We stayed for one night as a family of 4 at the Grand Royal Hotel. We booked 2 rooms facing with balcony facing the river which gave us a brilliant view of the elephants bathing in the river. Hotel staff are friendly and welcoming. Rooms are a well kept and clean however, a little hit and miss with some things not working- TV receiver was not working in one room, remote control was missing from the other room. The housekeeping staff work very hard to keep the rooms clean and front of house is very helpful and friendly. Cons: You have to buy a ticket to the elephant park orphanage to check into your room as the hotel is located near the river where the elephants bathe. This is cleverly timed so that when you check in you will not be told that you have missed the feeding time at the orphanage and the tickets are only valid on the day of purchase. Therefore, if you do want to visit the orphanage the next day, you will have to purchase another ticket. As it is, the hotel gives you access to view the elephant bathing in the river. The hotel has very little control over this as the hotel is not affiliated with the elephant orphanage, which is government run. Perhaps asking for the alternative access route to the hotel may be worth investigating! Some elephant feeding happens here at the river, beware of receiving fruit to feed the elephants from kind strangers as they will then hold you ransom demanding money for the fruit after. My children were upset by the way the elephants were treated. Tourists were climbing on the elephants while they were bathing in the river and there some of them were chained- we were told this was for safety. Having viewed these beautiful creatures in the wild it was quite underwhelming and cruel to see them in this environment. If you would like the unique experience of waking up to elephants in the river from the comfort of your hotel and being close up then this is for you. There is nothing to do in Pinnawala after 4pm. Otherwise you would be better off doing a safari and watching elephants in the wild.
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