Name: Yala First Hostel
Address: 25 Tissa - Kirinde Rd, Tissamaharama, Sri Lanka, Kirinda, Kirinda, Kirinda, 82614, Sri Lanka
Rating: 7.4

Common kitchen

Meals

Location

Weerawila Airport

Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport

Yala First Hostel

We stayed here for 2 nights to do the safari. we had previously stayed in 4* / 5* accomodation in sri Lanka and had booked this to make our trip a bit cheaper and also because it looked quite cool. We had a great time here although it was very very basic and we had little frog friends in our toilet almost every day but I dont really know what other people on here expect its a cheap hostel near the safari. They do need a mosquito net in the private room thats the only flaw! The staff were fantastic Danushka and Surrad made the stay really memorable Danushka was so informative and friendly and surrad cooked the most amazing sri lankan food we had all holiday.

If you are a young couple and dont mind an open air bathroom and dealing with a bit of mother nature then this place is perfect! if your looking for a comfy pampered stay this is definitely not for you.

You can also use the bikes at the accomodation as there is a beach nearby. Also wifi is available but doesnt work all the time.

Hostel First at Yala - our first stop in Sri Lanka. Tucked away right at the Yala Wildlife Sanctuary cut-off in Kirinda. Brand new, this B&B was truly a delight! A lovely place for budget travelers who wish to enjoy simple, clean, no frills accommodation, with lots of fresh air and open space.

With an open patio and a huge courtyard, it felt just like our own home (we were the only guests on the first night of our two night stay). They have one deluxe (AC) room on the ground floor and a large dorm style accommodation on the first floor.  We stayed in the deluxe room which opened into the courtyard and garden. The bed sheets were immaculately clean and the attached open sky bathroom was a pleasant surprise.

We chilled out in the open patio with our wine and music while being served the most delectable Sinhalese home-made vegetarian dishes by the ever smiling caretaker – Sharath.

Manju, the owner of Hostel First is an enterprising entrepreneur. His dream is to open several Hostel First's across Sri Lanka and to provide a unique experience for the discerning budget traveller who wishes to flavour local cuisine and the Sinhalese way of life.

On the second day of our stay, we had gone for a late evening safari. Manju had thoughtfully made arrangements for a sumptuous, multi-course Sinhalese dinner.  He shared several stories of his travels around the world while also taking care of making arrangements for an scrumptious breakfast. 

On the last day of our stay, we drove down to a beautiful beach near the Buddha temple, which was a 4-5 minutes drive from Hostel First. This was were the road ended and it a long beach, with a few fishermen who went about their work, quietly. And on our way back, we got to eat at a small, family-run, local restaurant -amazingly tasty and hygienic string hoppers and Sinhalese side-dishes.
 
We also met a beautiful young couple from Ukraine, who had already spent several days at Hostel First. That alone says a lot about Manju, the Hostel and his hospitality. Since there were no other travellers, we did not even have to hassle of worrying about check-out times.  We could leave whenever we pleased. We wish we had stayed for more evenings, but rest of Sri Lanka was too much of a lure to resist.

Cheers to Manju and our best wishes to him for achieving his dream.

SUGGESTIONS:

1. Shelves & hooks in the rooms to put away necessities
2. A sign-board outside to ensure that it is easy to find. (Despite no sign-board, it is easy to locate as it is the third house from the Yala Sanctuary cut-off in Kirinda.)
3. There are no restaurants around Hostel First.  So you will have to take a tuk-tuk to Tissaharamma.  But, why would you when there is such good home style cooking available at Hostel First itself.

This hostel is really amazing with the most wonderful location near the entrance of the park and a nice local beach in a town called kirinda. the location was really stunning. suraj provided a delicious sri lankan dinner for a very reasonable price and the breakfast was similarly delicious. I was very impressed by this hostel. the only downside was that i was the only guest and the wifi was not working. I was a bit surprised i was the only guest as this hostel really has a lot of potential. you are so close to nature (indeed meaning you might encounter some insects), it is a quiet and nice place. It almost felt a wonderful secret I had discovered. It is a bit outside of the maintown of tissa, but very easy to reach by bus. take a local bus to kirinda and ask them to drop you off at the junction with the road to yala np. it is a 1 minute walk from there. there are also bicycles available that you can take to visit the beach and temple. There are no places to eat, but the homemade food in the hostel is the best.

Kirinda

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A great little hostel with the Loveliest staff.

Yala First - Truly First Choice

lovely hostel

Stayed one night to do a safari next day in Yala (arrange independently as much cheaper) so we stayed in the private room as we needed to get up very early.  I don't mind bugs but $40 / 5700LKR for a bathroom with several cockroaches (bathroom is open to the outside) and no mosquito net in the bedroom (I got bitten several times) means this place was VERY overpriced for the private room and we wouldn't stay again.  The wifi also didn't work whilst we were there.
The host (owner lives elsewhere) was very welcoming and cooked a lovely dinner for us which was much more reasonable (500LKR) and the only reason we didn't give 1 star.

Overpriced with cockroaches...

I stayed in the dorm with a friend and we had the worst time. The beds are alright, but there are hundreds of insects and lizards everywhere.
The problem we had, was with the caretaker who was rude and completely unwilling to help. We rented cycles from the hostel, which are old and rusty and the breaks did not work. While cycling to town, my friend slid backwards down a slope and twisted her ankle.
The caretake was infinitely more concerned about his cycle than helping us. When I went and found him, to ask for help and explained the situation, he simply took the cycles back and went away.
I finally went on the road and found a taxi that took us to a clinic nearby and on our return, he refused to give us the empty room downstairs because we had booked the room upstairs online, even though he saw how much trouble my friend was having with the stairs.
Since we had an awful time, we decided to check out the next day and I couldn't even get help with our bags. We were travelling light but we both had a rucksack each, since my friend could barely walk, I had to carry both bags down and help my friend down. The caretake did not even move from his seat. He just sat and watched. I asked for help several times and he just stood at the bottom of the stairs and looked on, like he was there to assess my progress.
It is worth mentioning that the two of us were the only people staying at the hostel that night and we weren't interrupting work or being too demanding, all we asked was for some common courtesy and basic help, like a taxi service's number or directions to a clinic.
The WiFi did not work while we were there.
In all our time in Sri Lanka, this was the singularly most unpleasant experience we had. Most reviews for this place are so good and it was an awful disappointment. I suppose, without the injury, we may not have notice how rude and outright awful the man here is, but seeing how things turned out, I will not recommend this place to anybody.

Yala First Hostel

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