Lyn & Paul
Canada, February/March 2020
Please consider that this review has taken me a number of hours to write for you. I too, ran a service related business for 2 decades and personally I would view this type of input as invaluable. It is my hope that this information is helpful. [We value and appreciate all feedback we receive, and apply it to improving our service and refining our holidays.]
Please also excuse any spelling errors for either people or places.
First of all I will give you our review of the accommodations.
Galkadawala [Forest Lodge, Habarana] – was just awesome.
It was rustic but there was nothing haphazard about it. Molly [Maulie] has thought out everything. She is available and involved with her guests – treating us like welcome visitors to her home. She is informative and engaging. Her accommodations are simple but well thought out and clean. You did not feel like you were compromising. We appreciate that this may not be everyone’s cup or tea but it certainly impressed us. Loved everything about it.
Hanthana House [Kandy]
We felt that it was a bit of a conflict of interest to find out that we were staying in the property of someone who was your partner in Tikalanka. [Interestingly, this has never been an issue before, in fact, quite the opposite as customers like to understand the way we evolved as a partnership and always seem to have high praise for this homestay guesthouse.] Although the property is comfortable for sure we could have been anywhere in the world, we kind of felt cut off from the culture of the area. [Again, a surprising revelation when other customers have felt that they are immersed in the local culture by staying here.] Also the people who were there working under Pathi seemed afraid of him and this made us very uncomfortable. His wife was an exception – we found her very warm although she seemed very overwhelmed and tired and had very little time to engage with us. Although I was not feeling well the first night when we decided to do the cooking class we could see that all of the food had already been prepared, chopped etc. and there was really nothing for us to do except watch. [That was most likely done to reduce the time on your feet and help you out considering you felt ill.] This was not the experience we were looking for. Generally when we take a cooking class we are involved in the preparation of the food. We didn’t learn anything but again partly this was due to the fact that I was not feeling well and half way thru I simply had to go outside and we all agreed to discontinue what we were doing inside the kitchen.
Polwaththa Eco Lodges [near Kandy]
We did not really enjoy this place. I really feel that this place has potential but to be frank it doesn’t seem set up for all visitors yet. In my opinion, it is fine for the backpacker crowd. We found the beds a bit dicey and the walking paths etc. just a bit unresolved. With my knee acting up there was little to do although we did enjoy our trip to the school it felt a bit like a show and we came away feeling like we were disrupting the kids more than providing anything valuable to them. Our driver actually told us that they take people there pretty much every day. This is a bit much for the kids I would think. We purchased the contribution books for the kids from the lodge and were disappointed to see what was in the package. We enjoy visiting schools and communities when we travel and in the past when we are on trips the agency has helped us by telling us to purchase something before we go to the accommodation. Perhaps we could have brought something from one of the larger towns like rice etc. we did not like to be giving the kids candy. [We prefer not to spoon feed or patronise our customers as the vast majority show initiative, especially when they have previously visited similar projects elsewhere in the world.]
Clove Tree [Cottage, Ella]
Really great place but not much to do there. […other than the full tea estate experience, spending time with village families learning about local food and handicrafts, helping to collect honey and kithul treacle from the forest, exploring the farm and learning about organic farming, and trying your hand at plucking and rolling tea, peeling cinnamon, roasting coffee or making jams and chutneys as well as various walking trails, waterfalls and viewpoints to visit in the vicinity.] Again this may be due to the fact that my knee was such an issue but other than hiking we were a bit bored. [I believe your physical impediment compromised much of your trip, I am afraid.] People who were running the place were super nice however. They were engaged and the conversations that they made happen around the property with the guests made all the difference in our stay here.
Kalu’s Hideaway [Udawalawe]
We really enjoyed this accommodation. It was so nice to have the pool too. The staff was absolutely wonderful despite it being a large place. We loved everything about this place.
