Your rating of this hotel:
7.0
from 10
Hotel ratings by criteria:
Rooms:
7.0
Service:
8.0
Cleanliness:
8.0
Food:
8.0
Amenities:
5.0
We rested together with my husband in Cinnamon Bay 5 * from 14.03. 17 to 26.03. 17. We went exclusively with breakfast, we did not regret it. The tour was taken from Join UP!
The flight was quite difficult, after landing I wanted to go through all the visa and customs procedures as soon as possible and finally get to the hotel. Unfortunately, unforeseen difficulties arose at the airport, which greatly delayed the entire clearance. As a result, having arrived at 22:35, we finished with the formalities only by 00:30 at night. They exchanged dollars for rupees at the airport, kept the check - they made a reverse exchange on it on the way back. The representative of the tour operator put us on the bus, let's go. Our hotel was the first of all where tourists were taken. The distance to it from the airport is 88 km, so we were somewhat perplexed when the guide announced that we would arrive in 2 hours. But even in such a time it was not possible to get to the hotel, since we stopped at a gas station. The first 5-10 minutes everyone was sitting quietly and calmly, everyone was tired.
When, after fifteen minutes, it became clear that we were not going to go yet, the people began to grumble. As a result - the bus refueled 25 minutes! which lengthened our trip.
The hotel check-in went quickly - overnight, we were the only newcomers. On time - settled at 03:20.
Now specifically about the hotel and rest. The hotel left mixed feelings.
The breakfasts were good, everyone could find something to their liking. There are quite a few national dishes that are difficult to even try - everything in your mouth starts to burn from pepper, be careful with this. But you can also find a lot of non-peppered dishes - scrambled eggs / omelettes, fried bacon, grilled pork sausages, waffles with various sauces / jams, cereal with milk. There was even chicken broth, however, I don’t know what it is, we didn’t try it. Quite a lot of fruits, very tasty papayas, pineapples and small bananas. There were buns and croissants. The waiters serve tea and coffee.
Lunches and dinners were not taken, I will not say anything about them.
The room we were given was on the first floor. On the one hand - conveniently - access immediately to the lawn, close to the pool. On the other hand - very high humidity and too many mosquitoes. For three days they tried to adapt, then, by agreement, they moved to the third floor in the far wing - and were very pleased with this. Much less humidity, mosquitoes only on the balcony and then - if you sit too long, a view of the ocean. According to the latter, it seems like all the rooms overlook the ocean, but in reality you can’t see the ocean from the first floor - palm trees, bushes and trees block everything. There was a bathroom on the balcony, but we never used it.
Cleaning was every day, no complaints. We left a tip of 100 rupees to the cleaner. Somehow they left about 140-150 rupees, the cleaner was so happy that he twisted an elephant out of towels for us and even made his eyes out of pieces of grass.
Towels are only changed if you throw them on the floor, so if you need a daily change of towels, don't forget about it.
The room is quite comfortable for two. Children would not be so comfortable. The idea with a toilet and a shower behind frosted glass, in fact, in the hallway, remained somewhat incomprehensible.
The pool is clean, the water is warm, in the evening - like in the bathroom. Up to 12 hours, part of the pool covers the shade, then you can swim only in the sun.
The territory of the hotel is well-groomed, clean, a lot of greenery and living creatures - chipmunks, iguanas, all kinds of birds. One day we saw a big black snake, it crossed the path in front of us sooooo fast. It seems to be harmless...They did not notice playgrounds, but they did not purposefully look for them, they went together.
The staff is very friendly, everyone speaks English, but if English is weak, you can use offline translators, they helped us out a lot several times.
In general, the hotel makes a good impression.
What left bewilderment - the pricing policy of the hotel. Everything is so expensive that restaurants and bars are almost always empty, at most someone sits with a cup of coffee or a can of beer. For example, a bottle of water in the city costs 40 rupees, in a hotel 350 rupees + 24% tax. A can of beer - in the city 140 rupees, in any restaurant on the beach 200 rupees, in a hotel - 600 plus the same tax fee ...If prices were a little higher than a couple of steps along the beach, then they would be happy to use hotel bars - restaurants. But with such a pricing policy, of course, money went anywhere, but only in Cinnamon ...
