Dodanduwa Trip

Decent quality 3 star hotel on negombo seafront. Nice garden facing the beach and great views of sunsets. Guests were a mixed crowd of locals and foreign tourists. Check in process was slow and inefficient. Staff seemed to struggle to process a group booking ahead of us and told us to wait. This took more than half hour. The older lady who showed us to our room incorrectly told us that there was no room service. Her younger male colleague confirmed there was room service and said he was frustrated with this older ladies capability to do her job. We struggled on our first night as the air con didn't work. The maintenance staff struggled to fix the issue and we had to be moved. Many of the sockets were not to the current Sri Lankan /UK standard. In other words they were the 3 round pin sockets.. Buffet on the saturday was very good and wide ranging. Sunday was a lot worse, we think it may have been cos there were less guests All in all a mixed bag but the staff are reasonably friendly, garden is nice. Rooms need updating but compared to some so called 4 star rival hotels i would say this place is decent value for money.

Fabulous room, very tastefully appointed, with a huge bed and good size en-suite shower room. The staff are, without exception, friendly helpful and obliging. The architecture is unusual, attractive and interesting, with a little bit of a safari lodge feel to it. The villa is a little bit remote but there is easy access to local facilities via taxi, or Tuk Tuk. Our only slight disappointment was the limited range of choice from the menu available in the evenings and the portions were sometimes less than might be expected. In summary, a fabulous place to relax for a few days among quiet surroundings and you may be lucky to have some interesting wildlife visitors.

5 star view of the ocean, 3.5 star room, 2 star service from the staff. Stayed for 4 nights, first day was ruined due to being given a sub standard room. After complaining to the supervisor, we were given a nicer room with a beautiful view of the pool/ocean - but the room felt more like 3.5 star - nothing special, No mini bar and room was outdated. Paid nearly $200/night, not worth the price. Breakfast was the same for all 4 days of our stay. Also, felt that people of color are treated differently and raised this with the supervisor. The arrogant male staff in particular at front desk, restaurant and pool area need to be trained properly. This was raised with the supervisor.. Note that an additional 10% service charge, 18% VAT is added to food/beverage/spa.

When I arrived I was a little apprehensive given the external appearance and the general condition of the carpets and lift but once I entered my junior suite then I was delighted. Everything was brand new, lounge, dinning, kitchen and bedroom in mint condition. No utensils or crockery despite having a stove top . The dinning room was really nice and all the food delicious. Every staff member was delightful. One has to measure against the price paid and the third world standard and I would give the hotel a huge tick. ….. especially the dinning.