Villa Ocean View Hotel

There were 6 of us staying here as My partner and I were getting Married. The hotel is quite nice, the pool very very quiet and large, relaxing and peaceful. The beach was ok too. We stayed in the basic roms for the first week, got Married then were transferred to the better rooms. The basic rooms were just that, a few creepy crawlies but clean enough and had everything we needed. The uprgaded rooms however were spot on, loved the room, very comfortable and if we had to stay at this hotel again we would pay extra for this room. The Wedding ceremony was great except for the fact to get on the elephant I had to climb onto a plastic garden table onto a roof of the pool generator building then onto the eliphant! After seeing other Brides doing this and looking rediculous (not very Princessy!) I asked for a chair too. So I had smaller leaps to make, a chair, table then generator building then elephant. I was lucky having a longer dress, some Brides were showing their knickers! Not well thought out at all. The evening Wedding meal we chose to have outside and this was amazing, staff that evening were great, couldnt be better at all. The food in general the rest of the holiday was awful, hardly any choice, cold sometimes, not up to any standard really, hated it. The staff were quite rude sometimes and we all got an uncomfortable feeling as if they were talking about us. Left over food was scared onto plates and left on a table right next to us, it looked horrendous, if there had been a Wedding and guests had left any lobster then the staff tok it for themselves but pretended it was for the cat! Dont get me wrong the hotel itself was actually nice, and the pool perfect, but there was no long haul atmosphere, difficult to explain really compared to other places ive been (Antigua, Kenya, Goa,) Im not even going to get into the trips we took thats another story, feel free to email me. I think whats annoying about the food is the fact that you could have room service, and have stunning chips with bread and butter (you were paying of course) why couldnt the standard be the same in the dining room? All in all we wouldnt stay at this hotel again and to be honest wouldnt even go to Sri Lanka again.

I'm Simon's wife (see entry 29 March 2006) and I just want to add my point of view on this hotel. We arrived in the middle of the night to the hottest, most humid weather I have ever experienced and I wondered how I would manage 2 weeks in it! I needn't have worried, our room was air conditioned and felt like stepping into a fridge - unbelievably welcome each night, believe me! The room service was good, our room boy was very attentive (I agree with Simon here - tip as you go along, it gets far more good service for you) and the nice touch of a flower on our pillow every night topped off the feeling of welcome. Breakfast was good, as the food (fantastic little omelettes) was cooked fresh to your order, otherwise it was a buffet which was great until the flies got on the food - I recommend you go to all meals first thing when the food is fresh. We existed on rice for 3 days until we complained to the chef, then the food improved for the other meals, although the choice was either strongly spiced curries or very bland cheap pork dishes aimed at the German guests. Plan to bring extra money and eat out a lot - we found an English bar in Columbo with food to die for. Entertainment is fairly good most evenings, but can be hit and miss. Dont miss the cabaret night - The Entertainments manager has missed his vocation, he was great as a performer! We laughed ourselves silly all evening. Bar staff are friendly, more so if you tip them regularly. Be careful if you choose to drink the cola - it stains your teeth brown - I stuck to 7up (or what they CLAIM is 7up!) as I wanted white teeth for the wedding photos. If you go out for the day take plenty of water - the hotel are good at supplying this - they put it in your room fridge if you ask. It saves being ripped off at tourist sites. You will need about 4 litres a day minimum. Dont believe what the travel reps say about the local guides. We took one trip with the travel co and felt ripped off as it was so expensive. We tried the chap on the beach, Santha (pronounced Santa - and he is a jolly chap!) by recommendation - and he played a blinder. He took us on a trip by private taxi for the 2 days following our wedding, to Kandy (go into the temple - they loved that I had got married the day before - they told me all Sri Lankan girls go there on the day after their wedding) via the elephant orphanage and then up into the mountains to a hotel at Rhamboda Falls (cant find this hotel on Trip Advisor - shame!) which is surrounded by fantastic scenery and three waterfalls. He got us the honeymoon suite and we were treated like Kings, the food and drink were fantastic too. He stopped wherever we wanted for photos and took us well off the beaten track for the trip of a lifetime (as if Sri Lanka isnt enough!) The price was about 2/3 what the travel rep wanted for the same trip in a coach where you have to do what they say and stop where they choose. The beach is sandy and fabulous to walk along, and swimming was like taking a warm bath. The pool is lovely and the poolside bar a haven from the hot sun. There is a rooftop bar open on some evenings, and the sunset is phenomenal from it. There are a couple of shops opposite the hotel, we used the one on the end of the row on the right, and they made our wedding ring to fit my oddly-shaped engagement ring in 4 days - and it looks fabulous. Buy sweets from the jewellers wife, they come in 1kg bags and you can give them to local children to stop them harassing you - 1kg lasted us the full 2 weeks and cost about 50p. She also makes shirts overnight to measure, and made hubby's wedding trousers up in 3 days - perfect fit. There is a railway line next to the hotel, between it and the shops - but then it runs alongside all the hotels right down the coast to Galle so choosing another hotel wont help avoid this. We didnt find it intrusive. I liked the holiday but I am in 2 minds as to whether I would use this hotel again, unless they spruce it up a bit and use bleach in the bathrooms (which were a tad grim - and we had been upgraded!) The wedding package is totally worth it though - I felt like a queen with the drummers and dancers and riding on the elephant - and my bouquet was full of purple orchids to die for! Finally - dont be afraid to use the tuktuks, they are great fun to ride and it can be worth paying the 'friend' of the driver to be your guide as it stops others from pestering you. Have a good holiday, Sri Lanka is wonderful and we will go back one day!