For an 11-day vacation, they spent about a thousand dollars, without denying themselves anything. This is taking into account excursions, souvenirs, teas, gifts. Lunch-dinner went (traveled by tuk-tuk) to restaurants near the hotel.
If you go to the beach, then literally 50-100 meters away there are three restaurants (although you would rather call them a cafe), if you go a little further - a few more establishments. The range of dishes they have is approximately the same, but in terms of taste / communication / size of portions, I liked "Sunflower" the most. We ordered a "sea plateau" a few times - in "Sunflower" the "plateau" itself was larger (in terms of the size of marine life and their number) and from the accompanying dishes there were not only french fries and salad, but also a plate of rice (very delicious). For two, they ate heartily. What else I liked about Sunflower - every time they brought us some kind of dessert as a gift from the restaurant - either a fruit salad, or pineapple in batter, something else - everything was sooooo tasty. The owner of the establishment is quite well explained in Russian, the staff is mostly in English, but the basic "concepts" of the menu are also understood in Russian.
On excursions.
Everyone has probably already read that there are a lot of beach-based beach-fights...we didn't pay much attention to them. At one of the dinners in Sunflower, we talked with a local guy Indika, he is the nephew of the owner of the establishment. Works as a guide. We asked him about the excursions, looked at the photos, memorized some positions, took the phone. The next day, they asked the beach-boys for their prices, what is included in the tour, compared - and made conclusions. As a result, we went with Indica on a safari to Yalla, to a turtle farm, on a boat trip to watch whales, in Galle and on a boat along Bentota. All excursions were very good. Indica is fluent in English, partially knows Russian, and continues to learn it. Sometimes it hangs in search of the right word, but in the end - understanding is always achieved. He also helped us on trips to the city (on his tuk-tuk), helped with the selection and purchase of fruits.
My husband bargained with the merchants - with the help of a calculator, and Indica helped a lot as a translator. He probably had some percentage of our purchases, but in fact he saved us so much time, and spent so much of his time on us that we have nothing against the fact that he earns some extra penny (there are local - not to say that it is prosperous). So - if anyone is interested in excursions, or simply - to take / bring to the city, to the hotel, to the same "Sunflower", if it's raining outside, I can safely recommend Indica. We contacted him via viber +94 (77.540 7274.
On the ocean ...swimming near the hotel - we didn’t like it on the site protected by the reef, we went to the Sunflower area - you can swim chic there !! ! ! ! But you need to be careful, there is a very flat bottom, respectively, the rip current is quite strong. There are always waves, it is better not to go further than waist / chest.
If you feel that the outgoing wave is dragging very strongly towards the ocean, it is better to move 20-50 meters further to the side. Well, do not go deep, it is much more difficult to overcome the rip current there. And be careful with the sun - on our first day it was very cloudy, but in 20 minutes in the ocean we were able to burn out.
I really liked my vacation in Sri Lanka, I think we will come back more than once. I'm not sure, though, that in Cinnamon))))). In the course of the rest it turned out that we only like to spend the night and have breakfast in the hotel.
A few more words about Join UP! We never saw our hotel guide Olga. It appeared in the vibe after our question to the travel agency if there was any representative of the tour operator here. Left the impression of a completely incompetent person. We had a night flight back, Olya was asked how to arrange a late check-out, she advised me to find out at the reception. Then it turned out that you need to pay for the departure for a day or two, otherwise they are evicted as expected at 12:00.
Olya, of course, could not tell us this, it seemed to us that she did not know anything at all. Another interesting point about the tour operator. Our departure was at 01:05, the bus arrived for us at 16:30. EIGHT and a half hours before departure! As a result, we arrived at the airport at 19:00 - in some small uncomfortable bus, and waited a very long time for at least the start of registration for our flight. But representatives of Join UP! could rest easy in their beds, and not take tourists to the airport for the night looking. A very unpleasant impression from the tour operator, and this is our second experience of buying a tour from this company. Most likely - the latter, there are many tour operators, there are always options for whom to take their money)))).
