Club Palm Bay Hotel

A real unwind, is the description I would use for the Club Palm Bay. Positioned away from the tourist rush yet in an amazing setting, with a stunning golden beach on one side and a mangrove lagoon surrounding the other three. The rooms are large and spotlessly clean. Well serviced by the enthusiastic staff. The rooms are beginning to look tired as is some other parts of the hotel, but all areas are kept spotless. Try to get room 160 or 162 as they are best positioned for view, and you get two walls of glass to look out over the tropical lagoon whilst in bed. The pool is HUGE and the warmest I have ever experienced, set in attractive landscaped gardens. The restaurant serves a good selection of varied cuisine ( not all hot curries as some have suggested ) and the staff are the most helpful you could wish for. Nothing is too much trouble and they are not just bucking for a tip. The chefs will cook a special if you ask. I suggest you nip along to Negombo fish market and grab yourself about 70 huge prawns for a fiver and get the chef to cook them to order as we did. Fantastic !! Madura is a top restaurant manager there, always wanting to make sure you are content. We found all the staff in general to be most helpful, and they didn’t stand around chatting when we were there! They were always ready to serve. The majority of guests are from the Saga age group so the entertainment is middle of the road. Live music or culture show with fire eating and dancers, nightly, with a disco once a week for the younger at heart. The animation team are brilliant lads especially Gomi and Heshan, with pool aerobics, polo, volley ball even billiards if you want, to keep you entertained. The all over body massage is wonderful and all for under a fiver !! For excursions you won’t do better than to speak to ‘Sam’ of Samantha Tours. Out of the main gate, turn right and 50 yards up the road on the left is the shop.(see photo) He sells local souvenirs and you can tailor make your tours. He is often outside the main gates and he is a FRACTION of the cost of the tour companies. The must do trips are : Sigiriya, Elephant orphanage, Kandy, Tooth Relic, Negombo riverboat trip and Damulla. You will go in a new and comfortable air-conditioned mini van (with reclining seats! ) and he will be your personal guide for the day. He will take you to see the most amazing native things, and you will stop in the best places around for meals and drinks. We always had the best guides at places like the Sigiriya rock and the Tooth Temple. Contacts eh ! The tour company trips may be ok but the time in each place will be preset, but with Sam, if you want to spend another hour watching the elephants, as we did, you can ! Sam speaks great English and is the nicest guy you could wish to meet, he is VERY knowledgeable about all to do with Sri Lanka, and is a safe and patient driver. ( a must in Sri Lanka ! ) He is also a famous musician in Sri Lanka !! Playing in venues all over. So he is sure to entertain you throughout your trips. Say ‘ Play it again Sam’ and tell him ‘Mr Ray’ sent you !!! Next to Sam’s shop is the’ Stitch Tailors’, amazing ! Hand made trousers £10 each, made to measure dress shirts £7. He copied a pair of my daughters trousers EXACTLY, stitching and all, for £10 !! the originals cost her £28 in UK and the copies fitted better !! We had 12 pieces took him 4 days ! The hotel is not a 7 star, if you want that, go to the Burj Al Arab in Dubai. (I’ve stayed there too so I know the difference) but you will pay for it ! This hotel is excellent value for money. I am not sure what some of the previous reviewers experienced, but our overall experience was good. Would I return – Yes. P.S. Say Hi to Sam for me !!

