Category: Asia

We stayed in quite a few hotels and guest houses on what is the usual tourist route around Sri Lanka.
1) On arriving in Sri Lanka we spent the first 3 nights At Ayubowan Guest House in Negombo.

This is within walking distance of the town centre, the beach and some good restaurants- we can recommend The White House and Sea View restaurants…great sea food and curries.

The Ayubowan Guest is owned by Brenda and Ron, who originate from Kent in the UK. The guest house is very well run. We originally had an upstairs room, which was big and airy it’s private bathroom was not en-suite just a couple of metres down the private corridor. However I wasn’t very comfortable with this arrangement and we had wanted a downstairs en-suit room. So the next day Brenda had her very obliging staff move us to a lovely downstairs room. This wasn’t as big but it had a nice en-suite, opened on to the veranda and more importantly, for comfort, the air conditioning didn’t blow directly on to the bed…so the room was cool without freezing you in bed.
Breakfast was either a Sri Lankan breakfast which Brenda told us was very spicy hot, or a British Breakfast…. We opted for the British. It was fresh fruit followed by bacon, sausage and egg and toast and jams. It was all very pleasant, we met some nice guests and enjoyed the swimming pool. You need to be aware that you can’t use a credit card here. Brenda was happy to call Patrick, her regular tuk-tuk driver, to take us to restaurants and return us…each trip was about 500 SLK rupees….which we later decided was far to much but we paid what he asked and at about £2.60 a round trip it wasn’t really worth the hassle of bartering.

2). Our second recommended hotel is Hotel 4U Salina Gardens in Anuradhapura, ( You will note that it’s not the 2nd hotel we stayed in as we really couldn’t recommend that one). We liked this from the moment we arrived. It wasn’t a very salubrious area and the entrance looked vaguely like a building site…but don’t be put off…the reception was lovely, we were greeted by two lovely ladies who really tried hard to meet our every need. We had requested ground floor on all accommodation but once again we were booked upstairs, but the ladies soon sorted it out and changed our booking to a large en-suite room which opened on to a veranda overlooking the pool.

They even offered to set a table down stairs as the restaurant was upstairs…we did however go up stairs and had a table overlooking the pool. The friendly German Shepherd dog escorted us around, usually with one of his toys to throw for him.

The menu was the most extensive we had anywhere we stayed…it wasn’t cordon bleu, it was however well cooked and very tasty at a very reasonable price.

From this hotel you can go to the main gate of Wilpattu ( wish we’d known this) and also explore Anuradhapura. It’s a great base…set around beautiful gardens. On the morning we checked out we met the owner….we’d actually met him the day before without realising as he was tending the garden and checking the pool…which was spotless. The owner was a delightful, elderly gentleman who had built the whole hotel himself, from the design to the construction. We loved this place…it was very reasonably priced and although not posh, it was very comfortable with everything you needed. You can use a credit card her.
3). Lavendish Wild Safari Hotel, was one place we hadn’t expected to stay…but due to a slight mix up with our travel arrangements our tour company booked us in here. It was like most chain hotels, very pleasant, nice big en-suite rooms, lovely views, nice restaurant….a word of warning if it’s a buffet evening meal get there early or most the food will be gone and you are left with little choice…..the hotel is a bit impersonal and you fit in around them rather than them meeting your needs…we wanted to be out for Safari at 6.00am so needed a packed breakfast but the kitchen didn’t start until 6.00am in fact a few staff dawdled in at 6.15am and even though our guide and the jeep driver did their best to chivvy them on we didn’t get off until 6.30am. The good thing about this hotel is that it’s only about 10/15 minutes from the Wasgamuwa National Park gate. They do take credit card here.

4). Our absolutely favourite hotel came next on our trip..The Elegant Hotel Kandy. It is fact about 15 minutes outside Kandy. Absolutely superb hotel. Immaculately trained staff, lovely welcome, beautiful room with amazing views. Great menu, wonderful food which was serenaded by two singers with a guitar.

The pool was very welcomed and beautiful views. The gardens were nice to wander around..it was a deluxe hotel which certainly lived up to its excellent reputation. It was the perfect place to relax.

They took credit card. It was well situated for the tooth temple, a Kandy Evening street food walk with guide, a cultural show, the botanical gardens and of course the train station.

5). Our 5th recommended hotel is Beach & Bliss in Mirissa…yes we have missed Ella and Yala out- my mother used to say if you can’t say end thing good about something don’t say anything at all …although the hotel in Ella did have a fabulous view…I really can’t think of anything good to say about the hotel in Yala, where we stopped 4 nights and had to put up with unpleasant food, a room which wasn’t cleaned or made up even though we asked for it to be and we even had to provide our own loo roll because we asked for some more and it was not forthcoming…..so we jump ahead to Mirissa….we were supposed to be booked into the same hotel for 4 nights but once again the Sri Lankan booking agent had made a mistake and we were only booked in for 3 nights. Our guide and driver sorted it out and we spent a night at Beah & Bliss. The beach is actually a short walk along as it was pretty rocky in front of the hotel… The manager was really kind and switched all his bookings around so that I could be on a first floor room…we laid around the pool looking out to sea… we had a fabulous evening meal and a good breakfast the next morning.

6). Sea World Botique hotel …finally we book in for our 3 nights…rather disappointed that we didn’t have a sea view room …if you book here you must book a sea view room ..the other rooms are on a noisy road and very, very small. The sea View room we were moved into after our first night was divine …the crashing waves, fantastic view, lovely balcony, huge room, big bed…loads of power points, massive bathroom and a spa shower…

We enjoyed the sun deck and the breakfast and the one evening meal we had there. They take credit card but prefer cash. The staff are very helpful and kind. It is ideally situated for using the restaurants on the beach in Mirissa and for a whale watching trip.

7). Sapphire Seas Hotel in Hikkaduwa is our final recommended hotel. It is right on a superb stretch of golden sand. We had a wonderful room on the second floor….there is a lift ( it didn’t always work when the electricity was of low wattage in the evening !!!) we had a wrap-around balcony so we could see the beach and sea from two different aspects. It was a massive room with a nice big bed and a fairly small en-suite bathroom with a shower. The electricity was strange in this hotel…sometimes the sockets and lights worked sometimes they didn’t…but if you tried them all you usually found a few to work…..but that aside ..nothing dull the awe and wonder of the beautiful seascapes from this room.

During the day there are loungers on a deck overlooking the sea and the pool. The food and beverage manager is really nice and friendly and organises his team to move the shades as the sun moves.

The restaurant is excellent ..the chief a talented man with a good sense of humour and a talented cook, he’ll even ask what fish you want to eat before he heads off to buy it.

This hotel is great for relaxing and a good base to visit Galle, a turtle sanctuary and a tsunami remembrance museum.