We went to Sri Lanka in April and booked most of the holiday on the net. It is very easy to find hotel sites but some hotels aren't quite as gopod in the flesh, so to speak, whilst others are better. We began at Unawatuna Beach Resort and had arranges by email to be picked up at the airport. We had booked an executive room $60 per night half board for 2 - a good price but the hotel was very run down. I would also spend the first night nearer to the airport as the 4 hour drive was horrendous! They all drive like lunatics! I do not recommend this hotel unless you are the back-packing type! Next to Kosgoda beach where I had stayed before - lovely! Each night turtles crawled up the beach to lay eggs. We had a Duplex room - superb but others were complaining that some rooms were not too good. The sea at this time of the year is too rough to swim but there are miles of beautiful beach for walking
Never book an island tour from UK you can do it so cheaply on your own. We hired an A/C minibus with driver for £12 a day and he also acted as a guide. This way you can take control of where you go and what you see. At Kandy the HotelSuisse is colonial and we had the Mountbatten Suite for $56 half board. A lovely hotel with lots of character, good food, a really spectacular lounge and bar and fruit bats with 1metre wing spans in the trees. It was a differnt story nin Colombo where the Galle Face hotel boasts dozens of celebrity guests from the past but is a dirty, crumbling heap. We lasted 1 night there! The Kadelama hotel in Dambulla takes the prize - modern and built into the rocks with spectacular views of the lake, it is all chrome, marble and elegance. A big treat especially as you could go on an elephant safari. You should book this from UK; we got the walk-in rate of $199 per night - but it was still worth it! The pool features an optical illusion and drops into space. Best hotel food I've ever had!
By having our own bus we could avoid spice gardens, batik shops and anything else owned by the diver's brother - all these are just included in tours for commission purposes - still- we gave him a good tip! So much to see - don't try to do it all - relax! you are, after all on holiday!!
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I disagree about the Galle Face, we had a great stay there in a huge and luxurious room. I liked its crumbling colonial charm. So there!
perera 04.06.2002 14:45
good op.. need somemore info on the country though. Colombo is great (I reckon) you obviously aren't picking the good hotels + you can sometimes get the hotels booked cheaper in London. I can find 5 Star hotels for $40 a night in Colombo. The best hotels in Colombo are probably The Taj Samudra, Hilton, Inter-Continental and Lanka Oberoi. They all have a great view of the beach. You should also try Mount Lavinia hotel. There is one place situated in an island in the middle of a massive lake in the mountains.. the most beautiful views ever. Its called Giritale. You should check that out if you ever go again + try the Grand Hotel in Nuwara Ealiya. Its absolutely superb. Its an Old British Colonial Mansion converted into a hotel and they added on extra buildings but still kept the look of the original building. Its huge with loads of things inside the hotel to keep people company. When you were there you would have probably realised that there are hardly and security checkpoints as the terrorist war in Sri Lanka is coming to and end which is good for its tourism + if your buying your airline ticket, best place to go is to a Sri Lanka owned travel agent in London as they can get you consolidated fares for travel to Sri Lanka.. prices are ABOUT £390 off peak season and ABOUT £450 on-peak… prices vary depending on the travel agent and the availability of the cheap seats.
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Advantages: breathtaking scenery, waterfalls, culture, variety of things to do, good climate, friendly people, good quality and variety of accommodation offering value for money Disadvantages: sea can be quite rough, could be quite a culture shock for some people
kayleybo 04.11.2003 ·
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Review of General: Sri Lanka
Advantages: Keep this in mind next time an evil tortoise threatens YOUR village Disadvantages: Not one for the big tour groups - this place is tiny inside
koshkha 30.05.2009 ·
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