If you’re looking for a hotel in Arugam Bay that is more than just a place to sleep, you’re in the right place. Stay Golden is a family-run boutique hotel on Sri Lanka’s east coast: not an anonymous resort, but a family business with its own surf school, its own yoga studio and a restaurant. A story you can feel in every cabana, in every dish and in every yoga class.
On this page we tell you who we are, how it all started and what makes Stay Golden what it is. Feel free to write to us before you book. Angie usually replies the same day, often with a first recommendation based on what you’re looking for.
The story of Stay Golden doesn’t begin in 2019 with today’s hotel, but years earlier and in a different place.
Rihan grew up in Arugam Bay. For years his father ran a small guesthouse here called “Golden Beach”, which after the tsunami of 2004 first offered simple accommodation to the teams of aid organisations. Over the years, the shelter for helpers became a retreat for travellers who wanted to discover Sri Lanka’s east coast.
In 2014, Rihan’s father died. An era ended with him, and for Rihan a new responsibility began. He took over the guesthouse and decided to carry it on. In 2015 it was given its current name: “Golden Beach” became “Stay Golden”.
In 2016, Angie came to Arugam Bay on a slow travel trip. She had taken a sabbatical from her job as a project manager in Frankfurt and was spending three months travelling through Sri Lanka and Indonesia to surf, practise yoga and dive. Although January meant slow season, she wanted to see the surfers’ paradise of Arugam Bay with her own eyes. She ended up at Rihan’s Stay Golden, and the three days she had planned turned into eleven. To this day the two of them joke: checked in, never checked out. Angie is still waiting for the hotel bill. What has stayed is the memory of the herbal Samahan tea that Rihan brought her on the beach back then. At the time, Stay Golden was in the top 3 on Booking.com, TripAdvisor and Airbnb, and for Angie it felt like home from the very first moment, a small paradise. An unexpected encounter that changed both their lives.
In 2017, Angie moved from Germany to Sri Lanka, and with that to Rihan on the east coast. Two worlds that could hardly have been more different became a team: a Sri Lankan who grew up here, and a German who decided to build her life here with him.
In the middle of the Covid pandemic their son was born, and since 2025 he has had a little sister. Today Angie and Rihan are a family of four, and the two children are growing up between the beach, surfers and an international hotel routine. That family is part of Stay Golden is something our guests notice in many small details, from child-friendly cooking and a playground in the garden to step stools in the family bathroom.
In 2019, Stay Golden moved to its current location south of Main Point. The move had two sides. On the one hand, Angie and Rihan had to leave the old place: the land belongs to Rihan’s aunt, and she wanted neither to sell it nor to lease it long term. On the other hand, the two of them were ready anyway to leave behind shoes that had grown too small and start something of their own.
For Rihan it was a complete fresh start. On an empty plot, the two could plan and build everything the way they wanted it together. Rihan brought in all his experience and laid the foundation for a higher standard and for the Stay Golden of today.
The spot right on Pasarichenai Beach offered what the old guesthouse didn’t have: a quiet, natural stretch of coast just a few minutes’ walk from Main Point, Arugam Bay’s world-famous surf spot. If you stay with us, you’re close to the action and at the same time far enough from the bustle of the main village.
We had guests who had already booked and a hotel that didn’t have doors yet. Those were weeks in which we painted cabanas, set up the restaurant and planted trees all at the same time. Today, when our guests sit on the terrace, we sometimes forget how nervous we were back then.
It was exciting for another reason too: back then, Arugam Bay was almost entirely concentrated on the main road. We were the first to move away from it, and the first to build something south of Main Point, surrounded by nature and a handful of houses. We didn’t know whether our guests would go for it. Today there are a few other guesthouses and hotels near us, but all of that came after us.
A few years and two extensions later, the original small boutique hotel has grown to 9 accommodations, without losing its family character.
Rihan grew up in Arugam Bay, the son of a fisherman and from humble beginnings. With ambition, hard work and talent he has made Stay Golden a little better year after year, and he can rightly be proud of what it has become. Above all, he is an ambitious, curious and warm-hearted host who loves welcoming people into his home.
