Stayed here for 1 week in April 2008 after we had completed a weeks tour of Sri Lanka. Arrived mid afternoon after very long hot journey from middle of the island and had to wait for about 2 hours for our room. Shown to room, what a dump and tiny for 2 adults and a grown up teenager, the bathroom was hardly big enough to turn round in and no shelves for your stuff, there was a hole in the wall which was dampish and we watched as mozzy after mozzy came through it and was flying about the room, We refused point blank to stay there and the manager had to be called and they said we could move in a few days when another room was free, I demanded that the holiday rep be called as we had paid a small fortune for this holiday and it was about to be ruined. The manager eventually told us that we could move about 9pm that night as a local family were going home after a party.

When we were moved it was like going to another hotel even though we'd just moved blocks, lovely marble bathroom, much larger room, no mozzys, large sliding doors opened onto onto your own small patio with sun beds and then the lawn which led to the pools.

There are 2 pools joined by a small slide, they were kept nice a clean and there was always a pool guy around sweeping flowers (and the odd crab) out of the pool and providing you with cushions and towels for the sun beds.

The food was good and plenty of it, a good variety of things on offer and some days they had theme nights. The desserts selection was mouthwatering although sometimes looked nicer than tasted.

This hotel is right on the beach and there are security at the fence to keep the hawkers out, yes there were hawkers on the beach, but they had really good memories and once you had said no to them they remembered and didn't bother us again. The sand is really lovely. The hotel had 3 really old bone shaking bikes which you could borrow and we regularly took them out along the shoreline to the amusement of other tourists. We also went on a boat ride with one of the locals up the nearby river, we saw lots of wildlife, (didn't appreciate the child who canoed up to us with a baby alligator with its mouth tied up wanting money to show it to us) but it was nice trip out - very hot though, if you go make sure your boat has shade.

We took a tuk tuk into town one day which was really good. We also took a taxi the the turtle sanctuary in Berewula which receives no gov't funding but does an amazing job. It was a fantastic experience and well worth a visit. There is another turtle sactuary further down the coast which I believe is gov't funded but I was glad we had gone to the smaller one and given them our money.

The dining area is open air with a roof, it would have been nice on really hot days to eat in air conditioned rooms as sometimes you needed a break from the heat. Only one small bar was air conditioned, but all the rooms were if you wanted to cool off.

The entertainment was virtually non existant, the odd band played while you ate dinner, but they came to your table to play and then waited for money off you. There was one or two things on during the day, water polo or bowls etc. There is a small 'night club' out the back which had karaoke on one night. We didn't too much about that, we were happy to sit and talk or play cards.

There was a hell of a thunder storm one evening - amazing to listen to the rain and thunder - even got the video camera out to capture it. The hotel staff said 3 locals had been killed in the storm, so it just shows how violent it was, just thankful we weren't going home that night.

All in all, it was an enjoyable stay. Make sure you have some small notes in your pocket when you go outside the hotel as everyone wants a tip off you for doing anything, there smallest note was worth about 10p when we went

very welcoming staff, everyone was pleasing. the food was very varied and excelent. can't fault the cleanliness of the rooms or the staff. the position of the hotel was beautifull, the evening entertainment was fine. there was refurbishing scheduled which always helps. i've bean around a while, and would definately return.

The hotel is closed from July '09 on for the much-needed renovation.
The rooms were old, damp and smelled pretty bad. Some of the bathrooms were disgusting. In some rooms the AC didn't work properly. In some you also had little "pets"...
The staff was very eager to please our every wish. This is especially remarkable as most of them are going to be layed off during the one year of renovation.
The hotel is located right at the beach. From most of the rooms you have a beautiful ocean-view. Exepct for the lurking beach boys the location is very nice.
Alltogether I wouldn't recommend the hotel at the moment but I can imagine that in one year it could be quite nice. They're planning to enlarge the rooms and increase the standard.

After a very long but comfortable flight with Sri Lankan Airlines and a 3 hour drive to the hotel we was very pleased to arrive! The reception were so helpful and friendly as soon as we arrived and all the way through till the day we left!

I have one complaint about Mercury Direct, i paid for DIRECT flights and the flight out to Colombo was not direct. We stopped at the Maldieves (Male) for only a hour or so but it was still not direct as we asked for...on the way home it was direct but just double check this when booking. I rang MD twice and both times said it was direct, nothing on any of my paper work said about stopping over at Male, we only realised this when we arrived at Heathrow!

Anyway back to the hotel! As it was my birthday during our stay we had a beautiful room! Tiered yes, need of a refurb, yes but spotless and very very clean. You have to remember this is a 3 star hotel (re-opening as a 4 star) and you have to remember where you are! We was in the end room on the top floor, 235 and it had beautiful views of the beach and overlooking the hotel.

The only complaint about the room my partner would have is that there was no TV! Typical man!

Room service comes twice a day, morning and evening, sometimes evening was a slightly annoying because they come when you are getting ready for dinner but they are very kind and say they will come back in a hour!

All staff are lovely, althought some more full because they want tips but most are just so genuine! We came across some lovely staff, our fav was Lucky who made my birthday the best one i have ever had! They really do EVERYTHING to make your birthday special! They decorated my bed with 100s of flowers, a lovely table at breakfast and the table at dinner was just fab! (we got the posh cutlery ha ha!) and they even made a cake with my name and age on and we had sparklers, i wore a chefs hat! It was just fab!

