the experience really special was how genuinely they cared about making us feel at home. The guided tour of Sigiriya Rock and the elephant safari are well-organized, and the naturalists who joined us were knowledgeable and making the trips more than worthwhile. If you’re planning to do these kinds of trips, definitely go with a guide. The food was another highlight with attention to local dishes as well as international cuisine.

Extraordinary property, the interactions with nature were fabulous- monkeys, peacocks, jungle foul… the suite was vast, the dining room elegant and the live music very pleasant. The library was a particular favorite to read overlooking the lake. The staff were phenomenal, especially Asith our butler, and Yesitha our naturalist. The elephant safari with Yesitha was a standout experience in the entire trip. The spa was also excellent, and having a beautiful, well equipped gym was much appreciated. The food is fabulous. This is a world class hotel.

A stunning location and a resort with a unique feel to it. We loved that the rooms are all tucked away among rice paddies, lily ponds, or open out onto the water body that teems with bird life, fish, and some crocs. We appreciated the nature-conscious philosophy of the hotel and their efforts to respect the wildlife of the area. The evening dining is very good, the rooms beautiful, spacious, and tasteful and the staff are exceptionally friendly and helpful. The heat is quite something so we really recommend the rooms with small plunge pools.

We didn't pre-order breakfast and felt the breakfast menu was a bit sparse. The breakfast itself was also disappointing compared to other Jetwing establishments.

This hotel is incredible and so different to anything we’ve experienced before. You feel like you’ve stepped into paradise the moment you arrive and with the nature and beautiful surroundings. It is a luxurious experience while still being rustic enough to feel like you are in nature. Most of the staff could not do enough for us, and we loved how easy it was to get a buggy to and from our room as the resort is quite big. The swimming pool was amazing and even with being so close to a lake (with a crocodile living in it!) we still felt very safe.

Continuity at meal times could be improved. On our first night we had a designated waiter who delivered an excellent service but the second day a large group had arrived which meant we lost a bit of contact with him and it became a bit disorganised and messy. Portion sizes at dinner could also be more even and restaurant could offer side dishes but that said, the food did taste amazing. It is worth knowing that the bathroom has slats that do not close so insects and frogs do get into the bathroom - but this didn’t bother us much. There is detailed information from the hotel about how to live with the wildlife.

I liked the property, the staff were gorgeous - and the location was quite stunning landscape. My feeling was the actual property was more 3/4 star - i think I was over priced for what it was. The staff were extremely sweet, but it was a bit chaotic for a 5 star hotel. Extremely slow service, but from very very lovely people. Lots of power cuts, card machines didn’t work, no yoga mats in the gym, no one to meet you at the gate - we came back from a sunset hike up Lion Rock, and we had to walk in the dark through the estate, which was not very well lit and there is a crocodile (and a wild elephant was roaming around scaring the locals say on our second night)

Room was very nice and the hotel is v tranquil The naturist is very knowledgeable and did an excellent sustainability talk and night time safari. Our butler, Ruchira, was exceptional. Always looking out for us and looking after us. We felt really bad when we realised he didn't go to bed until we did and went on a night safari until 1am, but he was smiley, happy and personable.

Pool was reasonably small for the hotel size and if you don't have a pool in the villa.

Great and very friendly staff in all departments of the hotel. The hotel’s very own naturalists are brilliant and are assisting with everything you need for a successful trip or excursion - water, juices, soft drinks and cool refreshing towels are always part of the service. We enjoyed the big pool for all hotel guests as well as our private pool next to the room which helped us to feel really relaxed. The hotel is a true sanctuary and we enjoyed the nature and natural sounds every second of our stay. A minimum 3 nights stay is highly recommended to have enough time to discover the historic places and the nature in this part of Sri Lanka as well as to relax on property (we stayed 4 nights).

The hotel doesn’t offer a TukTuk service for any of the close-by excursions in order to have an even more authentic Sri Lankan experience. But the hired cars with driver are absolutely comfortable.