Max & Linda
England, January/February 2016
We are back from Sri Lanka. We had a very good (though not perfect) holiday and I thought you would like some feedback.
We would like to go again to Sri Lanka next December or January (not Christmas) so if you have any ideas of a tour of places we have not seen, send them to me in the next month or two. Same brief:
- Excellent guide
- No buffets
- Not more than 3 hours driving in a day
- 2/3 nights in each location
- Beach at the end
Comments
Air Lanka club class [SriLankan Airlines - Business Class] – Perfect. Better than BA first. New planes. Good food, Excellent service standards.
Horathapola Estate [Airport] – Very good indeed and just the right distance from the airport. Great place for the first or last night.
Non functioning air con car picked us up from airport. Problem resolved very quickly at Horathapola Estate. Well done.
Ulagalla Resort [Anuradhapura] – Very good though food quality and food service was not of the standard of everything else at Ulagalla which was excellent. Lovely place. Best hotel pool ever. Great bicycling in villages. Lovely accommodation, beautiful location.
Lake Lodge Kandalama [Dambulla] – The food was really excellent and the owners delivered really good service standards with panache and genuine friendship and good advice but the place does not have five acres (I think you copy and pasted incorrectly from another hotel) and there is nowhere to walk except round the pool. The accommodation is disappointing with mirrors in the wrong place, poor bathrooms, strange electrics, terrible design and immediately outside the hotel by the lake tons of rubbish. It was not stylish but brutal design with plenty of places to fall and trip but had the best cook in the whole of Sri Lanka and very committed owners.
Your organisation let us down here. Day 7 was advertised as a rest day which the driver assumed we would spend the rest of the day after Sigiyura [Sigiriya] and the following day by the pool after the morning in Sigiyura and he disappeared and took a rest day (as it said rest day in itinerary!) having left us and the hotel the wrong telephone number. He knew my wife could not walk and she had to spend the whole day by the pool. We got hold of your office in the evening and insisted on the following day on being taken to Polonnaruwa and Dambulla temple and drive to Kandy on same day which made a really tiring day (initially driver said Polonnaruwa too far).
Distances – You need to speak to the drivers about the time between different places. For example it took 3.5 hours from Dambulla to Kandy.
The Secret Kandy [Kandy] – Good/ very good. I would have liked more time in Kandy and really should have stayed in centre (my fault) as no way to walk around The Secret Kandy and the short journey into the centre takes a long time because of traffic.
Castlereagh Bungalow [Ceylon Tea Trails, Adam’s Peak] – Perfect. Extraordinary standard in all respects. Amazing tea plantation, views, Bungalow, service etc. Outstanding. World class.
Most visitors from other companies took train from Kandy to Hatton with driver following with cases. This would have been preferable and it is a shame this was not suggested (journey took over 3.5 hours and not particularly comfortable with winding roads). [The train is popular and many of our customers include it in their itineraries. I will try to include it next time now that I know you are interested.]
We were at Castlereagh on Independence Day so the factory was closed (a specialist company should have known and pointed out that it was Independence Day) so we visited the factory the following day leaving at 1 and then 4 hour not two hour journey to Clove Tree arriving at dusk. [The tea factory visit is part of the “Tea Experience” arranged by Ceylon Tea Trails and not Tikalanka so the bungalow should have organised the visit accordingly and not on Independence Day, obviously.]
Clove Tree [House, Ella] – Disappointing. Appreciate this was a Homestay and presumably modestly priced but bathroom poor, terrible bed, cheap fittings etc. The English owner has just sold the property, the manager lives miles away and it is run by the cook. I expected better though appreciate the difficulties of finding better in such a remote area. [Your stay at Clove Tree House is a disappointment. However, at the time of booking, our favourite alternatives in Ella were already fully booked and there is little of note elsewhere in the immediate area.]
The Last House [Tangalle] – Lovely place, beautiful bay, interesting fishing boats, empty, lovely clean sea but five nights were too long. Perfect honeymoon destination (I was the last person to go to bed at 9.45pm). With hindsight should have had two nights at Galle and three on the beach.
Buffets – Delighted that not one of the hotels or lunch spots served buffets. One of my requests.
Food throughout – Better than I expected especially the fish and vegetables.
Driver/guide – He tried very hard and was a nice guy but I was disappointed and have had much better guides in India, Africa, Thailand etc. The driver certainly had the knowledge but his English or to be precise his English pronunciation left a lot to be desired and it was often a struggle to understand him as he spoke quietly as well. Constantly asked him to repeat things and speak louder. His knowledge of birds and observation of birds was incredible. When I booked I told you that I had poor hearing and the quality of the guide was crucial. We met and heard other guides at temples and many had better English enunciation though some were worse. I felt the issues with the guide were not his fault as he tried throughout (except HIS rest day in Dambulla which I put down to a Lost in Translation moment) but with your organisation in selecting the guides. He was a very good and careful driver. Maybe I was unreasonable to expect better guiding but that was why I went to a small organisation like yours. [We are surprised to hear of your experience with Upul. He has been a guide with us for ten years or more and, although I appreciate that he speaks softly, understanding him has never been an issue previously. However, I will ensure that you are guided by a clearer enunciator next time. I am glad that his knowledge did not disappoint.]
Hope the feedback is useful to you for the future.
So in summary a very good holiday with you choosing some wonderful places but not a perfect one.
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