Sinhajara [Sinharaja] Rest [Deniyaya]
First of all we want to say that Pali or Palee [Pali] is an amazing guide. His energy is infectious; he is extremely knowledgeable and engaging. We had a wonderful time with him on the hike. We felt so bad for him with what is going on in this supposedly protected park. The motorcycles going in and out were very disruptive and it is disgraceful that the Ministry allows it. Palee himself said many times that he has seen a great decline in the number of animals and that all of his guests are surprised and disappointed by the experience of having motorcycles zooming by constantly while you are trying to view animals in the wild. Palee asked and I am going to do my best to send a letter to whoever might be able to influence this situation.
But we have to be completely honest about the accommodations at Sinhajara Rest itself.
The room we were put in while quite nice is definitely not worth the money that we found out he is charging for it. It seems like he is a bit disorganised and not set up for travellers beyond the backpackers that he has in the main house. The bed was not made up. He told us that the sheets were in the cupboard. He simply did not know how to get Wi-Fi although he said that we could. The air con did not work and he disappeared after telling us that he would try to get someone for the next day. We felt sort of stranded up there in extreme heat with no mosquito nets and he warned us not to sleep with the doors and windows open because of animals coming in to the room. We felt a bit abandoned there with no way of getting down the hill ourselves. When we were brought down the hill we got a good look at the main accommodations. They were really very basic backpacker accommodations. Kitchen was in our opinion unclean and we used a washroom and found it also unclean and the place was extremely untidy. We would not have felt comfortable there and were further uncomfortable thinking that our food would have been prepared in this kitchen. [We apologise for the quality of accommodation and service you experienced at Sinharaja Rest and will inform Palitha of your comments. This is not the usual level of accommodation or service he provides, I can assure you.]
Fort Bliss [Galle]
Accommodation was really great, service was good and it was a fantastic location to walk around Galle. We were surprised again to see plastic straws in the welcome drinks. [Single-use plastic is a serious issue in Sri Lanka (as it is in most countries of the world including Canada and the UK) and we encourage all our providers to consider more sustainable alternatives.]
Villa Araliya [Negombo]
We really did not like this accommodation – we found the room unclean, dark and dismal, the grounds unkempt, no one working there very friendly or engaged. We were super disappointed in our take away breakfast. Four boiled eggs wrapped in what amounted to half a yard of tin foil and a bunch of very overripe bananas. [We apologise for the poor experience you had here and will inform the owners of your comments.]
I have one further note about the accommodations you choose. We choose [chose] Tikalanka because it is recommended by Responsible Travel and we feel that you have a responsibility to keep your accommodations informed of things that they need to do to be considered sustainable choices for discerning travellers. One of the main things we found were that a lot of these properties are still using plastic straws in drinks and foil to wrap take away food. We feel it would be helpful if you were to remind them that this is not supportive of a responsible traveller. [We totally agree and encourage all of our accommodation providers to be more sustainable in the way they manage their properties.]
As far as our driver [chauffeur guide] was concerned – he made the trip!
We cannot even say enough good things about Nihal. We have had great experiences with drivers before but this guy tops our list. We hope that you are paying guys like this well because they make ALL the difference in the world. He was funny, informative, over the top responsible. We enjoyed every moment we spent with him. [Absolutely, our chauffeur guides are highly treasured and valued and are a central part of the Tikalanka family.]
With regards to the service of Tikalanka...
Right off the bat, I was super impressed with you, John. Your patience with me through the planning stages was appreciated. I felt that you were interested in providing a custom trip to our specifications. I was however surprised to find that in the end I didn’t feel so much that that is what we ended up with.
My first disappointment was when I contacted you, albeit last minute and asked you to give me options to replace Adams Peak. I did not feel that there was a lot of interest in really trying to help us find some alternative activities or locations. As it was we ended up feeling like we had a fairly wasted day. [With the physical constraints due to your injury it was very difficult to suggest alternatives at short notice that you would be able to experience without discomfort and that you wished to do.]