That he is an ISA-certified surf instructor and knows every spot between Arugam Bay and Okanda came later. Just as important: he knows the fishermen, the farmers and the tuk-tuk drivers who have lived their everyday lives here for years. His mother tongue is Tamil; he taught himself Sinhala because he knew he would need it as a businessman in Sri Lanka.
As a father, Rihan tries every day to give his children a happy childhood. And if you ask him about his favourite curry: he loves to cook, likes it spicy and swears by specialities like beef in wood apple curry. If you don’t find him in the restaurant in the morning, he’s usually on his board at Main Point before the hotel day begins.
When the trip to Sri Lanka came along, Angie was working as a project manager in Frankfurt. She and Rihan complement each other just right: two strong characters who balance running a business and raising a family together. The sea gives her calm, best of all on long beach walks. At Stay Golden she looks after guest communication, content creation and the development of what we offer, and she is a strong mum who holds all of it together with Rihan and the children.
Yoga is her balance in all this. With over 750 hours of training she built up the yoga studio with sea view, and she treats her own further training as time-outs that give her the inspiration to lead the international team of teachers and attract new talent. If you’d rather plan in German, Angie is your person: she answers enquiries in German, in English, or with hands and feet.
In the mornings, the mats are already laid out in the shala with its stone floor. Rihan and Angie are both hosts heart and soul and always up for a chat, whether about travel planning, surfing or simply a morning coffee after a long day on the road.
What makes Stay Golden is our team and our guests. Our team comes from Arugam Bay and the surrounding area and was trained entirely by Rihan. Two of his brothers work with us too, Shiyas as manager and Imshath in service. The hospitality Sri Lanka is known for as a destination is something you’ll find here with us.
It matters as much to the team as it does to us that your experience comes first. Many have been with us since the early years. That loyalty exists on the guest side too: true regulars are rare with a journey this long, yet some keep coming back.
This is the team that welcomes you at Stay Golden. Salute the Sun. Keep on Surfing. The two lines on the shirts sum up daily life here pretty well.
Arugam Bay is geared towards independent travellers, not package tourism. Accommodation here ranges from simple backpacker hostels to small guesthouses. We deliberately chose a format of our own:
If you’re looking for a simple backpacker hostel, you’ll find plenty of lovely places in Arugam Bay. With us, something different awaits you: Arugam Bay the way we live it ourselves, calm, personal and with time for conversation.
What matters to us: Our grounds are a small paradise where we take care of everything. The difference to a classic resort is that you still experience the real Arugam Bay, with surf lessons at remote beaches and elephants by the roadside on the tuk-tuk ride back. Our job is to make that as easy as possible for you, with a range you choose from according to your wishes.
Above all, we make room for a real break: with us you’re allowed to forget what day of the week it is. Couples find time for each other, parents get a breather while the kids splash in the pool or play football with our team. With new energy and memories in your luggage, everyday life feels lighter afterwards. You could call it relaxed luxury that doesn’t need to show off: barefoot, close to nature and with love for detail. Or in short: everything is possible, nothing is required.
Stay Golden has 9 units in 6 formats, from the free-standing 25 m² double cabana with hammock to the 65 m² family room for six people plus baby. Since 2025, the triple room with sea view has completed the range. All accommodations have air conditioning, hot water, a private bathroom, kettle, fridge and safe. Which format suits you depends on whether you’re travelling alone, as a couple, with a child or as a family. Babies are welcome in every accommodation too.
Yoga, surfing, safari, restaurant. What other hotels spread across different providers, you’ll find with us under one roof. You arrive, let go and enjoy; we organise the rest for you.
Angie runs the yoga classes in the studio with sea view, daily in high season. Rihan and his team give surf lessons for every level, from your first attempt at Baby Point to the wave at Main Point. In our own safari truck we take you to Kumana National Park or the Pottuvil Lagoon. Our restaurant cooks fresh Sri Lankan food from early until late, vegetarian and vegan as standard. Bicycles to use freely, scooter rental and free parking are part of it.
Stay Golden is on Cemetery Road, south of the main village of Arugam Bay. A few steps from the hotel, Pasarichenai Beach begins: natural, quiet and with a lively sea, the way you'd expect from the surf region of Arugam Bay. A welcome contrast to the busy main beach when you're looking for some peace.