Couple aged 53. This was our first visit to Sri Lanka and we think that we struck gold with the Palm Bay Hotel near Marawila. The hotel is beautifully located between the beach and a large freshwater lagoon. Many of the rooms have a view over the lagoon, making them very special. The staff at the hotel were superb, very friendly but not at all intrusive. A previous reviewer mentioned that this hotel is used by SAGA, this has the advantage that if anything starts to slip below the usually high standard the SAGA customers & rep get it sorted out very quickly. We booked through Mercury Direct and think that we had particulalry good value for money. The hotel is on the edge of a fishing village and away from the main tourist resorts. We enjoyed walking and cycling around the local villages. This was particularly exciting when the fishing boats come back to land their catch after fishing overnight. All the local traders gather to see what fish are available and then after agreeing a purchase, speed off to retail their haul. We also enjoyed joining in and helping to pull boats up the beach. We only went on 2 long trips - it was too interesting locally. The first was an all day trip to Kandy (06:30 - 19:30) with FERNANDO (Shanila Fernando) who along with his brother Susila can be found at the hotel gate, providing excellent value bespoke trips by either car or mini-bus (both very good condition, air conditioned etc). Kandy was a long day but a very comfortable journey, Shanila provided us with lots of information whilst Chaminda, his driver, was very competent and safe. On the Kandy trip we chose to visit the following: pineapple plantation; rubber plantation; elephant orphanage; a ride on an elephant; spice gardens, temple of the tooth and tea factory before heading home into the setting sun. Thanks to Bill from Rothbury we were introduced to an interesting half day trip which included a train journey to the neighboring main fishing pot of Negombo. Shanila picked us up from the hotel, took us to the nearest railway station and put us on the train before speeding down to Negombo to meet us on the platform and see some sights of Negombo, we chose the beach fish market and the Dutch Canals. We bought some huge prawns at the fish market and back in Marawila Shanila arranged with a local restaurant to cook them for our supper. We had already bought the prawns but had with them a special fried rice dish, plus a potato dish and 2 bottles of beer for approx £5 (for both of us!). The local church & school, St Anthony's, is well supported by the hotel customers. SAGA holidaymakers visited the school to donate books pens & pencils. We also heard that 3 couples has donated £20 each to fund a fence around the school yard. Local journeys are best undertaken by Tuk Tuk, from outside the hotel gate, which are very inexpensive - eg a trip to Marawila market, 20 mins from the hotel with a 1hr stop at the market and return will cost approx £3. When you are out and about in the bigger towns (and on the train) you will be exposed to beggars asking for money. This begging is not just aimed at tourists but mainly at the locals. My suggestion is that you get a fistful of 20 (10p) rupee notes - even if you give 10 notes out in a day you will only have spent £1. This was one of our best ever holidays, particularly because we were able to get to know so much about the local fishing community. I don't see how you could be disappointed at the Palm Bay Hotel.

We have jusy returned from 2 glorious weeks at the Club Palm Bay and both my husband and I were very sad to leave. It was like paradise to us. The place is unspoilt by tourism. Only a few people on the beach......heaven! Wonderful sunsets. The beach boy (he works for the hotel) would get you a sunlounger and towels and drinks if required. Sometimes a few of the local children would come and play on the beach and liked to talk to us. They also love sweets! The hotel itself is wonderful, the rooms are bungalow style set in beautiful gardens with a large lagoon to one side, the sea to the front of the grounds and a huge beautiful pool in the centre. The rooms are spacious and well looked after by the room boys, the beds are decorated with flowers each night.....a lovely touch. The food was so varied with many choices, lots of tasty spicy Sri Lankan food and some european dishes for those who are not quite so adventurous! Each night in the resturant was a diferent theme e.g flombay night....wow the chef was brilliant and the flavours were delicious. There was different entertainment each night too. The hotel was run so well and the staff are so friendly and helpfull. There are such wonderful sites to see in Sri Lanka so going on a tour is a must. I did some research before we went and knew where we wanted to visit and had read about the tour guides situated right outside the hotel gates. The guides name is Susila Fernando of Fernando Tours. He was brilliant. I said where we wanted to visit and he arranged a 2 day tour to include Pinwala Elephant Orphanage, Millenium Elephant foundation (here you can ride bareback on an ele and help wash him in the river....such fun) then we went to a tea plantation, spice gardens, botanical gardens, Temple of the tooth Palace in Kandy, cultural dance show, Dambula for the wonderful Buda statuesetc, then climbed the 1200 steps to the top of Sigaria Rock for the best views of Sri Lanka...you can see for miles and miles. Shunila and Lasanta were our guide and driver were so friendly and showed us many other interesting things during the tour and were so informative and attentive. If you go on trips take some small notes with you e.g. 100 rupees (only 50p) to give to poeple for tips. We also went on a day tour through the same company to Coral gardens for snorkle trip, turtle santuary, Bentota, Columbo etc. Our driver Chami was great. We recomend Fernandos tours...We saw so much thanks to them, tourist areas and the real Sri Lanka. These guys helped make our holiday so special. Booking with a small local company like this means that your money benefits the local poeple.They also have a fleet of tuk tuks for drives out to the surrounding areas too, a great fun way of getting around for very little cost! Definately our best ever holiday.......10/10 We never go to the same destination twice but we fell in love with Sri Lanka, the poeple, the food and the sites. I could go on and on!!!! We will definately go back and to the same hotel. Jan and Steve Keeley

As promised we returned, which is unusual for us, but we enjoyed our stay last year, and just had to go back. We were greeted like long lost relatives by all the locals we had managed to make friends with last year, and made many new ones this time around. We got mates rates with our tailor, what a nice man, plus a gift from him on our last day. On our excursions we used Fernando, go outside the gate and he should be there somewhere. We had a 3 day 2 night trip down to Yala national park,and Fernando's driver Chammy, I hope the spelling is correct, was wonderful, and as has Fernando, a great sense of humour. We also met a few couples who we met last year, although some of them are on their 3rd or 4th visit to the hotel, whilst we are only beginners on our second. We were sad to leave when our three weeks were up. but all our local friends have implored us to return next year. We will be back.

