The hotel is not that simple to get to. Once you leave a nice hard top road, you have to drive down a long dirt road for about 10 mins to get to the hotel itself. That road can become a bit flooded if it rains hard - as it did on one day we were there - and that can prevent some guests getting in and out of the hotel. We’d had a lovely quiet evening meal one night and only found out afterwards that there had been a large group due in but couldn’t get down the road. Generally, it’s ‘normal’ vehicles and buses that bring people but, on occasion, a 4x4 would be better. On the days we arrived and left the roads were passable but you could see how they become easily impassable with rivulets running across it. The hotel though is lovely. The old one was washed away in the tsunami but the replacement looks strongly built, with its exposed concrete and stone construction there for all to see. That doesn’t make it cold and like a factory though. Far from it. It feels like it belongs where it is and its appropriate for a climate that varied between sun, wind and heavy rain whilst we were there. Whilst there are bedrooms on the ground floor (plus the gym and spa), most of the hotel’s common spaces are on the top floor, where reception, the bar and a la carte restaurant are. The main restaurant is one floor down, which has a nice view from the verandas around the outside. We had drinks in the bar on a couple of evenings, choosing to sit on the covered balcony as the indoor space - complete with pool table - whilst lovely was rather cold. The cocktails we had were really well made and come with our recommendation. We didn’t try the a la carte restaurant. Frankly, there was no need to from a food perspective. It was excellent all the time in the main one. The hotel tends to get large groups stay, who like to sit together (and create quite a noise), so the main restaurant can get quite noisy. The a la carte would offer a break from that as it’s in its own, quiet space. We genuinely couldn’t fault the food at the hotel. Breakfast always had a large choice ranging from cold offerings, cereal and salad, through to traditional Sri Lankan and hot western options. Tea and coffee was to order whilst you helped yourself to juice. The story was similar for evening meals too. If anything, evening meals catered less for western palettes and more for the Chinese guests that frequent the hotel. There were always lots of local Sri Lankan dishes too, which were simply delicious. All the hot food was outside the main restaurant space, under cover, with much of it being cooked in front of you. The cold starters and desserts were indoors. I have to say, one odd highlight was the soups. Every night there were 2 soups on offer and they were really good. I did have a tiny bug bear sometimes, which correlated with the busiest nights. That was the staff were a little too keen to clear plates. On occasion, you’d literally be chewing still and hadn’t quite put your cutlery dow
40 Reviews