Отличный отель!!! Excellent hotel!!!

We rested from June 03 to June 17.2012. In Sri Lanka for the first time, before that there were many places in Thailand and Malaysia and Indonesia and in other countries, and believe me, there is something to compare with. I rested with my mother. When choosing a hotel, I considered a lot of hotels, this hotel was attracted by its price, since in my travels, first of all, an excursion program, so we decided not to pay attention to reviews and it is better to spend the difference in money on excursions. The flight was transferred hard, I did not expect that the seats on the plane were so uncomfortable ....There is no food on the plane (Air Arabia flew from Kyiv), many tourists did not know about this, we only bought water, relatively inexpensively 3 dirhams or 1 dollar. The transfer in Sharjah is one hour very fast, you can walk along Dutik and already transfer to a plane to Colombo. We arrived at 4 in the morning, as we received visas back in Ukraine and quickly went through passport control.
The host Exotic Travel met us right away, gave us time to buy a SIM card (we bought Mobitel for 100 rupees, you can also top up your account there, the cheapest calls to Ukraine, the cost for city calls is 11 rupees a minute, for mobile 22 rupees a minute), they called home every day , for two weeks spent on calls 10 at. e. It is also better to change dollars immediately at the airport, since there will simply be nowhere to change them, and the exchange rate will not be profitable, and save the receipt, since with the balance of rupees it will be possible to exchange them back at the airport for dollars, at the same rate. On June 4, the exchange rate was 128 rupees. The transfer was waiting for us somewhere around the corner, where the guide took us, but there we were immediately attacked by people like luggage brought into the transfer, and then I demand money, so don’t enter carefully - this is not the driver !! ! They demanded 1000 rupees from us, we gave 1 dollar and that's it! But one couple was so fooled and took 1000 from them, but they simply didn’t understand right away ....
such a divorce, when you are not yet oriented in the local currency! We arrived very quickly, the first stop of the ball was at the Tangerine Hotel, where two ladies were going and, having found out which hotel we were going to, they said: oh, you are going to this terrible hotel ......So they were afraid of the reviews and took Tangerine, but for one week at that price, but in Kosgoda two could have a rest for the same money! Well, this is everyone’s choice, it was still a bit dumb for us to go, after all, everyone read the reviews ...this ...We were next, the rest of the tourists followed further to Unawatuna. The gates open and so far we don’t see anything terrible, but there is a table instead of the reception, well, okay. Issued quickly, offered to have breakfast first (breakfast is not included in more than one hotel upon check-in !!!

and here everyone is fed breakfast), we left our things and went for breakfast, we walk past a small lake with fish, there is a goose walking, not very affectionate))) Everything is clear, as in the photographs. Yes, a little dirty, but it's you who came to visit them, they live like that !! ! The restaurant is located in the open area near the pool, it’s very cool, you can swim there at any time, even some ate at dinner and then jumped into the pool immediately to swim))) Breakfast was not a buffet, the “menu” option (because when we arrived There were only 6 people in the hotel, including us). For breakfast they gave buns, toast, butter, papaya fruit, pineapples, watermelons, fresh papaya or watermelon juice or a mix, very tasty!!!
, coffee, tea and milk on the hotel table without restriction, a choice of scrambled eggs or scrambled eggs, brought with beans and spicy sausages, I didn’t like beans, but I was delighted with sausages, although many didn’t eat, as they don’t like spicy, but I am generally a fan of spices and spicy food, so the food was just for me) We ate and went to the reception, where we were immediately given the key to room 131 overlooking the ocean. The room is two-story, on the first floor there is a room with a sofa, a table and a locker, as well as an open balcony and a bathroom, on the second floor there is a bed and a TV, like a bedroom, air conditioning, and on the first floor there is a fan. Everything worked!! ! Everything was in order in the bathroom, there was always a hairdryer, hot water, from bathroom accessories, shampoo in Sunsilk bags (good) and soap, changed every day, if they forget to bring it, you need to remind them and they will bring it right away. Also daily 2 0.5 water, in bags of coffee, tea and cream.
Everything was kept in a safe, it is in the room and free of charge. You open the balcony and the sound of the ocean!!! ! Naturally, I don’t want to sleep anymore when I see such a beauty ....The territory is green, large, coconuts are lying around, guards are sitting everywhere, we asked them, they got us coconuts, royal coconuts, very tasty !! ! It even happened that cokes fell and we opened them ourselves))), here is a real bounty advertisement, you sit in your room listening to the sound of the ocean, a coconut falls ..... A large pool, with a small island and a hammock, there is also a jacuzzi! Walked along the beach, the ocean is just gorgeous!! ! Chipmunks run around the territory (they come to visit for breakfast for buns), monitor lizards walk, impudent crows sit in the restaurant!! ! you have to drive them, some met snakes, I'm very afraid of them, I'm lucky that it wasn't me!! ! In general, the guards are watching the territory, the snakes there are not poisonous!
Yes, the ocean was violent, but it’s very beautiful, they tried to swim, it turned out, but it’s scary, it’s very addictive, so they never went far, but after the storm, a lot of jellyfish appeared, they stung a lot, we were lucky they bypassed us, but some tourists are well sorry, the irritation was strong, so the jellyfish are very careful! The beach itself is gorgeous, there is no one, just super!! ! We went for a walk to the stones, there are locals there, but they don’t bother me much, I’m already used to it, so I don’t pay attention. It’s better to walk along the beach on the right side, there are just beautiful stones and the ocean flows into the lagoon, but on the left side how to go to the turtle farm, there are stones in the ocean, and it’s very dangerous, my mother fell there and hurt her leg badly and the camera is gone...this is how I was left on the fourth day without a camera, but they found a way out on the phone and filmed, and other tourists helped out, the memory card did not oxidize, I was lucky!