Food not brilliant but edible, bread, sweets and soups fine. Staff very friendly and helpful, money exchange can be a problem as they often dont have enough to cash a travelers cheque, so it is a case of come back later when we have some money! For people with mobility problems there is a fair number of changes in floor levels, also the pool could be awkward to get in and out of. Rooms well looked after by the room boys, but the whole place could do with a makeover. If you go with SAGA then make a point of asking for the guide/driver Weere (pronounced Veray) when you go on a trip, he is first class, his knoweldge and assistance is the best we have ever came accross. If you are not with SAGA then check out Fernando at the entrance to the hotel, he can put together an excelent package of tours and is a lot cheaper than the tour companies, he is also a very helpful person and I can reccomend him. Just up the road there Stich the tailor can do you a made to measeure shirt for £6 and ladies he can do a very nice dress of your choice for £10 (he has a catalogue to choose from or take one of your own dresses to be copied) On the whole we had a very nice time in Sri Lanka and would go back, but perhaps pay the extra and go to another hotel. Hope this helps you Bill & Brenda Richardson

Just returned from Club Palm Bay, Marawila Sri Lanka. Wonderfull!! The hotel is comfortable and very relaxing. The staff cannot do enough for you, The swimming pool is great, huge and very warm and clean at all times, as is the rest of the hotel. The food was very good, loads of choice a lot of spicy foods but always an alternative and the chef will cook you anything you want if you ask him I saw this happen on many occasions. Many nice touches like flowers on the bed every night and fruit in your room on arrival we had an invitation to the "Managers cocktail party "on the first week and another to a "special dinner" on the second both were excellent. Six of us got together in the second week and decided to go on a trip with local man" Samudu" Slimline Tours. He will greet you as you go out of the Hotel gate, he lives just down the road from the hotel.(we had read reports about him on this site) He took us on a tailor made tour exactly when and where we wanted to go at our times. we set off at 10.00am as we thought the tour operators similar trip leaving at 6.00am was much too early (we were on holiday!!) we went to the elephant orphanage and watched them bathing in the river while we sat having lunch (a must )and then on to Kandi taking in many sites, Tooth temple, Botanical gardens etc. and Sumudu's local knowledge was invaluable he speaks good Engish, we stayed at the Topaz Hotel in Kandi a very nice Hotel with a fabulous view, the mini bus we went in was very comfortable and the driver good. Sumudu was well insured and we felt competely at ease with him a very sincere man with a lot of integrity, It was nice to think we were helping the local economy by going with him,the trip was very reasonably priced. We will return to SriLanka I am sure, as we fell in love with the beautiful scenery and wonderful happy, friendly people always smiling, although they have very little, we could learn a lot from them!! I would stay at Club Palm Bay again as it is a lovely relaxing hotel excellent value for money.

What a bitter disappointment this hotel turned out to be. Granted it has a big pool, the rooms are an OK size but not in a million years should this hotel be rated 4stars. The staff were brilliant but the management were terrible. They were forever running out of wine, gin and they never had any currency so it was always a battle to get any money. When we arrived we did not even have a hairdryer or tea and coffee making facilities and surely these are the basics for a 4 star hotel. There was a good choice of food if you like curry but the salad bar was probably one of the worst I have ever seen although the desserts were lovely. At the weekends they open this hotel to the locals and it was almost impossible to get a sun lounger unless you "booked" one at about 7.30am - not much fun when you are supposed to be relaxing. We travelled with Mercury Direct but what was a surprise was that Saga actually use this hotel which makes me think twice about using Saga in the future. A think a rep should actaully go and stay at this hotel and see for themselves how old, shabby and tired it is. All in all a lot of money for a very poor holiday