This hotel was really bad. The rooms are dirty and when I complained, the manager laughed at me. The sheets were stained brown. The floor was muddy. The fridge rusty. The bathroom had no lights and was so dark you could hardly see when in the shower. All the TV channels were in German as where most of the guests. Everything was overpriced but without the quality you would expect. The food was appauling - mass produced buffet rubbish. The hotel perimeter is fenced with barbed wire so the beach is off limits (I think they do this because the locals are troublesome). The only redeeming features were the pool and the pet elephant. I wouldn't stay there again even for free!

We have just returned from a two week stay at the Villa Ocean View, althogh we went out of season we were given an excellent time. All the hotel staff were more than polite and attentive and always refered to my wife as 'Madame' until told to use first names. The food was very good but had to decipher their English e.g. one night there was 'English Tripple' meaning English Trifle..but this was all very amusing! The hotel room was clean and comfortable...our airconditioning was left on all day which made it a pleasant retreatfrom the heat outside! There was a lack of parasols but the shade of a tree was sufficient..the pool attendants were more than helpful preparing our sun loungers wth double mattresses and ample towels. The security guards always stood up ans saluted when approached! Overall the hotel was clean and comfortable but could do with a lick of paint and maybe new sunbeds and chairs etc....lack of tourism recentley has had an affect. Would book again out of season as all guests got to know each other as well as all the staff....a very personal time had by all!

I have stayed at the hotel 3 times in two years, bringing new guests back with me each time. The hotel has a shabby air about it bt on previous visits the wonderful staff and good food have more than made up for the lack of polish. But my last visit was very unpleasant, poor quaility food, poolside loungers cracked and dirty and no umbrelas. The air conditioning was turned off in the rooms until 6.00pm in the evening and room service could take upto 3 hours to arrive. Just a small sample of areas that had declined over the previous two years. But the most worrying problem were the security staff, who were replaced twice by the management during our stay. To sum up, fantasic in the past with friendly helpful staff. But currently management are unresponsive to complaints and disrspectful of female guests. The complex needs a complete refurbishment and cost cutting measures reversed or European guests will be disapointed with their holiday.