Next, Paul and I both, as I have already mentioned, felt a bit uncomfortable when we learned about Hanthana House being owned by your partner. We really feel that this could be considered a conflict of interest in a way and wonder how many of your clients end up staying at this property, which is directly benefiting your partner. It is a perfectly suitable accommodation but we are not sure it is a well thought out business choice. [We are somewhat perplexed by your assertion that there is a conflict of interest in Tikalanka promoting Hanthana House to our customers when there is no secret that Pathi runs Tikalanka in Sri Lanka – it is included in our initial response to all enquiries, which you will have received. We are totally open about the relationship, which most customers appreciate and value. Promoting locally run homestays, guesthouses and hotels contributes to the local economy and directly supports local people, and enables foreign visitors to gain an intimate and authentic experience of local culture. It is not a business plan but a moral imperative and also a fundamental ethos of our responsible travel policy: to promote cultural exchange, social awareness, self-employment and self-development.]
We also felt the trip was too slow for us. Paul and I tend to move quickly on our trips and then have a period of downtime at the end. We are aware that this pace may be more quick than most travellers certainly those our age, but it is our preference. [From the extensive conversations we had over many months and the fine-tuning of the itinerary through countless iterations, we are surprised that the pace of the holiday was a disappointment considering the amount of effort expended to get it just right for you which, before travelling, appeared to be the case and you confirmed. Again, most of our experienced customers understand how to pace their own itinerary and adapt along the route, if necessary. Communicating your wishes to the chauffeur guide would have benefitted all of us since we will be as flexible as possible when it comes to adapting your itinerary on the go.]
Lastly, I want to address handling of the issue of Sinhajara Rest. When we called Nihal (our driver) and told him of our situation it was obvious that he was afraid to call Pathi on our behalf. We feel quite strongly that Nihal would have done ANYTHING to make us comfortable on our trip ANYTHING! but it was very clear to us that he did not want to call Pathi, so I called Pathi and here is what happened:
- he did not try to help us find another property – he actually told me he only had one other property to offer us (there are so many properties in a walking distance from there why don’t you have any back up options available for emergency situations?) [In a true emergency situation we would always ensure that our customers are safe and secure and, if necessary, remove them to a different location. There are a limited number of accommodation options in the immediate area in our view, and unless we have visited the property before and liked it we would not use it.]
- he told ME to try to find another property and to send him that information saying that he could get us a better rate for the room (meanwhile I am in a room up on a hill with no Wi-Fi – could he not have done this work for us?)
- he asked us to pay for the room directly which we felt was totally inappropriate and petty especially in the immediate situation (get the problem solved period.)
- he took almost an hour to work out an option for us while we waited when I could have booked it on booking.com in 2 min[utes] (I only sent him accommodations that were already available)
I have to say that I was even more surprised to get your response about this issue the next day. Your initial suggestion for us to accept not receiving the money back for this was really disappointing. We are happy that you changed your mind about it but we feel that we should not have had to insist that you reconsider at all. It tainted our whole experience with you. [We apologise if you consider our initial response to be inadequate and we are very disappointed that this issue alone changed your perception of the entire experience with us when a lot of work and effort went into finessing the itinerary and running the holiday to your apparent wishes.]
In conclusion, it has certainly been our experience that there is pretty much always a hiccup or two on these trips and so we have come to expect them. I broke my ankle on the Machu Piccu [Picchu] trail 3 years ago and Paul lost a very much needed and hard to replace medicine in week 1 of a 4-week trip to Japan and Borneo last year. In both these cases we were impressed by the agencies that we had chosen and their level of care and competence in getting whatever we needed done with as little disruption to us as possible. In most cases we have been overwhelmed by how helpful and supportive an agency can be.
It is the way that the hiccups are handled by the agency that we have paid and trusted to handle our trip that really makes the difference. These kinds of details and help are the reason we even have an agency involved otherwise we would just rent a car and driver and plan and manage our own trips. [We agree that the true mettle of a travel company is tested when an issue arises and we pride ourselves in resolving these situations satisfactorily and amicably, which our usual worldly and culturally sensitive customers understand and appreciate.]
Paul and I would be happy to hear back from you.
Again it is our intention that this information be helpful in your service to other clients. [Thank you for your exhaustive critique, and I am sure that our usual pragmatic and phlegmatic customers will find this information edifying and revelatory.]
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