We have just returned from 11 days at The Club Palm Bay. First impressions are not too good. it's actually several miles from the small town of Marawila and is down a potholed residential road in a different village altogether. The entrance to the complex looks a bit 'stalag' like and the front gate area is in an abysmal state of repair. Reception is an ugly barren space. Most accomodation is in bungalows set around the grounds of the hotel. Bungalow bedrooms are a good size, and each has a patio. However, we couldn't use ours as there was so much dense overhanging vegetation planted so close to our terrace, that it blocked out the light and made it unpleasant. Some lucky folks had lagoon or sea views. Our room was kept immaculately clean, and the beds were decorated with flowers and blossoms every evening! The grounds are nicely kept, but they watered the lawned areas (during the heat of the day!) where guests had their sun loungers set out. The killer, was that they used filthy stagnant water to do it with, which stank the place out - vile! Other hotels we stayed in during our stay had a great variety of wild life in the grounds, but Club Palm Bay had only squirrels and rooks. The pools is OK, apart from the wierdness of having the childs shallow secion completely surrounding the main pool. The golden sand beach is opposite the main gate, and looks tempting, but beware, as it shelves very steeply and there is a wicked undertow. It wouldn't be suitable for any but an extremely strong swimmer and no use at all for children. The food at Club Palm Bay is not too good. It's all served buffet style (as is usual with all inclusive) but is not attractively presented,. We often had to make some some weird and wonderful combinations to get a meal! - (that said, we only went hungry once). The restaurant staff seem unable or unwilling to adapt food for European palates. Sri Lankan Curries are VERY,VERY hot and spicy. What they would classify as mild, we'd call medium. What they classified as medium, most Europeans thought was VERY hot. What they classified as a hot curry, most Europeans classed as 'Tindaloo' strength! Almost all of the curries were too fiery to be enjoyable or even edible. (I speak as one who loves her curry!). Often all the curries being served were Sri Lankan 'medium' or hot with no mild curry at all. Food was often served tepid or even cold (Not usual in Sri Lanka and it didn't happen in other hotels or restaurants we used). Meat was ALWAYS tough (often insufficiently cooked to fully tenderise it - I broke a tooth!)) and often completely inedible. There were European dishes available, but the choice and preparation was poor, as was the salad section. The desserts were tedious and dull to say the least - all variations of creme caramel, blancmange or semolina type puddings. The fruit is fabulous though, and the pineapples in Sri Lanka are the best we've ever tasted. The bread at Club Palm Bay is lovely - Hooray for their great baker! The restaurant waiting staff are very mediocre and the bar staff very slow, preferring to stand around chatting than to serve you (especially as the evening wore on). This hotel desperately needs refurbishing and repairing throughout. The chairs in the dining room wre dirty, and their upholstery dirty and stained. The cushions on the bar furniture are also tired, grubby and old looking. The bedroom decor, furniture and linens look tired and worn and need to be replaced. The tiles on roofs all over the hotel and it's entrance gate are dropping off, and many hang precariously, waiting to slice open the skull of some unsuspecting soul! Would we go back to Sri Lanka - absolutely. Would we go back to Club Palm Bay - No

Arrived home feeling relaxed, spoiled and looked after. Extremely clean with the biggest, warmest pool I have ever seen. Spacious rooms with fantastic service. Food was good but buffet gets boring. Unfortunately no other eating options available during our stay. Very disappointing not to be able to use the beach. Many advertised activities and facilities not available. We travelled in a party of 14 including 9 young people who were disappointed that the advertised nightly disco did not take place. However, we requested a disco and got one twice. On checking out we were charged for one of the disco's even though it was open for everyone. We did not mind too much, it was a good night ! Recommend the treatments and beauty saloon, Very cheap and very good. The overnight tour of Kandy is not to be missed. We were fortunate enough to be present at the end of July for the Tooth Temple/elephant parade. A priviledge. Elephant orphanage is another must.

A wonderful surprise ! Fourteen days spent at Club Palm Bay was a superb experience with great facilities and an excellent selection of good food each day. The people couldn't have been more friendly. There's lots to do on the complex - swimming, boating, table-tennis, health treatments, etc.- but excursions in Sri Lanka are a must. Please don't bother with the official excursions, but make your way to the gate where a guy named Sumudu hangs out - look for the England cap & t-shirt. He arranges tours to your choosing, at half the price of the official tour. He has his own mini-buses & taxis (Slimline Tours), with very friendly drivers. We went for a 3-day trip to the Cultural Triangle, Kandy & the Elephant Orphanage (an absolute must) as well as going to Colombo by private car. For shorter trips, I recommend the tuk-tuks which again are just outside the hotel. I never go back to the same place twice (there are still so many other pklaces in the world to see & explore) but this I may just make an exception.