Отель хороший, но из-за рифа мелкий океан The hotel is good, but because of the reef the ocean is shallow

First time flying to Sri Lanka. The tour was from 21.11. 15 to 30.11. 15 (actually it turns out 7 nights, 8 days) from Kyiv through Sharjah, in Sharjah there was a transfer of 50 minutes (there was enough time to go to the toilet, smoke, walk around the territory - the airport is small). Arrived in Colombo at night. The time difference is about 3.30 hours. We received our luggage without any problems, in the same place on the territory of the airport they changed some currency for their rupees (the rate was 139.25 rupees for 1 dollar). depends on the denomination of banknotes - if 100 dollars. then the rate is high, if 5 dollars. less, but not by much. Immediately we were met by the guide Dumidu from "EXOTIC LEISURE TOURS", put us in an air-conditioned minibus and after an hour and a half we were at the Cinnamon Bay Hotel. We arrived without problems on the autobahn. We were greeted with wet towels, but drinks, as vacationers wrote in the reviews, were not offered. We bought a tour with a late check-out, took breakfast and dinner. On the 22nd, when we arrived, we were supposed to have only dinner, and on the evening of the 29th, before leaving the hotel, we were supposed to be given a breakfast ration, since we flew out on the night of the 30th. But our valiant guide Dumidu arranged for us to be fed on the morning of the 22nd, which was very helpful. Since we arrived almost at 8 in the morning, and the settlement was at 12, naturally there were no rooms. We had breakfast, walked around the territory and went to find out about the room. At the reception, everyone speaks English, but with our level of knowledge, it was difficult to understand them, but resourceful staff types in English on a computer and translates into Russian. So there were no problems in communication. After 10 minutes of discussions and “tips”, we got the most beautiful deluxe room instead of a double and settled in calmly. There were bathrobes (no slippers), hair dryer, toiletries (soap, shower gel, shampoo, body lotion), free safe, paid minibar, kettle (water, tea, coffee, sugar bags - free of charge), iron, scales, a huge shower with a bath, located on the balcony, enclosed by a wall. In doubles, the bathroom is just on the open balcony. The food is mostly ok you can find not too peppery food. In the morning, usually scrambled eggs, scrambled eggs, cooked immediately, bacon, sausages, 4-5 types of side dishes - potatoes, rice, noodles, beans or stewed vegetables, several types of muesli, yogurt, salads, 2 types of sausage, 2-3 types of cheese, 5 types of juices. Pour tea, coffee, milk. Fruits were bananas, papayas, pineapples, watermelon. Fine. For dinner there were more side dishes, 2 types of soup, chicken, fish, pork, a little more salads, fruits, there were 2 types of ice cream, kurt is our sour (cool). Drinks in the evening are all paid. Water is simple 150 rupees, a bottle of their Leo beer costs 512 rupees, but there is a tax on alcohol - another 113 rupees, that is, beer turned out to be 625 rupees (4.5 bucks), in the store it costs 200 rupees. You sign a check, and then you pay at the reception. Regarding the beach: you can safely go here with the kids at this time. Due to the fact that at a distance of 20-30 meters from the coast, a reef runs parallel to the beach, holding back waves from the ocean, and in the mornings there is still low tide, the deepest place is about 1-1.2 m, in the afternoon - high tide and already 1.3-1.6m depth. Take beach towels and an umbrella with you. Everything is located on the territory of the hotel, and no one lies on the (public) beach. Walking along the coast, you can taste freshly cooked seafood (mixed shrimp, lobster, fish steak, squid, crab) plus salad, rice, french fries in local restaurants, within 2200-4200 rupees, i. e. somewhere around 15 -30 USD Depending on the content and the restaurant. Near the hotel (at the entrance) there is a knitwear shop, but on the beach there are a lot of parero and souvenirs selling. For food (alcohol, fruit, etc. ) you have to go (to go far). Right there on the beach there are a lot of beachboys who speak Russian quite tolerably, offering you excursions and a tuk-tuk (three-wheeled cool bibika) for 100 rupees to go to the nearest shops. We took a private day trip from our operators to Kandy city (a bit more expensive than the beachboys). We left at 4.30, stopped at the elephant nursery (but didn’t ride elephants), visited the spice garden (it’s interesting to listen, but just don’t buy anything there, in local pharmacies all the same products are cheaper by 4-5 dollars. ), visited a private tea factory, bought tea there (tea prices are almost the same everywhere), visited the stone museum, wanted to buy a sapphire, but they have a bad cut and are a little expensive, but you can bargain; it is better to buy stones at the factory, it is cheaper there; then we walked around the botanical garden for a little over an hour, but it was enough for us to see and learn a lot of interesting things (thanks to our guide Dumid, who told us everything quite clearly throughout our trip). Monkeys were not seen. The last on the list was the Temple of the Tooth Relic. We listened to an exciting story about Buddhism, saw the splendor of the temple (there is a dress code - an opaque top; shorts, skirts, etc. should cover your knees, you have to walk barefoot). On the way back, we stopped near fruit markets. Prices in the vicinity of Kandy for fruits are 2 times cheaper than in Beruwala. We bought mangoes in the vicinity of Kandy for 200 rupees per kg, pineapples for 100 rupees. , rabutan for 800 rupees. (out of season for rabutan), and near the hotel - 400 rupees each. for mango; 200 rupees for pineapple (bargaining for 180). Red rum is approximately the same price in all areas - from 1930 to 1980 rupees for a 0.75l bottle. They have an unusual lemonade with ginger. Our tour operator gave us an unexpected gift in honor of the 30th anniversary of our life together. On the 4th day of rest, we were told that we should collect our things and release the deluxe, since the tour operator paid us only for the first 3 days of our stay in this hotel, then for a day we have to leave for another Blu water hotel, then we will return here again, but in a different room. Supposedly, so that we would not be bored. To collect a suitcase (the employees themselves took it out of the room and handed it over to the storage room at the hotel), vacate the room, take some things with them, drive for almost an hour to another hotel - the mood dropped a little. But a warm welcome (smiling staff, again wet towels and already 2 types of soft drinks, quick check-in, a magnificent room, chic territory, a compliment in honor of the anniversary in the form of fruits, chocolates and a bunch of balloons) cheered up. We didn't regret coming here. Almost tame herons walk around the territory, chipmunks run. There are also disadvantages: the open ocean - when you go to the beach, a red flag hangs, which means swimming is prohibited, but you can swim near the shore, only then your back hurts; food in this hotel is worse than in Cinnamon Bay; there is no roof over the balconies, when it rains (almost every evening), you won’t go out onto the balcony. The territory is planted with palm trees, on which crows flock in the evening, their number and croaking is a little annoying, and the fact that they are trying to scare them away with the help of firecrackers worries them even more. When checking out from hotels, neither in Cinnamon Bay nor in Blu water, our minibars were checked, although many write that there were problems with this. And no one drove us out of the room by the neck, we ourselves vacated the room 20 minutes before the car arrived at the airport. They thought to spend the remaining rupees in dutifree, but they didn’t take them there, they said they only accept dollars, so we will definitely return to Sri Lanka again. Good luck to all!