Never again...

Rock Side is a beautiful little wonder consisting of 3 rather basic, but nice cabanas and a couple of rooms in the main building squeezed in between the busy, noisy main road, the railroad and the sea. Cabana no. 2 is especially attractive, because you from the wooden deck are able to watch the turtles swimming to and fro in the sea in front of you.
Two years ago we stayed there 18 days and enjoyed every single of them; cleaning was not the most important item at that time, only the most necessary was done , but the atmosphere was great, relaxed and laid back and we had a good time there.

So with great expectations we returned this year.
The Srilankan manager had been sacked and the German owners, Renate and Hermann had taken over.
The first thing Renate told us was: “ I`m the boss here and you are not allowed to take any food or drinks to the cabana because of rats. And drinks you can get in our restaurant”
Inwardly we thought “Jawohl” and clicked our heels.
The question about rats and the food could easily be solved, if you provided the cabanas with a fridge – but perhaps there is a hidden agenda: it`s less about rats and more about profit!!
Non the less we enjoyed our own G&T`s on the wooden deck outside (Rockside doesn`t have that on their menue) but we felt observed when sitting there with our drinks.
As a whole there was a very bad atmosphere of suspiciousness and prohibits due to the attitude of especially the German woman boss and we didn`t feel well.
Breakfast is too expensive, food is ok, staff is nice, polite and friendly.

And the rooms were definitely a whole lot cleaner!

I`m sad that we will never go back there again

An absolutely beautiful week in the sun.

I am surprised at some of the reviews of Rockside Cabanas - I found it a perfect location on a stunning island. It is so lovely to open the the garden gate and step directly onto the beach. A favourite daily experience was to sit at the garden egde and watch the turtles bobbing in the waves out front for dinner - fortunately mine was prepared by the onsite chef and the curries were delicious. Looking forward to trying to recreate them back home!

I stayed in a guest room which was spacious with a balcony overlooking the garden and the sea behind. Next time I would love to try a cabana - benefit of the guest room was a/c but the cabanas looked so 'island paradise'. All have mosquito nets which are a must as typically for such a location the mosquitoes aren't shy and they loved me.

I found the staff and owners Renate and Hans very friendly and welcoming. I would recommend a stay. Next time I am looking forward to a massage (the room was just being built when I visited) and definitely seeing more of Sri Lanka as this time I was too busy relaxing and enjoying the sun and sea.

Nice idea the one of building a couple of cabanas on the beach. We decided to book them because it should be much nicer than just one hotel room. The cabanas have also a nice terrace with balcony where you can chill with great views to the ocean.
Unfortunately, the rocky and uncared beach doesnt make you feel like swimming.
The problem is that the cabanas inside are not very beautiful or any nice decorated, i would say nobody cares how it looks like. The toilet is big and simple, but the shower and the whole toilet is due to the way of construction always overflooded .
The restaurant is quite expensive and if you want to stay in the hotel there is no other choice. Breakfast has to be ordered on the previous evening and the prices are quite expensive, every extra needs to be paid sepparately.
Very unpolite management, which is either not available or busy with making up new ways how to earn more money instead of caring about the guest.
Only the staff (the guy from the housekeeping and the tuc tuc driver) were helpfull and willing to make your stay comfortable.
Conclusion let the Tuc -Tuc driver manage the hotel & the manager drive the Tuc-Tuc.
After we decided to stay longer in Unawatuna as planed, we also took the decision to change to another hotel, which was just in Unawatunabeach and realy comfortable.

We happened upon Rockside quite unexpectedly and we were pleasantly surprised with the Cabana and the location. We stayed in a Cabana right in front of the beach with an beautiful stunning view of the beach and the ocean. Great swimming spot right in front and very private and peaceful.

Quite unfortunately we had an incident of theft from the room. We spoke to the only person who had been in the room that evening and nothing was really done about it. I advice you don't leave anything of value in the rooms and insist nobody goes inside. We asked for them to change the sheets as they were dirty and they simply re-made the bed ignoring our request.

There were an awful lot of mosquitos, very large spiders, crabs laying eggs and a vast array of creepy crawlies in the room, the mosquito net was of no use. Be prepared to be bitten and share the room with a host of creatures.

They allowed us to check out at 2pm instead of 11am and the staff were friendly.