The best choice for us in Sri Lanka! Amazing personnel, friendly people, eco-friendly atmosphere, beautiful views and food! Cannot mention any negative moments about the hotel. Our first visit to... Read More Sri Lanka was unforgettable!
Great memories are with us now!

  The moment I walked into this hotel, I was in awe. The natural stunning beauty can be seen from most parts of the hotel, with our room getting an amazing... Read More view of the sea and sunsets.
The service is second to none, could not fault it and the staff were all super helpful and pleasant to speak with. Definitely the best hotel I've ever stayed in.

  We had a great time in Riff Hikkaduwa. The property is very well kept and beautiful, located in amazing place. We have special thank to chef Pradeep, who offered... Read More us great hospitality and excellent service, we highly recommended his seafood platter, it was amazing. We will come back again.

  The is the best hotel we’ve ever stayed in. It surpasses 5 stars. We were memorised right from arrival (following a two week tour of Sri Lanka) and all aspects... Read More lived up to our expectations! The breakfast is such a treat each morning; with so much choice, quality ingredients and beautiful presentation. The staff are wonderful - so attentive and delightful - and the facilities and rooms feel so clean. The room and design of the hotel is so carefully thought through, and the rooftop bar and sushi restaurant is breathtaking with some of the best sunsets we have seen. The view of the beach is also incredible to wake up to in the morning. The hotel restaurant is good value relative to nearby restaurants in hikka too. The signature cocktails are more expensive but very unique and worth trying! We can’t recommend staying at the Riff enough, we will be encouraging all our friends and family to visit! More

  An absolutely wonderful property. The standout is the rooftop bar and the Japanese restaurant which gives such a nice ambience and view. Food was outstanding also. It is lovely to... Read More have breakfast by the pool, overlooking the sea. Rooms were very comfortable and had all the facilities, tv, coffee/ tea making and a balcony with a fantastic view to relax in.
The service was really superb, I like to mention special thanks to the GM Angelo and Benisha who served us.
Breakfast also had an excellent selection to choose from. The set menu for dinner was also really tasty.

  Best place in Hikkaduwa!!
I absolutely love this place. It has it all. Amazing food at both restaurants dependant on if you fancy Japanese / international or Srilankan style. Great... Read More friendly staff throughout. Amazing cocktails and a perfect location.
It’s beautifully designed and a good place to watch the sunset.
Special thanks to Angelo who is always so helpful with making my visits so memorable.
Great for gluten free options if you’re a celiac

  My daughter and I stayed for two nights at Riff at the end of January and found everything about it wonderful - the service, location, food, room etc. A great... Read More hotel to experience the beautiful beaches of Hikkaduwa.

  We only had one night in Riff Hikkaduwa, but wish we’d had a few more.

The hotel is modern and elegantly designed, with a beautiful swimming pool overlooking... Read More the gorgeous beach and ocean. It’s also perfect for catching sunset!

There are plenty of sun-beds on the beach, and a number around the pool area.

Service is fantastic! The staff were attentive and went out of their way to be helpful. As English-speakers ourselves, we found communication to be excellent too.

The room was a good size and well laid-out. The bed was comfortable and the room clean. There is also a stunning sea-view. The only minor point for improvement is that the positioning of the air conditioning unit meant that it blew directly onto our faces (even when set to a low fan speed) which wasn’t particularly nice for sleeping (and at 30°C+ during the day, it was necessary to have the air conditioning on).

The hotel is in a good location, around a 25 minute walk to areas when you can snorkel and see turtles, or a slightly longer (and very pleasant) walk along the beach.

The breakfast was very good. We also ate in the rooftop Japanese restaurant for dinner. Despite a number of reviews to the contrary (albeit from a couple of years ago), service was excellent. Our appetisers were also very good. Our main courses were tasty but ultimately disappointing, as we had ordered udon noodles and were served soba noodles. This would have been fine if we’d simply been told that they didn’t have udon noodles but instead, rather gallingly, I was (incorrectly!) told by the waiter that we were wrong and the soba noodles were in fact udon. The bottom line here is that transparency/communication could be better in the restaurant, and perhaps the restaurant should simply adopt a policy of not offering dishes that cannot be delivered. The frozen margarita I ordered was also extremely watery and devoid of much flavour - I suspect just a case of using too much ice.

  Excellent place yet simple! Outstanding food at both the Japanese restaurant and the main restaurant. Great service. Not many amenities like big hotels but didn’t need any of that. ... Read More />
Will visit again! Riff you lived up to your reviews.

  My wife and I stayed at 3 Riff for 3 nights at the end of January and then again for 4 nights a week or so later after travelling. ... Read More The hotel is really well managed by Angelo who has a great friendly and professional team around him. I have been lucky enough to travel across the word and stayed in many hotels and I have to say the Riff Hotel is seriously up there with the best.

Great rooms with lovely views, all very clean as you would expect. Fantastic breakfast with lots of great choices.