We had breakfast and dinner meals, dinners were also on the menu system, the buffet was for dinner once, there were very few people in the hotel, the first three days 6 people, then tourists arrived and there were only 16 people. For dinner The food was changed daily and everything was delicious. They brought soup and buns, but I didn’t eat soups, I just don’t like mashed soups, here one was from a series of transparent ones, so I ate it and I really liked it. The next dish was a salad and a choice of chicken or fish, I always took fish, it was delicious, but sometimes it was like in batter, it was a bit overcooked, but in general I really liked the food. They also gave sweets for dinner, they said that it was delicious, I could no longer eat, I usually asked that they not bring it, and I don’t really like sweets at all, but I really liked ice cream and cream. None of the tourists complained either. The chef was often interested in how we were eating and if there were any suggestions or comments! Always listened!
From drinks for dinner, tea and coffee are also free. From alcohol we bought Lion beer, awesome, 300 rupees for a bottle of 0.7 in the hotel restaurant, you can buy it in the store for 150, you have to go here on a tuk or order it from a scourge of fights for 200, so the difference is not big, and you can sit quietly at dinner in the restaurant, as you cannot bring your own drinks into the restaurant. And so on the territory of the hotel in the evening, many were sitting at the tables drinking, no one was cursing. We tried the local rum, we also liked it very much, I don’t know how much it costs, they treated us, but those who bought it said that it was not very expensive.
By the way, everyone who had a rest was delighted with the hotel, I didn’t hear something bad from not one tourist, one girl rested for the second time in this hotel, she was in the spring and the second time she decided to go she chose this hotel, here she is said that the hotel staff was different, which completely changed! And indeed the staff used to be impudent!
Now the hotel staff is very good and in the restaurant and the guards and cleaners were always ready to help! Left 100 rupees every day in the room, beautifully decorated with flowers.
On the second day, we went on an excursion along the Madu River, a gem factory (we bought an inexpensive set of silver with blue topaz, we have to bargain well, they are inferior and I really liked amethysts, I decided to buy only one stone and make a product to order), Hikkaduwa, a turtle farm, with person 35 c. u. e. by tuk tuk, full day excursion, after breakfast, departure at 9 am, return at 4 pm. The tour is interesting, you did not choose it, we just introduced a couple from Ukraine and so they went there and we were with them for company. Then we already agreed on our own, a day later we decided to go to Fort Galle and Unawatuna, agreed for 20 c. u. e. per person.

