In November 2023, we stayed at My Village Hotel, which is located slightly north of Tissamaharama (or as the Locals call it “Tissa”). If you are looking for a relaxing stay with the possibility to do a safari tour through the incredible Yala National Park, then this is definitely the place for you. Besides a spacious, clean, and fully equipped room with en-suite bathroom and AC, the amazing pool allows you to take a much needed cold swim after the safari or a hot day trip to one of the surrounding towns. The owners and their staff are all unbelievably nice and take great care of you. They have perfect Tipps for trips and arrange stuff like TukTuks, Taxi, and Safari tours for you! They offer the safari at around 30-40 thousand LKR for a half day tour, which is matching even the cheapest local prices we found. Our safari guide, Pati, was the best we could’ve gotten. While other people saw a few animals in the park, Pati rushed through the best spots and anticipated the animals' behavior so that we saw just about everything there is to see at Yala National Park. With a superb breakfast and even takeaway boxes for the safari (because it started at 5am), the hotel could not offer a better all round experience. In the evening, you can stay in and enjoy freshly prepared local dishes (or western, if you prefer those). You can get a glimpse of the staff preparing the food in the open kitchen and enjoy your meal for about 1500-2500 LKR per dish - great value!

The property was clean and comfortable with excellent a/c and the breakfast was delicious. The staff were superb - kind and courteous, nothing was too much trouble. The hotel organised a fantastic half day safari to Yala on our behalf and also a taxi (Khalid was our driver, great guy) to our next destination (Nuwara Eliya) without any fuss or drama - the arrangements all worked like a dream. They also recommended a restaurant locally that we really enjoyed - 'Chef Lady', where we were royally looked after by Sanjiva - so well looked after we went twice!

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A cool and comfortable place to stay, we loved the mezzanine style area upstairs where we could sit and relax comfortably, out of the sun. We appreciated being changed to an alternative room with an outside window (instead of just an inner courtyard one). The pool and surrounding garden is an ideal place to cool off and have a swim with plenty of lounger space and natural shade of the trees. Lovely breakfast. They arranged a great safari for us and we were lucky enough to spot two leopards. We loved the well stocked breakfast box which was provided to us to take on the safari.

It is worth asking for a room with an outside window.

Loved the setting of property, the pool was so beautiful surrounded by trees. It was perfect to be able to cool off and chill after a busy safari day. We had visits from monkeys and bats so you really felt surrounded by nature. The host was very kind and helpful, arranging a safari for us and also transport for the next day. We had an amazing safari with Mari and Eshan, they worked so hard all day driving us around trying to find a leopard and eventually we had an amazing sighting of a male leopard. They made the day really enjoyable. We had a lovely dinner at the property and also a huge delicious breakfast.

My Village has a really nice vibe, with a beautiful garden, open spaces to lounge, great pool with enough beds. The owner/manager is super nice (as is the rest of the staff) and knows how to make you feel comfortable. We loved everything about this place, and after a few active weeks in Ella, Kandy, Arugam Bay it was a total delight to be able to chill out in My Village. The photos don't lie: everything is well equipped, the rooms are spacious with great airco and nice beds. They've also got a very good kitchen - for both breakfast, lunch and dinner, so you don't even have to leave. If you do want to venture out, which we did on a few occassions, everything is easily within reach with a TukTuk. And: They can also help you organise a Yala safari.

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Good location and really lovely pool and surroundings - well designed to fit lovely natural surroundings. Friendly and helpful staff. Really great safari to Bundala National Park - our safari guide, Mari, was excellent and very knowledgeable and respectful of the animals. This safari with Mari was the highlight of our trip so far. Hotel provided a packed breakfast for early morning safari.

There was one day that the kitchen was closed but we weren’t aware of this and as we had a safari booked, we weren’t able to arrange to eat somewhere else. Nice food however more difficult with allergies especially with food provided for early morning safari. The room was comfortable but maybe could do with an update/brightening up.

The hotel’s external spaces were well landscaped, peaceful and relaxing. Staff were helpful in organising a safari and providing a large picnic breakfast.

There was no WIFI for those rooms adjoining the pool annexe. The dinner service was extremely slow. Guests were waiting up to an hour to eat. On the second night we ordered in advance and stated the time we wished to eat. This worked much better and maybe something the hotel should suggest to its guests. There were 3 steps down into the bathroom from our room which I felt was unsafe for nighttime visits. Water from the shower was tepid.

Just outside of Tessa town which is good for us, close enough to be accessible but away from the hustle and bustle. Pool area was across the road but a 5 second walk and was lovely, good breakfast, room was a good size, plenty of seating areas outdoors. They arranged our safari for us and we didn’t find it anymore expensive than others we’d seen advertised - also packed us a great picnic box up for breakfast of water, banana’s, sandwiches, yoghurt and cake. We didn’t eat there in the evening but the food looked good, we found a fab little place called chef lady about a 10 minute walk away and the food was amazing

Minor problem but the staff didn’t speak much English, however I was in their country and didn’t speak their language so more of a problem for me. Having said that we got everything we needed and had no problems.

Beautiful room and hotel. Hot shower and good aircon. Poolside was lovely too. Only here for the one night and our safari was arranged from me contacting My Village prior to our arrival. Packed lunch breakfast was provided for our early departure to Yala safari. There was plenty, 2 sandwiches, fruit, chocolate milk, yogurt, some biscuits and bottled water. Evening meal was good but very limited as only rice or noodles were available, unsure why as more was on the menu. Also service wasn’t great during our meal. I planned on getting a dessert but as no one came I didn’t bother.

The hotel was very beautiful and perfectly set the tone for the safari. The room was very spacious and comfortable. The food at the restaurant is always freshly prepared and was very delicious and reasonably priced. The pool is clean and has very comfortable loungers. The hotel organized a safari for us, and our driver, Chamara, was friendly and very knowledgeable about Yala National Park and treats the animals with respect. We even saw a leopard. For breakfast, the hotel provided us with lunchboxes. Overall, I would highly recommend the hotel.

Everything was great