Name: Hotel Sanrel
Address: No 63, Medilla Beach, Tangalle, Sri Lanka, Marakolliya, Marakolliya, Marakolliya, 82200, Sri Lanka
Rating: 9

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At the hotel

Mawella Lagoon Airport

Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport

Koggala Airport

Weerawila Airport

Hotel Sanrel

Marakolliya

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

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limited-time

lounge

treatment

no-window

bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

ocean-view

oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

partial-sea-view

partial-view

pool-view

river-view

sea-front

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street-view

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with-view

annex

basement

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not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

This hotel has a great spot right on the beach between Medaketiya and Marakolliya beach. This gives you easy access to the calmer waters around the wave breaks (the rocks and strong waves make swimming very difficult anywhere else) and to little rock pools you can relax in. 
We paid $26/night including breakfast. The rooms are basic but fairly clean. A few issues to note are that the rooms can get quite hot as there is no ac and they have a mosquito cover over the bed, which prevents the cool air from the fan reaching you. We removed the mosquito net and slept without it and this was better. The wet room bathroom was difficult to air and our pillows smelt of damp. 
The staff are very relaxed (you often have to wake them) but polite and helpful. Dash was great and a real asset to the hotel always greeting you with a big smile. Breakfast is average but the Sri Lanka lunch we had was very good. 
N.B We stayed in Tangalle around their new year (April 13th- 17th) which we would definitely not recommend. We received a limited service including a very limited menu (no choice for breakfast and only western food for the majority of our stay.) We really struggled to find anywhere decent to eat outside the hotel also with very drunk staff and only western food. The toilet broke in one of the rooms and we were told there was no one working so it could not be fixed. If you are travelling to Sri Lanka during this time it would be better to stay in the more touristy places and to check what services are available during your stay.

Great location, basic rooms 

Superb location - right on Beach (best location in Tangalle). Fantastic views. Our room had a world class balcony view along the beach (Sanrel is he only hotel we saw that is actualy right ON the Beach all the others are behind the road) . Truly nice people running the place. Nice food. Place has heaps of character and the management with Jeevan and his friends are fixing it up. Has some old World charm. As for now our room had lukewarm water only and no A/C. No problem for us but if you want 5 star luxury go somewhere else (rooms may be renovated soon). Temperature at night was ok (breeze blows in from ocean when you sit outside). They will probably upgrade some rooms soon. Right now place is very reasonably priced and you get the best location, best view, good food and the nicest staff that you are likely to find anywhere in Sri Lanka. Could have stayed a month :-)

Could have stayed a month!

I read a review about this hotel before we booked and it said that they wished they would have found this beach earlier in their stay.  Well, I'm glad I read that review because although the hotel is not five start luxury and is very basic (which is what I expected), the location is incredible with the lagoon on one side and the beach on the other.  In my view it is worth foregoing your creature comforts for a couple of days to experience the beauty of the surrounding beach and to get away from the hustle and bustle of the busier beaches.  The beach was mainly empty, nobody bothering us trying to sell things and just a great place to get away from everything and relax  Although the under current by the water near the hotel made it too dangerous to swim, there were people further down the beach enjoying the waves in the shallower parts and there is a man made rock barrier about a two minute walk away which creates a small area without any waves and totally safe for children.  I won't forget sitting out at night drinking the local rum and staring up at the stars with the roar of the waves hitting the rocks.  In my view, it is a very special place.  The staff were extremely friendly and were very happy to listen to advice on how to improve the hotel.  To be fair the owner was continually talking about the upgrades he was planning so I would expect this place to get better and better over the next few years.  Darshana who served us in the restaurant was very helpful with a lot of local knowledge and a pleasure to talk to.  The hotel was mainly clean and is definitely somewhere I would go back to.  My wife who prefers her luxuries was initially not impressed but after two days of chilling by the beach, taking the tuk tuk or walking to the local restaurants all very close by and taking in the beauty of the golden sands which stretched for miles, she absolutely loved it and was happy that I did my initial research to find this little gem.  The place reminded us of parts of Thailand about 15 years ago.  Underdeveloped, basic but beautiful.  Would definitely recommend going for the day to Goyambokka Beach which is about 500 rupee in a tuk tuk (£2.50!).  If you are a light sleeper, take some ear plugs because the waves are quite loud 24/7, although I found it quite therapeutic (-:

Value for Money - Stunning Beach

We were here i november and it was very nice and quiet and felt like a more personal alternative compare to the bigger touristresorts! Big and clean room, comfy beed, good food and very nice staff! Bad thing is that the watercurrance is very strong so not good for swimming! 

Amazing ocean view

We stayed here after our booking with an alternative hotel fell through. After walking down the beach and everywhere being full we got lucky and got a room here due to a cancellation. We were able to bargain the price down to $40 with breakfast.....we probably would have been unhappy with it if we had paid $60 because the room was very basic with no AC or hot water though the latter is not too much of an issue as it was very hot. The breakfast and view from the third floor room was amazing.

Hotel Sanrel

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