The flight was quite difficult, after landing I wanted to go through all the visa and customs procedures as soon as possible and finally get to the hotel. Unfortunately, unforeseen difficulties arose at the airport, which greatly delayed the entire clearance. As a result, having arrived at 22:35, we finished with the formalities only by 00:30 at night. They exchanged dollars for rupees at the airport, kept the check - they made a reverse exchange on it on the way back. The representative of the tour operator put us on the bus, let's go. Our hotel was the first of all where tourists were taken. The distance to it from the airport is 88 km, so we were somewhat perplexed when the guide announced that we would arrive in 2 hours. But even in such a time it was not possible to get to the hotel, since we stopped at a gas station. The first 5-10 minutes everyone was sitting quietly and calmly, everyone was tired.
When, after fifteen minutes, it became clear that we were not going to go yet, the people began to grumble. As a result - the bus refueled 25 minutes! which lengthened our trip.
The hotel check-in went quickly - overnight, we were the only newcomers. On time - settled at 03:20.
Now specifically about the hotel and rest. The hotel left mixed feelings.
The breakfasts were good, everyone could find something to their liking. There are quite a few national dishes that are difficult to even try - everything in your mouth starts to burn from pepper, be careful with this. But you can also find a lot of non-peppered dishes - scrambled eggs / omelettes, fried bacon, grilled pork sausages, waffles with various sauces / jams, cereal with milk. There was even chicken broth, however, I don’t know what it is, we didn’t try it. Quite a lot of fruits, very tasty papayas, pineapples and small bananas. There were buns and croissants. The waiters serve tea and coffee.
Lunches and dinners were not taken, I will not say anything about them.
The room we were given was on the first floor. On the one hand - conveniently - access immediately to the lawn, close to the pool. On the other hand - very high humidity and too many mosquitoes. For three days they tried to adapt, then, by agreement, they moved to the third floor in the far wing - and were very pleased with this. Much less humidity, mosquitoes only on the balcony and then - if you sit too long, a view of the ocean. According to the latter, it seems like all the rooms overlook the ocean, but in reality you can’t see the ocean from the first floor - palm trees, bushes and trees block everything. There was a bathroom on the balcony, but we never used it.
Cleaning was every day, no complaints. We left a tip of 100 rupees to the cleaner. Somehow they left about 140-150 rupees, the cleaner was so happy that he twisted an elephant out of towels for us and even made his eyes out of pieces of grass.
Towels are only changed if you throw them on the floor, so if you need a daily change of towels, don't forget about it.
The room is quite comfortable for two. Children would not be so comfortable. The idea with a toilet and a shower behind frosted glass, in fact, in the hallway, remained somewhat incomprehensible.
The pool is clean, the water is warm, in the evening - like in the bathroom. Up to 12 hours, part of the pool covers the shade, then you can swim only in the sun.
The territory of the hotel is well-groomed, clean, a lot of greenery and living creatures - chipmunks, iguanas, all kinds of birds. One day we saw a big black snake, it crossed the path in front of us sooooo fast. It seems to be harmless...They did not notice playgrounds, but they did not purposefully look for them, they went together.
The staff is very friendly, everyone speaks English, but if English is weak, you can use offline translators, they helped us out a lot several times.
In general, the hotel makes a good impression.
What left bewilderment - the pricing policy of the hotel. Everything is so expensive that restaurants and bars are almost always empty, at most someone sits with a cup of coffee or a can of beer. For example, a bottle of water in the city costs 40 rupees, in a hotel 350 rupees + 24% tax. A can of beer - in the city 140 rupees, in any restaurant on the beach 200 rupees, in a hotel - 600 plus the same tax fee ...If prices were a little higher than a couple of steps along the beach, then they would be happy to use hotel bars - restaurants. But with such a pricing policy, of course, money went anywhere, but only in Cinnamon ...
