Nice location, beautiful beach, good fresh swimming pool. Wow! There's 6 bungalows with 4 rooms each. The rooms on the first floor are very open. You have more privacy in the ground floor rooms. Every room has a private terrace. Nice to enjoy the evenings, watching the fireflies. We didn't really miss an AC in the rooms. Just a small... More

We spent the last 5 days of our honeymoon at this wonderful retreat! Don't be fooled by the drive up to the hotel because when the gates open they reveal beautiful lush tropical gardens and a lovely pool! The Retreat is a wonderfully laid back place, where you can do as much or as little as you like. We had... More

Small little hotel, 32 rooms, located about 100 mtrs from the beach (you walk through a green empty lot of land). The hotel is packed packed packed. Budget travellers (though this place has seen the rates hit the roof) but quality people. The place has a great sense of style, the rooms are non air conditioned. You get beers. Food... More

My wife and I booked 3 nights at the Tallala Retreat over Xmas as we wanted to stay somewhere special over Xmas - the Lonely Planet review and the hotel website certainly offered this. After travelling around Sri Lanka for the previous 10 days and stopping in other hotels around a similar price bracket (£105-130 pn) our excitement at stopping... More

The rooms and grounds are lovely and the open air bathrooms are wonderful. So easy to get to a nice beach and the pool is great. The massage and spa is very good too. We were there during a time when they only had a buffet, which was probably the least good thing (not the bad thing) about the trip.... More

My family and I stayed at Talalla Retreat for the second year running this April, having discovered it in 2012 almost by accident. Last time, we could only stay one night, but promised ourselves that if we ever returned to Sri Lanka we would spend more time at the Retreat. And so it was with very high expectations that we... More

I spent a week at Talalla and I enjoyed every single minute. It was the perfect, chilled out introduction to Sri Lanka. The rooms are open (i.e. no windows), spacious and clean. I loved the jungle sounds at night! The food was good (fresh grilled fish, lots of veggie curries, salads, hoppers etc) and there's lots of it. The staff... More

My boyfriend and I stayed in an upstairs room for four nights in February and had a wonderful time. The food, the yoga and the surfing was amazing and kicked started a much healthier fitness regime. Although the yoga was far more restorative rather than a workout in the way that vinyasa classes can be. The beach is wonderful, albeit... More

Talalla was the third place that I stayed in Sri Lanka and after being named a 'retreat' I was slightly disappointed. After staying in a great beach hut (Mangrove Cabanas) and a homestay (the Spice House) and paying double their price I was expecting a little more luxury retreat and a little less, kids holiday hotel! The rooms were great,... More