United Kingdom

We had a fantastic stay. The gardens were beautiful &amp; full of wildlife. We loved having Chill out days enjoying the many birds that visit to bath in the pool &amp; watching the 3 different kind of bats that visited in the evening. We were lucky to see a palm cat climbing one of the many coconut trees in the evening. The village was beautiful &amp; the locals were very friendly putting smiles on our faces every day. Nothing was to much trouble for the owner Wes, who accommadated our irregular eating times &amp; supplied some fantastic meals. If you like peace, quiet &amp; village life but only 15 minutes in a tuk tuk to the beach, shops &amp; bars then cinnamon lodge is the place to stay. :-)

Cinnamon Lodge, nr. Hikkaduwa

Couple from Derby, United Kingdom

I have just returned from Sri Lanka staying at Cinnamon Lodge cabana in Gonapinawala 3 miles from the restaurants shops and beautiful beaches of Hikkaduwa. Gonapinawala is a small village 10 mins walk from the cabana and has quite a few shops including a supermarket.The cabana is situated in the tropical gardens of the owners of Cinnamon Lodge Wes and Jenny (and their 2 dogs Sybil &amp; Hutch) and is very spacious having everything you could possibly need (and plenty of hanging space). Although there are no cooking facility’s apart from a kettle and toaster (and a fridge for milk and beers) to be honest you do not need them as the restaurants are a short tuk tuk ride away( with Chutti Wes &amp; Jenny’s recommended driver) in Hikkaduwa. Having said that I would recommend not going into Hikkaduwa but staying at Cinnamon Lodge, Why? Because Jenny is a wonderful cook far better than any restaurant, she can cook you anything you want or can make suggestions for Srilankan meals or anything else for that matter and explains what each dish is and a lot of the ingredients are grow in the garden so nice and fresh. I really enjoyed our chats in the evening with Wes &amp; Jenny on their patio after I had eaten.
The cabana has a large bed a seating area wet room type bathroom with toilet, hand basin and shower and hot &amp; cold water. Outside you have your own patio with seats a sun bed area and an amazing swimming pool feet from the cabana.
The garden is truly a tropical paradise with exotic plants and birds, dipping in and out the pool all day.I was only at the cabana for 9 nights (not nearly long enough) but managed to fit in a 2 day tour organised by Wes who has a huge knowledge of Sri Lanka with Udara one of Wes &amp; Jenny’s recommended tour guide/drivers who was not only a good driver and spoke good English but had an incredible knowledge of his beautiful island and a very friendly guy.
As I mentioned I was only there for 9 nights but will be going back next year for a longer visit, cant wait!!Kimber

 From Greenford, United Kingdom

We’ve just returned form 4 weeks in Sri Lanka and more than half of that time was spent with Jenny and Wes at “Cinnamon Lodge”.  The balance of the time was spent visiting sites in the cultural triangle.

We arrived fairly late in the evening after a long flight and long journey from the airport but  the sight of the garden, the pool and the Cabana really lifted our spirits.  We knew then that we had chosen wisely!  The next morning we woke to the sound of the jungle coming to life and stepped out into the fabulous garden.

We never tired of the garden with its flora and fauna.  There were all manner of flowers and flowering trees and Jenny was always happy to tell us what things were and how they could be cooked!   The pool attracted birds who would swoop down and take insects from its surface.  There were two particularly memorable birds, the wonderfully coloured Kingfisher and an Asian Paradise Flycatcher which visited regularly each day.  Outside the confines of the garden was the Jungle!  In the trees we saw monkeys, bats, snakes and more exotic birds.  We felt we were leaving Paradise when we left for home.

Although Hikkaduwa has many restaurants, Jenny’s home cooking takes some beating - she is a really good cook.  She always asked us what we would like to eat but we usually left it up to her and we were always very pleased.   Of the restaurants we tried, Spaghetti and Co was probably the best.  Basil, another Italian restaurant,  had great Pizza but the pumpkin and potato ravioli is not recommended.  Ranjits bar was the best place to sit with a cold beer watching the sun go down and the surfers catch the waves.

Gonapinawala is surprisingly large.  It has lots of shops, a post office two temples, a very helpful newsagent (who also sells english language newspapers) and a regular bus service to Hikkaduwa and Galle.  Traveling between Gonapinawala and Hikkaduwa was not a problem - we used the bus and the local Tuk-tuk driver recommended by Wes and Jenny.  

Finally, Wes has a vast knowledge of Sri Lanka and the local area and we valued his help and advice.

 From Croydon, United Kingdom

"Peace &amp; tranquility"
The cabana was exceptionally clean and comfortable. The pool and garden was beautiful and tranquil. One of our favourite pastimes was watching out for the different birds. It was a little bit further than we thought to the beach and is a bit remote but that too is part of the beauty of this location. We had an utterly chilled relaxing time. It would have been good to have a welcome cup of tea and a bottle of chilled water rather than an empty fridge! As a Sri Lankan ex-pat it wasnt very typically Sri Lankan and would have liked to be offered more Sri Lankan food. But a quick trishaw journey with Chuti the driver and fantastic authentic Sri Lankan food was only 20mins away. Be warned that there are two dogs...allbeit friendly and should have been forewarned.

 From London, United Kingdom

Once you get past the smell of the moth balls and get outside into the most tranquil garden, full of widelife, which you can while away the hours watching, you suddenley realise that you have made a really good decision, on choosing Cinnamon lodge as your guest house. The Garden and pool are great, this coupled with Wes and Jens hospitality and helpfulness makes all out for a great holiday. Thank you for a lovely time!

p.s. Chuti the tuk tuk driver is invaluable and punctual.

Qatar

 From Doha, Qatar

I stayed with my girlfriend at Cinnamon Lodge for two weeks in mid January 2010.