Special mention to Jayakissa who is the life guard and looks after the pool etc, really nice guy. He also trays to look after turtle eggs and has a few protected areas for them. More

  Riff Hikkaduwa is one of the nicest places we've visited in Sri Lanka.
What a great hotel. It was perfect for a beach weekend getaway! My husband... Read More and I enjoyed the hotel, the amenities (spa, restaurants, beach and most of all the warm welcome from a very pleasant and accommodating staff. The main restaurant had such great, fresh and tasty food! The breakfast included was a big plus as you got to choose whatever you wanted from the menu. Lunch and dinner were great also with amazing seafood. The room was very nice, just as promised with a fabulous view of the Indian Ocean and the nice beach. Great gift shop with lots of great items. We will definitely return and highly recommend. More

  Stayed at Riff Hikkaduwa for two weeks at the end of January 2023. Our stay at the hotel was absolutely perfect from the time we booked a suite to the... Read More time we had a transfer to the airport. This hotel perfectly combines an incredibly high level of service with simple human care, kindness and hospitality. In detail: - Cuisine. Our absolute favorite is the rooftop Japanese restaurant, where we witnessed the most stunning sunsets of our lives. Don't let yourself be misled by the fact that you are offered Japanese food in Sri Lanka - the rolls and sushi here are incredible. The speed of service and friendliness of the staff is just 11/10. What made me feel special is that at one point, the restaurant waitstaff team began to memorize the dishes we regularly order and immediately offer them to us. That kind of attention is incredibly rewarding. Downstairs breakfasts are served à la carte and maybe after 2 weeks it can get boring due to the fact that there are not so many dishes (maybe they should add some more). The alcoholic and non-alcoholic cocktails turned out to be incredibly good here. This is usually a big problem, as beach hotels only know how to make gin tonics and bad pina coladas. - Rooms. We stayed in the Junior Suite. The room is huge and has a lot of space. The suite itself is in excellent condition, full... Stayed at Riff Hikkaduwa for two weeks at the end of January 2023. Our stay at the hotel was absolutely perfect from the time we booked a suite to the time we had a transfer to the airport. This hotel perfectly combines an incredibly high level of service with simple human care, kindness and hospitality.

In detail:

- Cuisine. Our absolute favorite is the rooftop Japanese restaurant, where we witnessed the most stunning sunsets of our lives. Don't let yourself be misled by the fact that you are offered Japanese food in Sri Lanka - the rolls and sushi here are incredible. The speed of service and friendliness of the staff is just 11/10. What made me feel special is that at one point, the restaurant waitstaff team began to memorize the dishes we regularly order and immediately offer them to us. That kind of attention is incredibly rewarding. Downstairs breakfasts are served à la carte and maybe after 2 weeks it can get boring due to the fact that there are not so many dishes (maybe they should add some more). The alcoholic and non-alcoholic cocktails turned out to be incredibly good here. This is usually a big problem, as beach hotels only know how to make gin tonics and bad pina coladas.
- Rooms. We stayed in the Junior Suite. The room is huge and has a lot of space. The suite itself is in excellent condition, full of modern appliances (including outlets with USB-port, dimmer switches for bedside lamps, and an absolutely silent air conditioner with tons of settings). The rooms are cleaned perfectly - we did not see a single speck of dust on the surfaces, and the plumbing always was as if it had just been installed today. Special thanks for the use of eco-friendly materials. All sorts of consumables (brushes, soaps, etc.) in the hotel are in recycled packaging! The only nuance many people talk about is the need to constantly lower the curtains in the bathroom if you're not staying alone. Really not a good solution, but you get used to it pretty quickly nonetheless. Perhaps they should replace them with sectional blinds or wooden shutters?
- The staff. I've never seen such a combination of high professionalism and human care that envelops you in literally everything, from coming down for breakfast to dealing with some minor everyday issues. The hotel really maintains a level like it's a major hospitality industry player, yet the manager greets you at breakfast and asks if you're doing okay.
- The territory of the hotel. The territory of the hotel itself is not very large, but very competently decorated. Of course, it would be great to have more sun beds by the pool, but there is not much space for it. The infinity pool itself is very well located, allowing you to both look at the raging waves of the ocean and quickly order yourself a cocktail or fresh fruit to your lounger. You can see that some parts of the hotel are a little «tired» (somewhere a little dirty sofas/chairs or peeling paint), but it is constantly renovated so there should be no problem with it in the nearest future.

Riff Hikkaduwa is an absolute must-stay, no matter how many days you are going to spend here. The only difference is that if you stay here for 2 days instead of a week or so, you will regret it and want more. (: And I'm already looking forward to going back to this hotel! More

  We really enjoyed the days on the beach. Personnel service is provided to each guests with nice touch. The breakfast with local dishes was so delicious. The Japanese rooftop restaurant... Read More has a top quality and excellent view over the see with an incredible sun set.

  I don't usually go to the same place twice as there is so much choice out there, but the Riff is the only place I want to go back to!... Read More The food here is some of the best I've ever had. The staff are wonderful and helped us with our cousins birthday celebrations. The staff made our stay extra special. Lovely, clean rooms with amazing views. 30 min walk by the sea to see turtles and snorkel. Lovely place, the best food and great people! Cant wait to come back next year.

  American traveler here. Lovely property, rooms, service, food, and ambiance. Beautiful saltwater pool. I came here to surf and it’s a 15 min walk to the breaks or a 2... Read More min tuk tuk ride ($1.50 and you can catch one in under a minute). Rooftop bar is great, as is the Japanese restaurant (delicious by international standards, and only Japanese restaurant in the area). Nice hotel away from the loud evenings in hikkaduwa, but close enough to feel like you can get involved if desired. The general manager, Angelo, is phenomenal. He cares about guests experience, as demonstrated by his daily visits to each guests table during breakfast. All of the staff members are a delight. 5/5