For an 11-day vacation, they spent about a thousand dollars, without denying themselves anything. This is taking into account excursions, souvenirs, teas, gifts. Lunch-dinner went (traveled by tuk-tuk) to restaurants near the hotel.
If you go to the beach, then literally 50-100 meters away there are three restaurants (although you would rather call them a cafe), if you go a little further - a few more establishments. The range of dishes they have is approximately the same, but in terms of taste / communication / size of portions, I liked "Sunflower" the most. We ordered a "sea plateau" a few times - in "Sunflower" the "plateau" itself was larger (in terms of the size of marine life and their number) and from the accompanying dishes there were not only french fries and salad, but also a plate of rice (very delicious). For two, they ate heartily. What else I liked about Sunflower - every time they brought us some kind of dessert as a gift from the restaurant - either a fruit salad, or pineapple in batter, something else - everything was sooooo tasty. The owner of the establishment is quite well explained in Russian, the staff is mostly in English, but the basic "concepts" of the menu are also understood in Russian.
On excursions.
Everyone has probably already read that there are a lot of beach-based beach-fights...we didn't pay much attention to them. At one of the dinners in Sunflower, we talked with a local guy Indika, he is the nephew of the owner of the establishment. Works as a guide. We asked him about the excursions, looked at the photos, memorized some positions, took the phone. The next day, they asked the beach-boys for their prices, what is included in the tour, compared - and made conclusions. As a result, we went with Indica on a safari to Yalla, to a turtle farm, on a boat trip to watch whales, in Galle and on a boat along Bentota. All excursions were very good. Indica is fluent in English, partially knows Russian, and continues to learn it. Sometimes it hangs in search of the right word, but in the end - understanding is always achieved. He also helped us on trips to the city (on his tuk-tuk), helped with the selection and purchase of fruits.
My husband bargained with the merchants - with the help of a calculator, and Indica helped a lot as a translator. He probably had some percentage of our purchases, but in fact he saved us so much time, and spent so much of his time on us that we have nothing against the fact that he earns some extra penny (there are local - not to say that it is prosperous). So - if anyone is interested in excursions, or simply - to take / bring to the city, to the hotel, to the same "Sunflower", if it's raining outside, I can safely recommend Indica. We contacted him via viber +94 (77.540 7274.
On the ocean ...swimming near the hotel - we didn’t like it on the site protected by the reef, we went to the Sunflower area - you can swim chic there !! ! ! ! But you need to be careful, there is a very flat bottom, respectively, the rip current is quite strong. There are always waves, it is better not to go further than waist / chest.
If you feel that the outgoing wave is dragging very strongly towards the ocean, it is better to move 20-50 meters further to the side. Well, do not go deep, it is much more difficult to overcome the rip current there. And be careful with the sun - on our first day it was very cloudy, but in 20 minutes in the ocean we were able to burn out.
I really liked my vacation in Sri Lanka, I think we will come back more than once. I'm not sure, though, that in Cinnamon))))). In the course of the rest it turned out that we only like to spend the night and have breakfast in the hotel.
A few more words about Join UP! We never saw our hotel guide Olga. It appeared in the vibe after our question to the travel agency if there was any representative of the tour operator here. Left the impression of a completely incompetent person. We had a night flight back, Olya was asked how to arrange a late check-out, she advised me to find out at the reception. Then it turned out that you need to pay for the departure for a day or two, otherwise they are evicted as expected at 12:00.
Olya, of course, could not tell us this, it seemed to us that she did not know anything at all. Another interesting point about the tour operator. Our departure was at 01:05, the bus arrived for us at 16:30. EIGHT and a half hours before departure! As a result, we arrived at the airport at 19:00 - in some small uncomfortable bus, and waited a very long time for at least the start of registration for our flight. But representatives of Join UP! could rest easy in their beds, and not take tourists to the airport for the night looking. A very unpleasant impression from the tour operator, and this is our second experience of buying a tour from this company. Most likely - the latter, there are many tour operators, there are always options for whom to take their money)))).
Translated automatically from Russian. View original
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