The setting for the accommodation is deep within the jungle and offers total privacy and seclusion. The gardens and swimming pool are glorious and were worthy of any five star resort, if not better. Although secluded and in the jungle, you are just a ten minute tuk-tuk journey from the town of Hikkaduwa where all the restaurants are. The tuk-tuk driver that Wes and Jenny recommended was punctual, courteous and in short - a great bloke.

The accommodation itself was great. It was extremely comfortable, spacious and was the perfect base from which to explore the beautiful South Western coast of Sri Lanka.

Wes and Jenny were fantastic hosts. They took the time to give us lots of helpful advice, which wouldnt be found in a guide book and proved invaluable in helping to make our stay a memorable one. I also greatly appreciated the fact that Wes and Jenny made considerable effort to ensure sure that my girlfriend and I had our own space around the pool and gardens. They were also happy to prepare meals for us at short notice. The food Wes and Jenny made was excellent and gave the nearby restaurants a run for their money.

My favourite memory from my stay at Cinnamon Lodge was swimming in the pool at 4pm, when the pool was at its warmest the sense of peace and tranquillity was awesome.

In short, I can fully recommend Cinnamon Lodge. It exceeded my expectations and resulted in me having a truly wonderful holiday in Sri Lanka.

Thanks Wes and Jenny!

Sri Lanka

 From Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka

Every Xmas we travel to a different part of the world to Scuba dive, we are a family of 3.   My wife and I are in our early 40’s with a 14-year-old son.

Jen and Wes were great hosts and were very friendly and made us feel welcome with plenty of tips on the area. The Cabana is spacious and cleaned by the housekeeper 3 times a week including linen and towels being changed. The cabana is basic with a small kitchen area which has a kettle, toaster, fridge and small sink, the bathroom/wet room has hot water. We could also have access to a kitchen in the main house to do our own cooking.   However we chose not to use this as we felt that we were intruding on Jen and Wesley’s personal space, so we chose to have Jen to cook for us when we had a day in, and the food was very good. The location of the cabana was ideal as it is located only 10 minutes by tuk-tuk from Hikkadua in a jungle village. Cinnamon lodge was relaxing and I enjoyed being surrounded by all the nature and could sit on the veranda in the morning watching the Chipmunks playing in the trees, King fisher taking a dip in the pool and in the evening sitting with a beer and admiring the fire flies. We could walk into the village to buy produce and alcohol without any hassle, the locals were very friendly and always said hello.   We were buying bananas for 1pence and pineapples for 40p and avocado pears were only 20 pence.

We had a great time in this area of Sri Lanka and Hikkadua was a great area for us as an active family. We could snorkel in the morning by the reef in calm waters or go surfing on the southern and livelier beach area. Snorkelling was five star and the fish we saw on the reef were Trigger, Angel, Butterfly, Unicorn and Puffer I also saw 2 Moray eels a giant and a honeycomb. There are also plenty of turtles  especially around the surfing area near Mambo’s bar.  We used to watch them swimming around the surfers and in the surf. 1 hours surfing lesson cost £10 and 1 full days board hire cost £5.

We used Poseidon for our Scuba diving and found them to be very professional and we did 30 relaxing dives at a total cost of £550.

We also travelled by train to Kandy and can only say it was an eye opener as we had to push and shove to get a seat. The whole journey took 6 hours on 2 trains, the first we had to stand for 2 and a half hours but the total cost was only £8 and we can recommend visiting Sigiriya  rock and the tea plantations in Nuwara Eliya.

Regards

Mark, Julie &amp; Wynston

 From Pontefract, United Kingdom

Just returned from a month's visit to Sri Lanka staying for one  relaxing week at Cinnamon Lodge. Wes and Jen were always on hand to offer friendly advice, drinks and even newpapers and meals if requested.  The Cabana is very spacious with good European style facilities.  The Pool is a welcome inclusion and the gardens are splendid, tended lovingly by their gardener.  The resident housekeeper cleaned the cabana 3 times a week and kept the exterior tidy by daily sweeping etc.  Hope to re-visit this lovely place  and can highly recommend for a peaceful relaxing holiday.

 From Bradford, United Kingdom

Had a rest from December, 20th till January, 19th. We remained are very happy! First: the house is located in a quiet place directly in jungle where there is no tourist vanity. Secondly: the house very cozy and spacious, and presence of pool and a magnificent garden only prove our choice. Thirdly: proprietors of the house (Jenny and Wes) have appeared very hospitable and open people, with good sense of humour. We not unitary addressed to them for the help and they always in all helped us. For it it huge gratitude. For the first days of stay in this house we have seen so much various kinds of beautiful birds, animals and insects that has been simply amazed. Various fruit grows in a garden, beautiful trees, palm trees and bushes with colors many. At times we wouldnt like to leave the house at all as we could sit hours at pool and observe of life of the wild nature as though on the TV screen, only it is much better. Still we very much liked two dogs who protected us, she is Sibul (girl) and Hatch (boy). They very friendly and kind. By the way, house cost includes cleaning of the house three times a week and change of bed-clothes of times in a week. Still there is a menu and you can always order meal at Jenny, it is very tasty prepares especially desserts. ?????? we how many havent regretted that have stopped at Jenny and Wes. They invited us to a party where we have got acquainted with their friends, with them we marked new year. It was very pleasant that people sincerely try to make ours ?????????? in the house as much as possible comfortable and unforgettable. Still separate thanks this site and directly Oleg, for the huge help with rent of this house. All top-level. We can tell with confidence that reserving habitation through this site, to you will render the qualified help from 100 % a quality assurance and reliability, Without what or a deceit. P.S. It was the most unforgettable travel. Thanks.

Wes

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