To say 'this is the best hotel in Sri Lanka' would certainly be misleading and wrong of me to suggest, having only stayed in 4 hotels so far in the country. Such a claim would need to be substantiated by a more extensive knowledge of many more locations.
However, having said that I miss being there after our 2 day short stay, as I now reside in another (supposedly highly rated hotel) in another town.
When we arrived at the villa, we were the only guests for the duration and this gave us the first indication of their service when the house manager allowed us to make free choice of any room in the villa. Having only booked one of the smaller rooms we were happy to choose a room with a huge private terrace. Traveling with our 3-year old daughter who was sharing our room, this was a godsend as it meant we could relax, drink, smoke at our leisure, while she slept.
So lets get to the hotel. Beautiful and one of those rare occasions where any (rare) 'wear and tear' can be described as character giving. It felt like stepping back in time, giving us the feeling of 'coming home', like it was our house and we were the plantation family living in the glory of the past. The grounds of the hotel, which are large enough to walk around and get 'mentally' lost in, are perfectly, I mean perfectly, kept. There are monitor lizards, frogs, exotic birds (I saw kingfishers, wild peacocks in the fields outside, birds that are the most blue you have seen in your life, numerous black monkeys playing and eating in the trees, frogs, carp and cat fish in the inside pond and around the house in a kind of mini moat.
And the pool. Wow. Clean as a whistle and perfect for our 3 1/2 year old daughter, with it's rounded edges that allowed her to play without fear of her slipping. And it's set away from the house at the end of the garden, meaning you're alone except for the monkeys observing us observing, and the sound of the jungle, the sounds of peacocks and the occasional ground keeper brushing leaves off the grass.
The house is adorned with beautiful works of art, beautiful works of art, that give a sense of character for the location and Sri Lanka itself. Impressively enough, much of the work to be found in the house is the creation of the owner, a writer, artist, and adept hotelier it would seem.
For the sake of this being a review I will not go on for ever in praise of this place, but I will continue for a while to say, breakfast was wonderful, service that should be the standard by which all other hotels in this country should judge themselves against, and excellent food (my brings me to my only criticism, they have a changing chef rotation, one night the food was sublime, the next day it was sub-par unfortunately, but they are aware of this and are likely (I hope) to reconsider that chef's employment)
Special mention should be made of the young gentleman who will care for you on your stay who was sincerely interested in us, and able (not common here) to have actual conversation with opinion, while not being in your face at all.
Don't let the fact that it is away from the sea put you off at all. This is a taste of Sri Lanka as I expected it to be.
Oh, and Kids under 11, if you can believe it (and you should) eat for free... And they really do eat for free, meals, ice-cream, snacks, whatever. A reflection of the standard of the service here? yes.
Check on-line for good deals, but re-check with them personally of the on-line bookings say it is full, as they seem to not offer the entire location to these services.
If I could make one small criticism, some of the old magazines and books around the place, are damaged by mold (from the humid location) and scarred with bugs and insects that have been exterminated by them. Attention should be payed to removing these.
And yes. Insects are a 'problem', but this is Sri Lanka, so come on, what do you expect? But everything will be done to help with this, as much as is humanly possible. Get bitten, deal with it, if you don't like it, stay home.
Final point, food is not overpriced (considering it could be), but all taxes are included in the prices so no surprises, and the evening is limited to two set menu's, international and local, which changed everyday on rotation. The price is $25 per person, but it is 4 courses and includes coffee, which is not terribly overpriced, especially for the quality.
If you get a chance, like peace and quiet, monkeys, a real taste of colonial luxury (that is not at all pretentious) the sound of temples and birds, wildlife and flowers... and who doesn't? Then stay here.
Simple.
P.s. I rated kids activities as 5. This does not mean there are any specific activities, but monkeys, the pool and the free food keep them entertained like never before
Room Tip: If you can, get the suite with outside terrace.
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This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
