Hotel Riu Sri Lanka

Hotel Riu Sri Lanka sits directly on Ahungalla beach, a stretch of golden sand and turquoise water on Bentota's northern edge, and it is built on a different scale entirely from the boutique villas and mid-sized resorts elsewhere on this coast. With 501 rooms, it is by some distance one of the larger hotels covered here, and it operates under Spain's RIU Hotels & Resorts chain, bringing the group's 24-hour all-inclusive format to this part of Sri Lanka rather than the a la carte, pay-as-you-go dining typical of neighbouring properties.

That all-inclusive structure is the hotel's defining feature: meals and drinks are covered around the clock rather than at set restaurant hours, which suits guests who want a holiday with costs settled up front rather than a running tab building through the week. Five restaurants and four bars and lounges are spread across the property, including themed venues serving Italian and Asian food alongside more traditional Sri Lankan and international dishes, giving guests genuine variety within the all-inclusive rate rather than a single buffet room repeated every night of the stay.

Rooms number 501 across the property, each with air conditioning, a flatscreen satellite TV, a minibar, a safe and a private bathroom with a shower and hairdryer, plus a furnished balcony or terrace — a standardised, consistent room product that matches the hotel's scale rather than the individually styled rooms found at smaller boutique properties. Three outdoor freshwater pools give guests room to spread out across the grounds, complete with sun loungers and parasols, and a kids' club, children's pool and playground make clear this is a property built with families in mind as much as couples.

A spa on site runs massages, facials and body treatments for guests who want to step away from the pool deck, and the hotel's entertainment programme is a further point of difference from its smaller, quieter neighbours — RIU's all-inclusive format typically includes scheduled activities and evening shows rather than the low-key atmosphere of a boutique resort where guests are largely left to their own devices.

The beach itself, directly in front of the hotel, is the other half of the draw: golden sand and warm, turquoise water suited to long days spent doing very little, or to trying one of the water sports typically on offer at a resort of this size. Because the hotel operates as one large, self-contained complex, guests can move between the beach, the three pools, the restaurants and the entertainment areas over the course of a day without needing to plan much beyond what mood they're in.

Hotel Riu Sri Lanka suits travellers, and particularly families, who want a large-scale, all-inclusive beach holiday directly on Ahungalla's sand, with round-the-clock dining and ample pool space, rather than the smaller a la carte resorts that make up most of this stretch of coast.

Your transfer to Hotel Riu Sri Lanka

The nearest hotel on this site is Heritance Ahungalla in Ahungalla, a few minutes on foot.