What a perfect location for a weeks induction to Sri Lanka, we booked on the recommendation of friends who had stayed at this hotel previously, and we were not disappointed! Don't be put off by any negative reviews that you may read about it. My wife and i are well traveled, and found the Sri Lankan people to be some of the most friendliest we have met. On the first day we met Brian from Asda Tours and we told him that we wanted to go to the elephant orphanage, the Sigeria rock, the cave temples at Dambola, he arranged this at good prices in comfortable vehicles. You don't pay until the end of the trip, 100% reliable and punctual!
We found the hotel to be ideally located to do the trips, close to the airport and as a relaxing base for the time we were not on trips away.
The food was good and varied, the quality of the drinks were also good quality, unlike some all inclusive hotels we have stayed in the past.
We found the whole week an excellent experience, we will go back to Sri Lanka again, but may try the south when the new airport is open, and the new highway open.

Club Dolphin is great for resting a bit after a long flight, before heading inland for the tour. Huge, clean, well-equipped rooms and bathrooms, comfy beds, gigantic pool keeping teenagers occupied for ages, (we loved the smaller quiet pool too), tidy and well-tended grounds, amazing sea views, huge variety of food and all good quality we found, friendly and helpful staff - it ticks all the boxes.

The reception staff were exceptionally helpful in arranging a birthday cake for our eldest son at the next hotel (same group) but on the downside, check-in was a bit lengthy and confused. It wasn't ideal that our children were not in adjoining rooms either, but for a couple of nights, that was fine. All the staff were really helpful and smiley and engaging with the children.

Probably best to avoid ground floor rooms and keep your distance from the chipmunks and birds or they'll pester you!

We were then going on a 16 day tour with Nimal de Silva of Destination Sri Lanka, whom you couldn't fail to recommend! With Nimal you don't have to visit all the shops owned by his friends and business associates; you create the tour YOU want! With a great sense of humour and good command of English, he's a caring guy who wants you to be delighted with his country. Contact him on: ndsilva67@yahoo.com.

When you arrive in the lobby there are many people working there, but it takes a good long hour to check in. Then we got to the rooms and were shocked by what passes there as a luxury room. Very depressing, old, sagging ceilings, covered in water stains. Not updated and overall not very clean. Even the water of our flowers vases in our rooms was dirty. Just sad. Be advised than the price list for the SPA is NOT what is says. We booked a $45 massage. When we arrived there, we were shown another list whereby the $45 massage was in reality $63. Just be aware, and enjoy. We must say that the restaurant WAVES is good, if also if should be with such high prices. Nicely presented by friendly cook and server. Good presentation and taste.

Where do I start? What fab place!
Transfer was approx half an hour from the airport which is why we chose it, you stay farther down south and expect a 3-4 hour transfer depending on the time of day.
Check in was smooth, we arrived at 4 in the morning expecting a long delay for our room as check in was supposed to be 12 midday. (Thomsons tried to pursuade us to pay for an extra nite - dont!) They pointed us to an aircon room, brought us some cold towels & within 10 minutes our room was ready!
We stayed here for 10 nights and were lucky enough to have a beach fronted villa, (upgrade with Thomsons at no extra charge). Wow, what a view from both the front & second row of villas. Excellent room with a huge king size bed, flat screen tv & dvd player, single bed for my 5yr old and 2 comfortable chairs & coffee table. The bathroom was huge with a walk in shower that had a rainforest shower head & detachable shower head aswell. Clean towels were provided & the room was cleaned everyday. Plenty of wardrobe & drawer space for all the clothes & a safe.
I didnt see the standard rooms so cant comment on those, although we did meet people staying in them and they didnt moan about anything. The staff we always found very helpful, nothing too much trouble, some were a bit slow but you have to accept that this is their way of life and with the temperature averaging 35 degrees in the shade every day without sight of rain, I dont blame them, chill out!
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The food - excellent. We didn't have the same things twice and if there was nothing suitable for my son they were only to please to cook him fries. Good variation from fresh fish to pasta, currys & even roast beef & yorkie puds one day. Fresh fruit in abundance. A special thanks to Samanta who looked after our son brilliantly, couldn't sing his praises louder, unfortunately we didn't get to say goodbye so if management read this, thanks Samanta from Harvey!

There are 2 pools, the quiet one is very quiet, the noisy one (the bigger one) is still very quiet but it's where the entertainment goes on which is no way in your face. They had shuffleboard, pool & beach vollyball, golf & croquet. Horse riding also on the beach. There was never any trouble getting sunloungers & parasols or clean towels. Be aware the beach is manmade and when we went the sea was very rough and not suitable for swimming. Apparently the earlier months are calmer. It took us 3 days to find out you can have snacks in the pool bar as part of your all inclusive, all you goto do is ask. You help yourself to the unlimited soft drinks and yes they are sweet but really not worth moaning about. Lion beer is very drinkable & beware of the shorts, they dont have measures & are very strong. (it's far too hot to cope wth hangovers - trust me!)

On the beach are the tour boys, We booked with the Asda boys for our trips as they came recommended on here and rightly so, they were excellent. Thamel is the main boss, his brother Nisham took us into Negombo & down south he was also excellent with my son & made the trips, they are much cheaper than the tour operators & will take you wherever you want to go, we went privately which cost a little more but was worth it, especially to the elephant orpahnage (a must)where we stayed as long as we wanted. Take the multi travel trip to Negombo, it's fab. They take you by tuk tuk to the train station, tuk tuk to the fish & clothes market & boat back to the hotel, for £10 quid each & no charge for my son, it was excellent fun. It takes forever to travel anywhere, not because everythings so far aware but the roads are not to good & the drivers are worse but dont let it stop you getting out, it's worth it.

The only thing you should be aware off is that you are slightly off the beacon track, there is only one restaurant outside of the hotel, it takes about 10-15 minutes to get into Negombo where all the bars, shops & restaurants are but it costs about £2 to get there and having seen some of the hotels this one is the best by far and worth being outside the main area.

The wildlife was excellent we saw 2 snakes outside our room, geko's & cameleons everywhere & the chipmunks are so friendly they'll eat out of your hands.

Best tip - Dont change money in the uk, we did and had 150 rupees to the pound, in the airport in sri lanka, hotel & asda boys you had 175 rupees to the pound.
Everyone expects a tip yes, but they are not rude if you decline, we tipped the good ones about 200 rupees at time, they were happy with that.

Sorry it's sooo long but I have read a few really moany reviews here and they are unjustified, if u'r rude to them I'm sure they'll be rude back but they really are lovely people & this is a wonderful place, if you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact me.

We WILL definately be returning in the future!