Caroline, Jeni, Antony, Nigel & Julia
England, February 2019
What did you like most about Sri Lanka?
[Nigel & Julia] Friendly people, lack of hassle, great food, variety.
What did you like least about Sri Lanka?
[Nigel & Julia] Stary dogs.
What is your opinion of your accommodation in Sri Lanka?
[Caroline] The places you chose for us to stay were really great. They were well spaced and considered our request for some down time as well as culture. The first stop near Colombo [Casa Heliconia, Kaleliya] set the scene and got rid of the tiredness, they cooked a great supper on a terrace and we felt very relaxed.
Lucca's place [Ellerton] next was lovely and suited our 2 day stop in Kandy perfectly.
Plantation House [The Planter’s House, Koslanda] was a highlight and the location was sublime. I think the service definitely needed a little refining, and the food was awful until they agreed to make a curry which was gorgeous. I got the feeling the owner had left the staff to their own devices and a little training would have gone a long way.
Claughton House [Tangalle] went to the opposite extreme, they looked after us beautifully, the rooms were all beautifully equipped and the in house chef was wonderfully knowledgeable. In my mind the highlight of the trip and it was hard to move on.
Galle was SO hot it was hard to enjoy for 3 nights but that was no one’s fault but our own and the hotel was very accommodating as I had to move rooms due to no air whatsoever in the first one!! [Fortaleza No. 5 Middle Street]
Could you possibly give me a run-down of the relative costs per night for the hotels and accommodation, it would be very useful as I'd love to recommend to others. [We have confidentiality agreements with the accommodation so we are unable to indicate actual prices. However, price bands of accommodation are indicated on our website.]
[Jeni & Antony] Our first stop outside of Colombo was a perfect first night sanctuary. Followed by the rather chic Luca outside of Kandy.
[The] Planter’s House was delightful.... Home from home. We had a wonderful time here in spite of the rain and storms. The staff were delightful if not a little un polished. We do have to say that the food was not the best here and would be the only reason for us not returning to Planters. We got a slight feeling that there is perhaps not enough input from the owner of the hotel.
Claughton House was heaven! We could have stayed here for ever. Our resident cook and his staff were delightful and so easy going. The Chiefs cooking was of a really high standard and he clearly has a love and respect for local and quality food. Again we felt very at home here.
I have to say Galle was a bit of a disappointment and 3 nights was too long here.
[Nigel & Julia] Excellent.
What is your opinion of your chauffeur guide in Sri Lanka?
[Caroline] The most important piece of feedback is that our driver [guide] Maura [Anura] was outstanding. His knowledge of the locality was huge and he looked after us extremely efficiently and kindly. Without him our trip would have not been nearly as interesting and fun. He went out of his way to source train tickets for us and succeeded where Pathi had been defeated. (The 6 hour train was a highlight). [Pathi, in fact, sources ALL train tickets.] He made sure we were comfortable with all our decisions and was more knowledgeable about the bird life than the guide in the sanctuary!! We even had a rendition of local singing!
[Jeni & Antony] The person who really made the holiday for us was Anura our driver [guide]. We felt so honoured to have such a caring educated man looking after us. Nothing was too much trouble for him and I really believe that had some disaster happened in the middle of the night he would have been right there. His knowledge of Sri Lankan culture and wildlife was wonderful. We really felt that he became one of our group. He never once tried to take us to some horrible tourist trap and kept warning us to be careful when out and about on our own not to get taken advantage of. I am embarrassed to say that when we finally said good bye to him at the airport I shed a tear!
[Nigel & Julia] Both excellent. [Anura and Mahesh]
What is your opinion of your flights to and from Sri Lanka?
[Caroline] Back safely and had a reasonable flight. [Qatar Airways – Economy Class – London Gatwick]
[Nigel & Julia] Fine. [Arranged their own flights]
Any other comments?
[Caroline] We all really enjoyed our visit to Sri Lanka and I would love to return to see more.
Whilst we 3 girls enjoyed our cookery lesson [with Suba, Pathi's wife] we didn't find Pathi very easy to talk to, he was dismissive and we didn't get answers to any queries until one of the men phoned him later on. [We are disappointed to hear of your issues with Pathi during your cookery lesson. Much of his apparent off handedness is awkwardness with foreign female visitors due to cultural differences and gender sensitivities. We apologise on his behalf if you feel that his manner was dismissive or patronising in any way, and we will discuss his approach to foreign female visitors in-house.]
I was disappointed to be given no information at all on the possibility of visiting a project. Bearing in mind this was one of the things I had brought up right from the beginning and encouraged me to pick your company for responsible reasons I am sad that this was ignored. [We are sorry about the lack of communication regarding the requested visit to a local victim support project. We had a list of government-approved projects around the country and contacted various government-run projects and NGOs on the south coast but to no avail, unfortunately. In Sri Lanka, we have to tread carefully regarding visits to culturally sensitive projects such as children’s orphanages and tsunami-support projects which have been requested by previous customers. We are a travel company and not a NGO and exploitation has to be considered when arranging such visits since, in other countries, certain purportedly support and charitable projects have been found to be exploitative and far from altruistic. Culturally, it is seen peculiar by locals that foreign visitors would want to meet people affected by trauma and consequently consideration of local customs and etiquette is our priority.]
I really hope you find this feedback helpful and rest assured we will be recommending you to our friends.
[Jeni & Antony] We had the most wonderful trip and really feel that you understood the type of trip that we wanted. We have fallen in love with Sri Lanka and its people.
Sadly the only person that I found difficult to relate to was your business partner Pathi. I just found him rather unapproachable. Which is a real shame for you and your company. [See comments above.]
This aside. Yes we will be returning to Sri Lanka. This time to the North and would book again through your company so long as we can have Anura as our driver again!
Thank you so much for organising such a wonderful holiday.
[Nigel & Julia] Very well organised with both guides and accommodation charming. Definitely will go again.
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