Me my wife and daughter have just returned from club palm garden (9th Sept), the hotel is basic but clean and good food. Friendly staff and lots of activities, which to be honest at times does give it a slightly butlins/pontins feel!! We liked it that much we have booked to go back for christmas and we have not been back a week!! We are however not staying at club palm, we are staying at a guest house about 500m away, this was after we made good friends with a group of "Beach boy's", we travelled with Mercury direct and did not arrive in resort until 22:00 on monday after leaving at 09:30 the previous sunday, but our rep called us at 07:45 the next morning asking us to meet him in reception! We politely said wait and we will be up after brekkie. When we meet him he was welcoming and pleasent and warned us about the beach boys and not to go on trips with them as they had a bad reputation and i had a young teenage daughter to be careful, and becareful of going on the beach at night, great i am now thinking i am going to be a prisoner in the bloody hotel for three weeks, this was our first trip outside europe and after this warning wish we had'nt have bothered.We also booked two trips with rep, one to kandy and various sites with an overnight stay at a 5* hotel, and a another day trip to galleand elephant orphange, and turtles and hikkaduwa to go on glass bottom boat this was a one day trip. We paid £116 each for the two day overnight trip and £29 for the one day trip, we then go to the beach and are now dubious of the beach boys trying to sell us trips and the like, a week goes past and we got to kandy vatious places and it was a good trip. We then found we will test the water and the next day we booked a river trip with a beach boy, about £20 for the three of us for three hours, we got talking to them and said we had been to kandy and booked this other day trip with our rep and they said they could take us to kandy for £65 each and the single day trip for £16! Half price, we then booked another trip with the boys to a waterfalls were they cooked prawns and fresh fish for us and played the bongos whilst we all a had good party with much arrack consumed. This trip was one of the highlights of our holiday and was a fanastic day out for £20 each we had fresh prawns and fish, plus all our drinks. We then become very friendly with the lads and spent the rest of our holiday with them, we went a sri lankan house warming party, and again was blown away by the kindess and welcome we received and what a night, 60 sri lankan's, me my wife and our daughter, but by far a great night and defintly as we experienced the local way of life, we were cooked traditional rice and curry by the older women of the family and they could not do enough for you. We enjoyed our time with these local beach boys and become very good friends with them that we are going back to spend christmas with them at they're guset house, please do not be put off by the beach boys the majority of them are fine and just trying to make you happy and make your holiday fun and all for cheaper than the rep does!! If you are travelling to Beruwela and need to to arrange trips or tours please email and i can put you in touch with our friends out there, who will make it a holiday you wont forget, unless you drink to much arrack with them!!