The staff are faultless and will do anything to make your holiday a brill one!

The pool was lovely! Always welcome after lazying in the sun all day, and as the sea was too dangerous we made good use of the pool!

The hotel was very empty when we was there, maybe because of the time of year and because of the hotel closing? but every meal time the resturant was empty! and the same for the pool, we were the only ones ever in it!

We even went midnight swimming on our last night and they staff were kind enough to put the lights on for us!!!

Hotels location was perfect, we didnt go out too much only to the weekly local market on Monday which was 10 mins in a tuk tuk and to a local dress shop where the lady made the most amazing clothes for next to nothing, and they were ready the next day! (PM me and il give you the details if you are in that area).

The only thing i would complain about the hotel was that there was no umbrellas for shade! I am very fair skinned and as much as i love the sun i need shade too! So we had to keep moving around chasing the shadows of the trees to get me under shade, and i was never fully covered at anytime so did have some odd burnt patches!

The animation team are lovely! We always played bowls or croquet, was great fun, espessially being on the winners box with your crown and downing your cocktail!

There are many beach sellers, Ingrid is a lovely 69 year old lady who makes braclets and sells them, there are a few ladys selling sarongs, a man selling pots, another selling insense and another selling paintings....there are a few more sometimes but they are the regulars.

I bought something from all of them as its next to nothing for us, i bought 4 sarongs (2 from each lady!) for £4! and the insese and burner for £1 and a pot for £5 and handmade painting for £10. Just these small purchases made these people very happy and although they dont annoy you they are always catching your eye and saying hello and trying to call you over! Most people hide behind there books! But they really are fine and harmless, once you have bought from them they will ease up on you!

The beach boys are another matter, bullish, rude and very very horrible people! Because we did our trips with a guide outside of the hotel they threatened that they would be waiting for us outside the hotel etc. They surrounded my other half at one point who only got out of the situation by other hotel members coming to his rescue. This is clearly unacceptable and they have really bitten off their noses to spite their face because i will NEVER recommened them. I understand they are there to make a living but who we do our trips with and who we recommened is none of their buisness! We actually went to the market with them, and got totally ripped off in price, other people at the hotel said they had done trips with them and they had been late, turned up to festivals 3 hours early and taken people to places they did not want to go too.

This only goes for the beach boys (Bob) at The Neptune. Please avoid them.

We had the most amazing guide and driver, Sena and Siri. THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH! They took us too Polonnaruwa ancient city, jeep safari, elephant ride, sigiriya rock, Dambulla Cave, Elephant orphanage, Kandy, Cultral show, Temple of tooth, tea plantation, Botanical gardens, spice gardens, Nuwara Eliya via Ramboda Falls. Plus a day trip to Galle which included seeing turtles, boat rides with crocs etc. We had choices of where we wanted to eat while we were out we always ate local and would advise anyone to do the same! It was fab, and he knows all the best places to go!

We went to all the above places just at the right times to see certain things that happen, such as the elephant orphanage getting there for the babies feeding time then having lunch along the river while the elephants bathed, no one else we spoke who went to the orphanage got the chance to do this.

He stopped at the side of the road and bought us fresh fruit, sweetcorn and allsorts for us to try! He also got us the best english speaking guides when we required them. He was a AMAZING GUIDE and i would recommened all day every day, we even went to eat one night at his house for dinner which was the most amazing experiance to see how real sri lankans live!

Please if anyone wants his email address or have any questions please just PM me he has very very good english!

Food at the hotel was nice, i am the most fussiest eater and if i eat fine so will others! I mainly stuck to chicken and rice, but there was other things on offer, no chips but always potatoes, other currys etc. Always a soup and salad cart. Desserts where odd, weird stuff called Snow! Alot of the desserts are very very sweet so we stuck to fruit but 2 nights we were there, there was some lovely hot chocolate pudding which i cannot complain about!!!

Entertainment in the hotel left a lot to be desired...although we was out on our trip for 3 nights, and you need a couple of early nights when you get there so its not a huge deal but there was a magician who finished very early, some local bands who where fab! A dodgey sax player and kareoke on the last night....we didnt venture out in the evenings and it is not for people who love their nightlife! To be honest the nights were only made bearable because we made some fantastic friends...Sandy, J, Pippa, Frances, Tilly and Irene and Val! Thank you guys for so much fun!

Weather was gorgeous, only one full day of rain, and a couple of half days in the afternoon where stormy but you cant complain after all that lovely sun in the morning!

I think i have just about covered it all, The Neptune is now closed for a year for a refurb...we will def be back next year or the year after without fail and will be in touch with our lovely guide for some more fabulous trips!

If you go please take a few old clothes that you dont wear anymore, hand them out to beach sellers or beggars, they will really appreciate it!!!

Any questions please ask!

WARNING: PLEASE DO NOT GO IN THE SEA IF YOU ARE TOLD ITS TOO DANGEROUS, ONE PERSON DIED IN THE SEA THE DAY BEFORE WE ARRIVED AND A 60 YEAR OLD ENGLISH MAN DIED WHILE WE WAS THERE IN THE SEA AFTER IGNORING THE RED FLAG AND NUMEROUS WARNINGS BY THE REPS AND STAFF. IT IS FOR YOUR OWN SAFETY!