The hotel have now been sold, and a renovation is soon under work. The staff is wonderful and helpful and give very good service. The staff made us forgive that the hotel was rather "tired".
We spent our Christmas Eve and 7 days at Ceysands. The hotel has a very good location placed on a half-island. The river is from one side, and the Ocean on the other side. The town is on the other side of the river and there is a little boat that take you whenever you like, to the other side and it is free. The hotel is well guarded also on the riverside.
The beach is wonderful to walk on and you can also if you are carefully, swim there. The sea is dangerful!! Vawes and understreams take you suddely away. But you can go to the west on the beach where the wawes are less dangerful.
The half-island has a rock in its end.. There is a tempel that you can visit. On the other side of that beach, comes boats that take you for 100 rupies to the other side of the river, and you can walk furter along the beach and see the other hotels. They are more fancy,than Ceysands but the beach is much more dirty and there are not so good peace and nature as it is on Ceysands.
The tuc-tuc drivers know all the town Alutgama&Bentota, so it is just to ask them for nice places to visit. In the town is a very big tempel to see and if you like to have a tour there are several that you can take - organised via the travelagencies linked to the hotel, but also other do arrange trips.
We took one trip to Galle and saw Hikkadua, and we spent also time on the river to see krokodiles, varans etc. The animals are very important for the tourism in Sri Lanka.
A very good tailor you do find near the entrance to the hotel, and the little shop at the Ceysand hotel, can fix nearly everything you like to buy, to a cheap price. It is just to tell the women there what you like and she find it to the next day.
The Ceysand Hotel will we gladly visit again, when its restored. The watersystem need some money.
And buy from the very first moment creme to prevent from moscitos and sandflies. The sandflies is a hell, but with right and very carefull treatment the holiday can be bitefree.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC