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5.0
#1 of 74 hotels in Ella
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Value
Perched above the picturesque Ella valley, EKHO Ella offers the opportunity to leave behind the hustle and bustle of everyday life and immerse yourself in everything that is beautiful about Sri Lanka. Imagine holding a cup of Ceylon tea with the natural beauty of Ella Gap before you or lounging with a your favorite book in the midst of nature , EKHO Ella is a soothing balm for a weary soul. At EKHO Ella, guests deserve the best in everything. All 12 rooms and 2 suites are enticingly appointed to provide a restful stay with most offering a vista the over Ella Gap. All rooms are completed with modern comforts and the suites extend to a private jacuzzi.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
HOTEL STYLE
Great View
Quaint
Languages Spoken
English, Sinhala
Location
Regency Wing No. 02 Galle Road, Ella 03 Sri Lanka
EKHO Ella
578 reviews
Getting there
Great for walkers
Places to stay are graded on a 0-100 scale. The higher the grade, the easier it is for travellers to find restaurants and things to do within walking distance.
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EKHO Ella captivates guests with its charming railway theme and meticulous attention to detail, both in its well-appointed rooms boasting local flair and stunning views, and throughout the tranquil, beautifully maintained grounds. Nestled close to Ella's center, the hotel offers an inviting atmosphere and easy access to landmarks like Little Adam's Peak.
Service at EKHO Ella is frequently lauded for its attentiveness, although opinions on value and cleanliness show some divergence. The amenities, including lush gardens and jacuzzis, add to the overall allure, despite occasional maintenance remarks.
Location
Picturesque
Atmosphere
Charming
Rooms
Tasteful
Value
Mixed
Cleanliness
Immaculate
Service
Attentive
Amenities
Relaxing
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The Ekho Ella hotel is in a great location, only a few mins walk to restaurants and a short car/tuk tuk to the station, Little Adams Peak, the Nine Arch bridge and the local tea factory.
The staff were very friendly and approachable, especially the waiter who served us at breakfast, lunch and dinner, who went out of his way to make sure we were well looked after and gave a very good service.
Food was very nice - we were there for two nights and had a delicious and filling breakfast each morning although the cooked breakfast could have been hotter as it was served lukewarm. We also had one lunch and one dinner and the food was very good.
Rooms were comfortable with a good shower and comfy bed. We had booked two superior rooms as we were travelling with my parents and the room they had was nicer with a better view, although they did have the noise from the road. Our room was smaller and on the ground floor, with patio doors out to the garden so there wasn’t much privacy unless we kept the blinds closed which made the room feel dark.
The view from the main patio area and restaurant is stunning and I would recommend staying here for that alone! You are looking over Ella gap, with Little Adams Peak on one side and Ella Rock on the other side.
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Date of stay: February 2020
Location
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from ECOMDM, EKHO Ella Team at EKHO Ella
Responded 25 Feb 2020
Dear Holidaymad, Thank you very much for your rating and insightful review. We appreciate you taking the time to highlight your experience at the property. Our ground floor room view is the garden and upper floor room view is the Ella Gap. The Deluxe rooms are slightly larger in size compared to Superior Rooms. We are delighted to hear that you had a wonderful stay at EKHO Ella and our team will be glad to see your wonderful comments. Thank you very much for the recommendation. Please do let us know when you are visiting Ella next time and it will be a pleasure to welcome you back. Wishing you safe travels...
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The Ekho will cost £100 for a room overlooking Ella Rock with breakfast, we had a lovely superior room with plenty of space . Breakfast is served at your table rather than buffet and there is plenty of choice , just leave 45 mins rather than rushing . Wish we had more time to spend there as nice to just sit enjoying the views with a cool drink
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Date of stay: February 2020Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from ECOMDM, EKHO Ella Team at EKHO Ella
Responded 20 Feb 2020
Dear Valued Guest, Thank you very much for your rating and review. We appreciate you taking the time to highlight your experience at the property. We are delighted that you had an enjoyable stay with us. We look forward to welcome you back soon! Warm Regards, EKHO Hotels & Resorts Team
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We stayed here while doing a tour of the area, we were surprised that the hotel rooms were made to be like train carrages, our room had a waiting room area with a small bench, old carraige lights etc, we had a plate of fruit in the room when we arrived and the room was good. our only concern was it was down 3 flights of stairs, My husband is blind and this was a issue for us, however they advised us that we could move to a ground floor room the next day. This room was also great and they even put a small step to help hime get onto the patio area. The grounds are kept well and the views are fanatstic, the only down point was the hot tub is not kept hot, so when we wanted to use it it was too cold. Food was the best we had all holiday your chef should be proud of the food he prepares. Breakfast was great many choices and freshly cooked, dinner was also very good. Staff were so helpful and frendly that we have both agreed that if we go back we would have to revist this hotel. Well done to all of you for making our stay so good.