In Galle, we looked at the fort, asked to go to the shops, and there he stayed to wait, and we went ourselves, then the prices are completely different when you go on your own, because if you go with a tuktuk, he gets 30% for being you brought. Without excursions, we independently went to Bendota and Kalutara for shopping. On short trips, they agreed for 200-300 rupees. Of the purchases, what we bought is interesting - of course, tea, the best Mlesna, is sold in different places, there is also in the Food city, in bags and iron boxes. Very good shampoos, bought in a pharmacy, Kumarika shampoo and hair oil with twigs inside, ideal for a gift. The toothpastes are of very good quality, but I didn’t like the taste ...The choice of clothes is very poor, I am a lover of sarafans, so I found three with such difficulty, one in Halle, after two hours of shopping, one in Kalutara, also went around a dozen, and one accidentally on a tour in Dambulla.
There is a large selection of long skirts, my mother was just lucky, the quality is very good and not expensive at all up to 1000 rupees, there are many different options. In Bendot, prices are higher for everything except cosmetics in pharmacies and tea. But for clothes there are inflated prices and there is no choice, like second-hand and fruits are expensive. Fruits were bought, mango 40 rupees a piece, pineapple 150 rupees a piece, mangosteen 10 rupees a piece, coconuts 30 rupees a piece. There is nothing at all near the hotel, there are a couple of shops behind the bridge and that's it, they hit pineapples once there, and there is nothing else there. We went once for a massage, nothing like that, but the second time we didn’t want to, we agreed for 3000 for two with a tuk tuk.
But the most important thing is why I went to Sri Lanka, my dream was to visit Sigiriya ..... This excursion is interesting for 2 days, but I had to find a company, because if you go together, it costs 450 USD. e. for two, and if 4 people, then 350 for two, if 6 people, then 300 for two.
And many people rested at the hotel after the excursions, from the tour operator they went straight from the airport for three days on excursions, and then the hotel, we decided not to take it right away, to relax and it’s cheaper, from the tour operator 600 for two and the program is exactly the same, even many complained, what is worse and not everyone visited, one boy was resting, who was not brought to Dambulla ....Met the girls from Dnepropetrovsk went four. Our program was as follows: the first day, pineapple plantations, the Pinavelle elephant nursery, if shops with handbags and all sorts of souvenirs, you can trade, the girls chose their handbags for 20 c. u. e. leather, I was not impressed with the styles. Next is a tea factory (we didn’t buy anything, it’s expensive, but we tasted it). Kandy, Royal Botanical Garden (only the flying foxes and the bridge were impressive).

Then check-in at the hotel (The Serene Garden 3 * Hotel is just a 10-minute walk from the center of Kandy and a 10-minute drive from the Temple of the Tooth Relic, so for a minute on Booking the cost of this room per day is 108 USD with breakfast !! ! ), shower rest for a couple of hours and went to a Sri Lankan show, dancing, Visiting the Temple of the Tooth Relic (Russian-speaking guide), open to see the box itself for only three minutes, and the rest of the time you go to see the temple. In the evening, dinner at the hotel is a buffet, everything is very tasty, meat, fish, seafood, fruits, sweets, even I ate, well, they have very tasty creams ...Second day: breakfast, also a buffet. Next spice garden, tea factory and transfer to Sigiriya. Rock of the 5th century AD, climbing 1200 steps, I wanted to see the paws so much that I didn’t even swamp, as they raised it, amazing frescoes, carved paws of a lion in the rock - this is just a magnificent sight, there are no analogues in the world!! ! This is a must visit in Sri Lanka.
What is dangerous there is black wild bees, speak quietly among themselves and if one attacks, then everyone attacks, bites can be fatal !! ! Therefore, from the paws, on the rise to the very top, you need to quietly rise !! ! A few days before us, one family was attacked by bees and no one was allowed to go to the very top. But in general, not everyone goes up there, if it’s scary, then in principle you can get by, and only reach the paws. After Sigiriya we went to Dambulla. Cave rock, it was more difficult to climb there, there was a wind in Sigiriya, and here it was hot, in general, this climb was hard for us, but it was worth it, there is a temple of 5 caves, here is the largest collection of Buddha statues, many of which are already more than 2000 years, there are a lot of monkeys running downstairs. Here, on the square, there is a three-story building - a museum, with teeth))) The temple is one of the richest temples in Sri Lanka. And return to the hotel around 10 pm, we warned the restaurant, and dinner was left for us.
In general, I really liked the rest, for the first time I meet a hotel where in real life it is completely different from what is described in the reviews! Price-quality corresponds to 100%!! !