Hilary & Roy
England, March/April 2025
What did you like most about Sri Lanka?
The people, the variety, the food.
What did you like most about Maldives?
The hotel and everything that went with it.
What did you like least about Sri Lanka?
The traffic.
What did you like least about Maldives?
Nothing.
What is your opinion of your accommodation in Sri Lanka?
Very good.
[Fort Bazaar, Galle; Kalu's Hideaway, Udawalawe; Mailagama Cinnamon Residence, Kataragama; 98 Acres Resort & Spa, Ella; Ellerton Bungalow, Kandy; Lake Lodge Kandalama, Dambulla; The Notary's House, Makandura]
How would you rate your resort in Maldives?
[Hurawalhi Maldives]
Accommodation – Very good (5/5)
Beach – Very good (5/5)
Diving – N/A
Food – Very good (5/5)
Responsible and/or sustainable travel - Very good (5/5)
Service – Very good (5/5)
Snorkelling – Very good (5/5)
Spa - N/A
Transfer to and from Malé (seaplane) – Satisfactory (3/5)
Overall experience – Very good (5/5)
What is your opinion of your chauffeur guide in Sri Lanka?
Absolutely superb, more like a friend.
What is your opinion of your flights to and from Sri Lanka?
Emirates excellent, Air Dubai [FlyDubai] poor. [Business Class - London Heathrow]
Any other comments?
We had a 3-hr delay to the Maldives with Dubai Air [FlyDubai] which then impacted on our seaplane trip to Hurawalhi with a 2-hr wait. Effectively we lost half a day of our Maldives element. The seaplane was a bit shambolic as it was not explained to us that we would be on a shared flight. As there were children on the flight we wondered if we were on the correct flight. [Hurawalhi Maldives is an adults-only resort.] There was no apology from Dubai Air or reason given, also the onboard snack was very poor. [We are sorry that the inexplicable issue with the FlyDubai flight delayed your arrival to the resort in Maldives, but we are pleased to hear that your overall experience there was very good.]
We had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed our itinerary. The only problem we encountered was at Kalu's Hideaway where they said we were only on b&b basis. Despite showing them our itinerary they were not budging so had to pay for our meal. I assume you will be able to correct this. [We had booked half board accommodation for you so I don't understand the hotel's position or behaviour, which is unacceptable. We will be taking up this issue with their management shortly and apologise on their behalf.] However when you do we would like you to pass the refund onto Neehah [Nihal], our wonderful guide. We have already given him a generous tip but said there could be a little more coming on the future. Perhaps you could let me know if this is possible. [It is possible, of course, and many thanks for thinking of Nihal again - I am sure he will be very appreciative.] Neehah really made our trip in Sri Lanka and he is a great asset to Tikalanka. We left thinking of him as more of a friend than a guide. We even bumped into your partner Pati [Pathi] whilst with Neehah one day. As it was Roy's birthday during the holiday Neehah arranged something special for him which was so nice and unexpected.
One aspect in hindsight we would have changed was only 2 nights at Lake Lodge so we could have had 2 nights at The Notarys the reason being we had a very early start and could not have breakfast so we felt we didn't get full value at this lovely property. If you want my views on the accommodation we stayed at I would be happy to chat with you if you want to give me a ring.
Hurawalhi was superb, fabulous in all respects. I have completed the feedback form so you will see all my other comments. Thank you so much for delivering such a great holiday and we will very gladly recommend you to anyone else who wants to go to Sri Lanka.
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