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Date of stay: February 2020
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Room Tip:ground floor rooms are the best if steps are an issue for you.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from EKHO_ELLA, General Manager at EKHO Ella
Responded 25 Mar 2020
Dear Guest, The team at EKHO ELLA would like to thank you for posting this wonderful review on TripAdvisor. We are delighted in reading your review and knowing you had an memorable stay with us. We at EKHO Hotels truly try to go that extra mile in providing the best of personalized service and we are thrilled in knowing our team of associates was able to deliver that to you. Thank you for your recommendation. We await most eagerly to welcome you back for yet another relaxing holiday, indulging in the best of hospitality.
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After the covid19 lock down for about 3+ months, we started our traveling again. We booked this hotel for two nights on HB basis. We were given a very warm welcome by Mr.Anupa and all the health care measures were taken due to the pandemic. Check in was very quick and we are lucky that they gave us a free room upgrade to the room with the best view. (Sagarika) Hotel interior were completely designed like a train. You'll find it pretty attractive since that type of designs are rare and takes ot of cost to maintain. But they keep them very nice and clean. The view from the hotel garden and the room is mesmerizing! you'll get stoned once you see it. The complete view of Ella gap and in a clear day, the view extends up to southern coastal line of Sri Lanka. It's a feeling like you are lying between the Ella rock and Little Adams Peak. Due to the pandemic, the hotel staff were somehow decreased by the management. Eventhough very few members are availble, They did a tremendous job to keep us comfortably every moment. Very special thanks goes to Priyantha & Sanjeewa, who took a great care of us going over and beyond. The Service is neat and clean. Always pleasant and shared their thoughts with us like we are family. We enjoyed it very much. Thank you Priyantha for that lovely art work on the second day after the house keeping in our room. And Sanjeewa for your attentive and friendly service. I must say that from the front office to each and every staff member who are available during this tough time should get our gratititude for making our stay a memorable one. Facilities, Food, Service, Location and all the required amenities are 100% granted to the guests. Really it was a lovely host to be. I highly recommed this property to anyone and wishing them good luck! EKHO ELLA, one of the best hotels in Sri Lanka and defenetly the number 1 in Ella, please keep this standard forever.
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Date of stay: June 2020
Location
Service
Sleep Quality
Room Tip:Ask for the room 'Sagarika', which has the best view apart from the suite rooms.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Dulanka Balasuriya, Marketing at EKHO Ella
Responded 18 Aug 2020
Dear Valued Guest, Thank you very much for your rating and review. We appreciate you taking the time to highlight your experience at the property. We are delighted to hear that you had an enjoyable stay with us. It was our absolute pleasure to serve you and we will share your feedback with our team members. We look forward to welcome you again soon! Warm Regards, EKHO Hotels & Resorts Team
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We spent two nights at Ekho Ella after arriving on the Kandy to Ella train. The hotel is a short tuk tuk ride from the station. The hotel has a quirky train theme, which made us nearly not book here, but so glad we did, because the view from the room and restaurant was amazing. We looked right down Ella Gap and at Little Adam's Peak. We put the overdone mats and cushions in the cupboard to feel more comfortable in the room.
There are massive large glass windows which slide like glass sliding doors to make the most of the view while being in the room. From the hotel we took a tuk tuk to the Ravana Zipline where the walk to Little Adam’s peak starts and it’s possible to visit the 9 Arch Bridge on the return. We were only a short walk from café and restaurants, but happy to retreat to the tranquillity of the hotel.
We would stay here again for the wonderful view and friendly, professional staff.
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Date of stay: March 2020
Location
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from EKHO_ELLA, General Manager at EKHO Ella
Responded 14 Jun 2020
Dear Guest, Thank you for taking the time to share this lovely experience at EKHO ELLA on Tripadvisor. We also appreciate your kind words which describes how marvelous the service provided. The team would be so pleased to note your comments.Thank you for recognizing their service. It has been a real pleasure to have served you and we look forward to welcoming you back to EKHO ELLA.
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Stayed here with my family for 2 nights in January and would highly recommend. The hotel is cosy and quirky basing its immaculate rooms on railway carriages has an unparalleled view of Ella Gap and a patio so you can just sit and enjoy the view. The rooms we had all faced the view as does the lovely dinning room where we had a sumptuous breakfast and evening meal ( which was a set menu that changed for the 2nd night ) there is also a la carte but the set menu gave enough choices for all of us. We were attended to throughout our dining by Sanjeeva at breakfast and dinner the service was excellent and he was very helpful and accommodating. It’s a three minute short walk to Ella high street so location was excellent I will stay there again if I am in Ella.
