We spent 5 lovely nights at the Frangipani Tree in early December. We enjoyed our stay very much. We had the room above the library/TV area, which was huge and had great views out to sea as well as to the pool. The decor is minimal, modern and stylish, so if you're looking for something more traditional then this place might not be for you.

The general hotel staff and chef are fantastic and really accommodating. They couldn't do too much for us and are such nice people.

The hotel was less than half full when we were there (we were there just before peak season), and so we enjoyed the run of the place for most of the days we were there.

The food is excellent and some of the best we had in Sri Lanka. Prices aren't cheap but you certainly get your money's worth. The helpings are soooo generous and of a very high quality. The menu wasn't too large but we didn't mind that at all. The seafood and fish options were excellent and fresh, and changed daily which was really impressive and were very good value for money, especially the super large prawns - which take over the entire table!

The breakfasts (we had the Sri Lankan option every day were were there!) were fantastic. Don't miss out on these! The chef provided us with different options and curries every day to ensure we didn't get bored, ranging from prawns to fish to veggie, all delicious! The helpings were enormous and set you up for the day. The traditional curd and treacle was also amazing, some of the best we've eaten on our Sri Lankan travels.

The sea right outside the hotel is quite rough, but if you walk 10 mins either right or left, there is safer sea swimming, and is highly recommended. The staff will happily help you negotiate with the tuk tuk drivers, and as Galle Fort and Unawatuna are so close, it's worth a few outings to both during your stay.

My one small comment would be improvement of the senior management. Customers appreciate being communicated to and want attention to detail, especially when paying 5* hotel prices.

We spent a most enjoyable six nights here as a family of four from 1-7 January 2012 (we highly recommend Leatherback suite). Lovely long pool, fabulous beachside location with its glorious sunrises and sunsets, great food and great service with large, air-conditioned rooms which were cleaned / prepared twice a day.
Small feedback point for the management - please reduce the price of wine to an affordable level and/or consider putting fridges in the rooms (there is one for guest use in the kitchen where we kept our own supply of beer, wine and soft drinks).
Otherwise, we thought Frangipani was wonderful!

We stayed in this small hotel right on the sea front in December 2011. The potential is certainly there for this to be a superb destination, but it really lacks the attention to detail you would expect for the price. The pool and setting is lovely (the road can be noisy early in the mornings), and the location is great for visiting Galle Fort, Unawatuna and other tourist places, but the hotel lacks the finishing touches and details, and I am not sure the management genuinely know what is expected, and what is on offer at other locations — last night's candle on the breakfast table, no flowers etc etc. It really is a shame. On the positive side the swallows coming in to roost at dawn is a sight well worth seeing. There are only 10 rooms and no bar area so the hotel is very quiet in the evenings. (Personally I think the beach side TV room with is nice sofas should be turned into a bar/cocktail area so guests can mingle and have a early evening drink and a chat). The bathrooms (we stayed in Hawksbill) are open to the small gardens which is lovely, but again one of the sinks was cracked and glued and we had to ask for hand towels, even the loo brush was missing, so even this was let down. Attention to detail, attention to detail, attention to detail!

We chose to pay considerably more to stay at the Frangipani Tree than alternative suggestions from our agent but felt that we got little extra for our money. There was some confusion over our reservation and we spent the first night in one of the Olive Ridley rooms on the ground floor without a sea view. These rooms are awful, you can hear traffic from the busy main road outside and you if you open the front window / doors to the bedroom people passing can see in so we had to keep the shutters closed as well.
The remaining 5 nights we stayed in one of the Hawksbill rooms, these are much nicer with a private patio area and sea view. The room is furnished in a minimalist style, clearly aesthetics were prioritised over comfort. The polished concrete floors are very cool and the outside garden/bathroom funky but the wet floors are as slippery as an ice rink.
The breakfasts were good, particularly the Sri Lankan ones. We had dinner at the hotel twice, the first time the meal was particularly uninspiring though the second much better. The hotel seems to try to create an exclusive atmosphere preferring guests to eat outside their own bungalow, this often meant having to hunt down a waiter several times during the meal. Olive Ridley guests have no option other than to eat in the corridors surrounding the TV room. We did have a couple of light lunches which were fine. Although drinks are available the hotel has no bar area so socialising is difficult.
The public beach infront of the hotel is pleasant and enjoys great sunsets but was too rough for bathing, there is a much nicer beach about 15 minutes west of the hotel which also has some nice informal bars and restaurants.
A short tuk tuk ride away Unawatuna is a lively small resort with decent bars and restaurants, the main redeeming feature of our say, though on returning one evening at about 9-30 we found ourselves locked out and had to hammer on the gates for 15 minutes before the security guard finally came. Needless to say it was impossible to get a drink at that hour. The hotel manager was helpful and pleasant though clearly inexperienced.