Not for surfing, but worth an afternoon walk: Crocodile Rock, a lovely viewpoint half an hour on foot from the hotel. Your board travels along without any fuss, by the way: for the spots further out it is simply strapped to the roof of the tuk-tuk, or you book a surf safari in our safari truck directly with us.
From Colombo, the easiest way to reach us is by taxi, roughly six to seven hours overland. That’s the usual route. A domestic flight to Batticaloa followed by a transfer of around three hours is possible, but rather rare. We organise both through our island-wide taxi service, payable by credit card directly at Stay Golden.
Hotel Stay Golden
Cemetery Road, Arugam Bay, Pottuvil-18, 32500
Sri Lanka
Phone and WhatsApp: +94 (76) 760 6957
Email: info@staygoldenarugam.com
We look forward to welcoming you. Whether you’re coming to Sri Lanka for the first time or Arugam Bay has long been your second home, just write to us. We reply personally, usually the same day.
See you soon in Arugam Bay, Angie & Rihan
Stay Golden is on Cemetery Road in Pottuvil-18, south of the main village of Arugam Bay, right on Pasarichenai Beach. The world-famous Main Point is a 400-metre walk along the beach.
Stay Golden has 9 units in 6 formats: double cabana, family cabana, premium cabana, family room, premium double room and the new triple room (since 2025). That’s five cabanas and four rooms in total, which makes Stay Golden a classic boutique hotel on a manageable scale.
We offer yoga (daily in high season, by arrangement in low season), ISA-certified surf lessons for all levels, safari tours in our own safari truck to Kumana National Park, a lagoon safari on the Pottuvil Lagoon, as well as massages and Reiki treatments in-house. Add to that our own restaurant with Sri Lankan cuisine. Bicycles to use freely and free parking are included; scooters are available to rent.
With us you’re a family’s guest, not a room number in an anonymous operation. When you arrive, you’ll usually meet Angie or Rihan in person, your cabana is just a few steps from the beach, and the next morning the yoga studio with sea view is waiting for you. With only 9 accommodations everything stays manageable: we take the time to get to know you while giving you space and privacy. Yoga, surfing, safari and restaurant are all under one roof with us; your head can switch off because we take care of it for you.
High season on Sri Lanka’s east coast runs from April to October, peaking in July and August. During this time, surf conditions at Main Point are ideal and the weather is reliably hot, with temperatures of around 30 to 35 degrees. From November to March it’s slow season: quieter, greener, and prices are often 30 to 40 percent lower. Even in slow season there is usually little rain on the east coast. Stay Golden is open all year round.
From Colombo, the easiest way to reach us is by taxi, roughly six to seven hours overland. That’s the usual route. A domestic flight to Batticaloa followed by a transfer of around three hours is possible, but rather rare. We organise both through our island-wide taxi service, payable by credit card directly at Stay Golden.
Yes. We have special family cabanas and a family room for up to six people, a baby pool, toys, high chairs in the restaurant, child-friendly cooking and step stools in the family bathrooms. Children up to and including three years stay free of charge, and we provide baby cots free of charge.
Yes, and we recommend it. Booking directly through our website saves you money compared to platforms, and in slow season (November to March) we offer weekly and monthly discounts for long-stay guests. You can pay in cash, by credit card, PayPal or bank transfer. And you can cancel free of charge up to 7 days before arrival.
English, across the whole team. Angie is from Germany and also answers enquiries in German, by email, WhatsApp or in person. Rihan speaks Tamil and Sinhala as well. So whether you plan in English or German, and whatever your questions about surfing and yoga, you’re in the right place.
For yoga there are single drop-in classes and three passes: 7 classes within 7 days (weekly pass), 10 classes within 14 days (flex pass) or 20 classes within 28 days (monthly pass), open to all levels. Surf lessons you book flexibly by level, from your first attempt at Baby Point to the wave at Main Point. We don’t put together a fixed all-inclusive package; instead you build your own programme from daily yoga, surfing, safari, massages and time on the beach. Just talk to us.