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Date of stay: January 2023Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from EKHO Hotels Management Team, Other at EKHO Ella
Responded 22 Jan 2023
Dear Sir / Madam, We’re so happy to hear that you had a great experience at EKHO Ella Your review made our day. Our whole team works very hard to keep our guests happy. But we can only do it, thanks to amazing guests like you. Our team will be happy to hear that their hard work has paid off. Thanks again, and we hope to serve you again soon. Warm Regards, EKHO Hotels Management Team
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We (Spouse and I) being senior citizen choose this hotel purely its location in salubrious weather condition. During our stay we have experienced best room decor and meticulously arranged room in upper floor, for which full credit should goes to Priyantha of housekeeping section. Chef Rohan has amazing abilities to prepare and serve mouthwatering meals anytime of the day. His immense skills and positive attitudes are added value to the property. Dinesh and Nishal were two dedicated team members of the restaurant. They can satisfy any kind of customer, with their smiling faces and attentive manners. We wish them all the very best! - Lionel Jayawardene of Ratmalana
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Date of stay: September 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Nuwan Wijerathne, General Manager at EKHO Ella
Responded 30 Dec 2022
Dear Guest, Thank you for your five-star rated review of EKHO ELLA on TripAdvisor. It is a pleasure to know that you had enjoyed a memorable stay with us. We truly appreciate the time you have taken in sharing your experience with fellow reviewers. Your compliments about the room, our food and the services of our friendly, attentive staff are greatly appreciated. We are ever so pleased to read that you will visit us again in the future and we await to welcome you back for yet another memorable stay. Ayubowan (May you live long)!
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We were looking forward to this stop on our trip the most and it did not disappoint. The views speak for themselves - the moment we stepped into the lobby and we could see down the corridor out to the hillside our jaw dropped! The service at the hotel was top notch and we immediately went out to the terrace for a drink and a snack. Unlike our other stops in sri lanka, this hotel had a full bar with high quality products and even Hennessy in the minibar. Food was excellent and had lots of both local and Western dishes and seafood.
We stayed in the honeymoon suite with the jacuzzi and it was definitely the right choice. The room was huge, with an incredible view and of course the jacuzzi! We ordered wine and shisha to the room and had an unforgettable and relaxing evening. The included 5-course dinner was delicious, they had excellent high end wines to accompany, and the staff really made our stay top notch. Sandjiva the restaurant manager went out of his way to attend to our every need and very fast and great service throughout the stay with anything we may want. We did not do any hiking so I can't speak to that but Little Adam's Peak is walking distance. Overall a very relaxing stay with the mountains covered in mist. Highly recommend splurging on the honeymoon suite, you won't regret it.
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Date of stay: January 2022
Location
Service
Sleep Quality
Room Tip:Get the honeymoon suite
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from EKHO Hotels Management Team, Marketing at EKHO Ella
Responded 12 Apr 2022
Dear Guest, Greetings from EKHO Ella ! We’re so delighted to hear that you chose EKHO Ella as a magical designation to spend your special day in your life in Sri Lanka. Thank you for taking a moment to share your beautiful and exciting experience at EKHO Ella. We’re proud to deliver great value to our guests, so we’re delighted that you found our service to be in five star. We take pride in providing a clean and comfortable space for all of our guests, so our team appreciates that you noticed. We strongly believe that fresh, high-quality ingredients make all the difference in every food we prepare that definitely make your taste buds happy! :) It’s an honour to be a part of this important day, and we hope your experience here made it extra special. We wish you many more years of happiness and thank you once again for your stay and your valuable feedback and look forward to welcoming you back to our hotel EKHO Ella in the future.
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I and my wife visited and stay two nights in EKHO Ella in last week of January. Really it was a very good place for a relaxed vacation. The view of Ella Gap is breath taking. You can take a bath from the hot outdoor jacuzzi with the view of Ella gap. Really it relaxed all our mind and body. Also the restaurant is facing to the Ella Gap.
Rooms are very comfortable and clean. There are 14 rooms in this hotel and all are designed to a train theme. All of 14 rooms are named with most famous train names in Sri Lanka. “Udarata Manike” and “Senakadagala Manike” rooms have private jacuzzi and view of Ella Gap. Pillows are designed like a train ticket. Also the key tag is like a train ticket.
The most important thing is their service. Staff is very friendly and helpful. We arrived the hotel around 4.30 pm after a 10 hours train journey from Colombo. We were very hungry and tired. They prepared a delicious lunch for us at that time with a small request even it was not a lunch time. All meals were tasty, delicious, mouth watering and nicely presented. EKHO Ella offer A-le Cart menus. But they were flexible to change it according to our requirements. “Hashan” at the restaurant, who served us during our stay is very friendly and helpful. I would be grateful for their fabulous service during our stay.