We went out to the villa ocean view hotel resort the 1st 2 weeks of March. We did have a good time genrally, the staff were helpfull (over helpfull sometimes). The food is very hit and miss there. The main problem with the food is that they use the cheapest cuts of meat, it does improve when they get a large group of locals staying. However, when we had our wedding meal it was 1st class, this was due to it being cooked for us and we were not in the buffet. The food hygiene is let down by guests leaving lids of serving dishes, the hotel staff stand around and do not address this problem. The hotel is situated right on the beach, swimming is possible provided you stay within your depth. The wedding was exactly as desribed in the wedding brochure. Most of the package was good value for money but the wedding video was exhorbitant and poor quality, so we declined to buy it. We asked if they did a DVD but this seemed to modern for them. I did have an arument with the food and bevrages manager, he tryed to hold on to my wedding negatives even though they were part of the package, Entertainment is non existant on poya day (full moon). If I was to return to sri lanka we would not book this hotel again, I visited better standard hotels at a fraction of the cost! The hotel was grubby (however our room was clean) the hotel does not seem to know what bleach is. I would recommend you tip staff as you go along istead of leaving it to the end, they do so much more for you! hope this is of help Simon and Linz

My wife and I have just returned from 3 weeks in the villa ocean view our 5th time,my last time there was in Jan 04 just after the Tsunami although hit by the Tsunami all had been redecorated etc by the staff, all the staff are well manered and helpfull, we have never had any of the staff holding out their hands for money, dianne one of the beach traders is a really nice lady and her husband can do trips a lot cheaper than the tour ops (and are fully insured, Bandara one of the taxi drivers inside the hotel does cheap excurtions to Kandy etc (2 days)staying at the same hotels etc as the big tour ops.(only a lot cheaper again fully insured. This time though there were not so many Brits at the hotel around 10 in total,pity really as the Sri Lankans are pro British,and we are the only ones that do tip. It was also nice to meet the GM.

Just returned from a 3 week holiday at ocean villa hotel, situated nicely on the beach, accomodation was fairly good, even though we did not have a superior room, garden and pool area was good, staff were smart and attentive and very friendly, the Bell boys were particularly good, the beach was good but the sea was rough. Now the down side, the entire hotel is in desperate need of a coat of paint, the one thing they have painted is the plastic furniture round the pool, beach and garden area, consequently the paint comes off all over your back and legs. The food is not very good, very cheap cuts of meat and nearly always tough. lots of curries and very hot, it was also very repetetive, less than a weekly turnround. The final aggravation was the staff with thier hands out for tips, they all knew when you had reached your last day, they were round at every opportunity. You were also pestered daily if you were brave enough to go through the security fence to the beach or the road. This might sound as if we had a terrible time, we didn't, we enjoyed ourselves, but it could have been so much better, with a little more thought from the management.

we stayed at the Villa Ocean view in September and had a great time the staff made the holiday , so friendly they did everything possible to make your stay very pleasant. Must say the hotel could do with a good lick of paint but the rooms were clean and the bedding changed daily. One thing i must say we did not venture out far at night as it looked a bit dodgy but did not hear of any problems. The down side to the holiday is that the people must think that us Brits have all come on lottery money as they always have their hand out, but that did not put us off it is a nice country. The other thing that is worring us is what damage did the villa ocean view sustain after the tsunami as well as the village of wadduwa. We cant help to think of the beach sellers as the guy who used to sell his wares outside the hotel , he was so nice and i spent a lot of time having a yarn with him , Hope he is ok.

The Villa Ocean View was OK! On first impressions the hotel was in need of a lick of paint and the general up keep was poor. Having said that the staff were very friendly and the rooms themselves in terms of linen and towels were changed every day and the air conditioning was very good. The food again was neither good nor particully bad, just average. I would question the rating of 4 star and the beach was a little disappointing and you can't swim in the sea, due to the ferocity of the waves. Sri Lanka itself is a beautiful country and the sights are amazing, we travelled quite a lot and visited Galle, Sigiriya, Polonnaruwa and all the sites in between. The roads are very hectic and it takes a long time to travek a relativley short distance, but the sights on the way (such as buffallo, and elephants in the road) are great. We also travelled on the train which was an experience. The locals see tourists as a walking goldmine, most are OK but the odd one or two are out to scam unsuspecting tourists. We had an enjoyable holiday and I hope I haven't put anyone off! I don't think we will return to Sri Lanka in the near future, but we are glad we went.