MOI Ella by DBI

This hotel is basic. No duvet in the room, apparently you have to request one. Nice welcome tea and some local snacks while waiting to check in but beware there are still mosquitoes around despite the cooler temperature. I got bitten twice whilst waiting to check in. I was put on the ground floor with a view of the car park which was disappointing given the incredible views on offer of Ella from the rooms higher up. They have a swimming pool from what I can tell is a bit cold! The omelette at breakfast was good and they found me some green tea when I asked for it. The buffet at dinner was ok and included slices of pizza. Staff were friendly and helpful. All in all I imagine this hotel offers great views but it is way too far out from the centre of Ella so if you plan to go into town in the evening you’re looking at paying around 5,000 rupees for a taxi to take you, wait there for you and bring you back. So unless you’re there for a specific reason I’d stay closer to all the shops and bars in town.

This hotel is located some 15km from Ella town centre. Fine if you have transportation, awesome if you enjoy the calls of Mother Nature. No so, if the above two points don't apply to you. Other than the above, the staff are friendly, welcoming and extremely helpful. They took pains to explain where every facility was located in the hotel. As for the rooms, you get a large room. Yes, it's a rather large room, clean, comfortable and a lovely balcony to sit and relax. As the hotel is located on a hill, the weather is cooler than most areas in the Ella region, truly a great place to relax and unwind. The negative side is that the walls and floors are transparent. So if you have noisy neighbours like we had, their incessant talking, dragging of furniture and even footsteps kept us awake till the early hours of the morning. For this, this was a downside. Surely, the highlight of our stay is the restaurant food. Be it an Ala carte mea; order, or the buffet breakfast, the food is truly excellent. I'd say one of the best meals in the entire 9-day of our stay in Sri Lanka

Hotel Review: MOI by Ella I recently stayed at MOI by Ella, and while the staff were exceptionally friendly and attentive, the overall experience was disappointing and far from what I expected. The lack of soundproofing was a major issue. We could hear everything from the neighboring rooms, including running tap water and conversations, which made it difficult to relax. The situation was even worse during the weekend when a DJ played loud music, dogs barked throughout the night, and the general noise level made sleeping nearly impossible. The family room we booked was also underwhelming, with a view of a concrete wall that felt claustrophobic. Although the receptionist mentioned we had been upgraded to a family room with a kitchen, the design of the room was still lacking—there was no proper seating for four people. Adding to the frustration, the cleanliness was questionable. Finding someone’s extension eyelashes in the bathroom made it clear the room hadn’t been cleaned properly, which was unacceptable for the price we paid. At $350 per night without breakfast, the stay was far too expensive for the quality of the experience. MOI by Ella is highly overrated, and it failed to deliver the quiet, relaxing atmosphere it advertises. I cannot recommend staying here, especially on weekends.

The hotel is situated at a distance of 14 Kms from the Elle Railway station. After eight hours in the train it looked quite a long journey to us. The hotel is in middle of a very very dense forest and there is hardly anything around it. The room was too basic for our comfort. The hotel reception manager Mr Sahiru is a very helpful person. We were told that since there are very few guests we have to choose from a set menu, one starter, one main meal and one dessert. It was getting late still I requested Mr Sahiru if they can make food of our choice without altering the quality. He called up chef and it was arrange. The food served was quite tasty and quantity was too plateful. The view of the forest from the top is just amazing but the top most platform to step up is quite risky. The steps are very high, it must be addressed. The mesmerising view is able to connect with the nature. However, we decided to cut short our visit by one day and head to Weligama by paying extra money to them. Since we were leaving early the next day our meal plan of breakfast and dinner was converted in Breakfast and lunch. Again the food was great and chef and staff were very very polite and helpful. Actually the manager felt bad that we are leaving early and offered us to change the room but we politely told them it is not about the room, it is about the isolated location and we can’t do anything in two days. They have a superb swimming pool which we saw the next day kids were enjoying a lot. If you are looking for an absolutely quiet place to spend your stay and you don’t care about staying with luxury you must stay at this place. In the end our gracious thanks to Eranda, Ishaan, Sahiru, and Manjula, at Moi Ella. You were all wonderful people but somehow we were looking for something else. Your Sri Lankan cuisine was out of the world and we loved it. A comment for visitors, all the websites will tell you to visit 9 Arches bridge in Elle but you must note that it is quite a steep and long walk from the road. You can take take a Tuktuk from the road but it will still leave you almost one and half kilometres of very steep downwards and upwards climb. My wife could not do it but went but it was quite a huffing and puffing while coming up. You might decide to go tere depending on how fit you are. As compared to many pictures there is no train ever passing through the nine arches track. Rather there are hundreds of youngsters sitting all over taking selfies.