We traveled in a period when the Covid-19 restrictions had. Their security measures for prevent the spread of Covid-19 was at satisfactory level.
I really loved this place as I’m a rail fan and this hotel is designed to a train theme. I would like to highly recommend this for those who like for a relaxed vacation.
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Date of stay: January 2021
Value
Service
Sleep Quality
Room Tip:Rooms in upper floor have best view
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Nuwan Wijerathne, General Manager at EKHO Ella
Responded 13 Feb 2021
Dear Dilum, We thank you for having chosen EKHO Ella and for taking a moment of your valuable time to share your recent experience on TripAdvisor. We are delighted to read that you had an enjoyable stay and was impressed with the food, room and the services offered. We will certainly share your compliments with the team, especially with Hashan as it is always so encouraging for them to be appreciated. Once again thank you for staying with us, especially for a celebratory holiday and we sincerely hope to have the opportunity of welcoming you back, in the not too distant future. Ayubowan! (May you live long)
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My fiancé & I are seasoned luxury travellers. We spent 10 days travelling around in Sri Lanka, and EKHO Ella was supposed to be the highlight of our trip. I booked the honeymoon suite and expected great things due to the positive reviews on Booking.com.
Sadly the room was tired (furniture and soft furnishings were old and worn out), dirty (the walls need a lick of paint, and the soft furnishings were stained and need replacing). The room was dark, and the only natural light came from the jacuzzi area which is a shame. We could only enjoy the view from the garden, but not from our room. There is no pool which is crazy for the price the charge (£220 per night).
The jacuzzi in our room felt dirty and uninviting. The biggest problem was that whenever there was a power cut in the area, the jacuzzi automatically reset itself and turned on. During our stay there were 4 power cuts at night, which meant that between 2am - 4am the jacuzzi turned on and started spraying water literally everywhere around the room. Needless to say that we didn't get much sleep at night as power cuts are quite common in Sri Lanka. The room next to ours also had a jacuzzi. As jacuzzis are loud creatures, the neighbouring rooms can definitely hear them.
There was a speaker in the hallway just outside of our room, so we could hear the music from our bed (eg. acoustic version on Linking Park was playing close to 10pm...), which is not necessarily what we wanted during your romantic stay.
Dinner in the restaurant was good, but breakfast was rather sad. It is such a shame, because the staff are literally the nicest people we have ever met in our entire lives, and couldn't have been more helpful and more professional.
We were supposed to stay in the hotel for 2 nights, but checked out after our first night. We relocated to 5* hotel in Ella which was honestly breathtaking (we had our own little chalet with a view over the tea plantation, 5* food and 5* service, plus pool and spa) for £150 per night.
So my advice is not to be fooled by the clever photos and rave reviews on booking.com. The hotel has potential, but you're better off staying somewhere else in Ella for less money and a better overall experience.
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Date of stay: February 2022
Value
Rooms
Service
Room Tip:We booked the honeymoon suite but wish we chose another hotel instead...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from EKHO Hotels Management Team, Marketing at EKHO Ella
Responded 28 Apr 2022
Dear Guest, Greetings from EKHO Ella ! First and fore most thank you for choosing our hotel EKHO Ella and for taking the time to write a review! We would like to express our apologies that you have a negative experience in our hotel. Kindly be advised that our team is working on the case and escalated it to the management for immediate action to ensure that this incident is not repeated again and follow up accordingly. We hope to have the chance to welcome you back again, and we do encourage you to contact us reservations@ekhohotels.com to discuss your experience in more detail. We hope your next stay at EKHO Ella will be more pleasant stay and looking forward to welcoming you back again.
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Kelaniya, Sri Lanka154 contributions66 helpful votes
I recommend a HB package as you will be sought seeing a lot in Ella. There's Zip Lining which everyone will enjoy, Ravana Ella, Ravana Cave, Nil Diya Pokuna, the 7 Arches bridge.... Etc
HB should be around 25000/- to 30000/- (TRP) as you will be charged that amount with your family.
It should be even less as no foreign guests.
See offers on credit cards too
I hope this is helpful....
There are more places to choose from in the Ella area.
PRICE RANGE
₹11,911 - ₹20,970 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
LOCATION
Sri LankaUva ProvinceElla
NUMBER OF ROOMS
14
Prices are provided by our partners, and reflect average nightly room rates, including taxes and fees that are fixed, known to our partners, and due at time of booking. Please see our partners for more details.
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