Smeralda Beach Hotel is a renovated beachfront hotel at Batigama, Dikwella, near Hiriketiya Bay, with eight ocean-view balcony rooms, a pool and its own beach access. Run by Smeralda Resorts with an Italian touch, it pairs modern rooms with the Baia restaurant, where Italian, Mediterranean and Sri Lankan cooking is served on the lawn or right on the sand.
The hotel has a single room type, so every guest gets the same view.
Each room takes up to three guests: two adults and a child or infant, three adults, or one adult with two children, with an extra bed for the third person. Children aged 12 and over count as adults. A baby cot is free of charge (one per room), and baby baths, high chairs and a children's menu are available on request. All rooms are non-smoking, though smoking is allowed on the balconies. Check-in is at 2pm and check-out at 11am.
Baia Restaurant faces the ocean and serves breakfast by the sea, lunch and dinner under the stars. The menu mixes Italian, Mediterranean, Sri Lankan and Indian influences: fresh seafood, Italian pasta, grilled dishes, tropical salads and local favourites, with fresh juices, specialty coffee, cocktails and wine. Breakfast runs from 7am to 10.30am, lunch from noon to 2.30pm and dinner from 7pm to 10pm, and room service is available from 7am to 10pm. The pool bar opens at 9am and stays open until the last guest leaves. The restaurant is also open to non-residents, so book ahead for dinner.
The hotel opens straight onto the beach, with its own loungers, and there is an outdoor swimming pool. Fibre Wi-Fi is free throughout, reception is staffed from 7am to 11pm with a security guard at night, and there is free secure parking in front of the hotel (space is limited, so mention it if you are driving). There is no laundry on site, but clothes can be sent out. The team can arrange taxis and excursions, and special set-ups for birthdays, anniversaries and honeymoons, including a dinner table laid on the beach.
The surf and cafés of Hiriketiya Beach are about 2 kilometres away in a straight line, an easy walk or a five-minute tuk-tuk ride, and the hotel sits on Dikwella Beach. The towering Buddha statue of Wewurukannala Viharaya is a short drive inland, and the sea spout at Hummanaya Blow Hole is a little way east along the coast. Tangalle is about 11 kilometres east, with nesting beaches beyond it where you can go turtle watching at the Rekawa Turtle Observation Camp. With an early start, Yala National Park makes a full-day safari.
No. Casa Smeralda is its sister property about 200 metres away in a straight line: a five-bedroom beachfront villa with a tropical garden, a pool and the Lido restaurant, known for wood-fired pizzas. Choose Smeralda Beach Hotel for an ocean-view room with a balcony, or Casa Smeralda for a family room or the whole villa.
Yes. Wewurukannala Railway Station is about five minutes away by tuk-tuk or taxi. Smeralda Resorts puts the train journey from Colombo Fort at roughly three and a half to four hours, depending on the service, and can arrange a pick-up from the station.
The hotel is about 162 kilometres in a straight line from Bandaranaike International Airport, and Smeralda Resorts puts the drive at around two and a half to three and a half hours via the Southern Expressway and the Matara to Tangalle coast road. The easiest way to arrive is a private transfer from Colombo airport to Smeralda Beach Hotel, door to door. For other options in the area see our places to stay in Dikwella.
Pre-book a private vehicle for arrival, departure, or onward travel.
