Reviews of Tangerine Beach Hotel, Kalutara

Hi.



Me and my friends stayed at the Tangerine Beach Hotel during this Easter holiday. We went there for a short break from our business trip in India.

The first impresion was really good. Nice people at the reception, very kind and always helpful. The lobby looked just amazing, with small pools with the lotus flowers and boats.

The rooms were clean and airconditioned. Big double bed, TV and armchairs with the table. Beautiful view from the balcony, palm trees and rough ocean.

We had the HB and there is only one word-waw! The food was just great. Maybe I am overrating, but after weeks spent in India, it was lovely to have some jacket potatoes, non spicy rice, proper beef or pork meet, lasagne or pasta and lots of steamed/chargrilled vegetable. Wide choice of food, salad and DESERTS. They must have spent ages making those, I always tried to leave some space in my tummy for wide variety of deserts and fruit.

Breakfast was again excellent. Baked beans, fried eggs and bacon- just what I wanted to eat after weeks rather going without breakfast :)

Drinks you have to buy separately, but the prices are quite reasonable.



This hotel is definitely suitable for older couples and families with small children. Though we are in our mid-twentiesl we had lot of fun, enjoyed ourselves in big tidal waves and chatted to really nice and funny staff.



Definitely will go back and stay a bit longer than just a few days.



Hope you find this info useful

We stopped at the Tangerine Beach Hotel again in May 2006 on an all inclusive basis and thoroughly enjoyed it.



Although it was the start of the monsoon season we had very little rain during the day and when it did rain it was early morning, I think we had one day when it rained up to about 9AM but the sun soon dried it up.



We are not the ones for sitting around the pool, so we like to go exploring the country.



We found a tuk tuk driver named Sumith, just outside the hotel gates and he is there every morning from about 9AM. We used him most days whilst we were there and his rates are very reasonable.



The food was up to its usual excellent standards and the presentation of the salad bar and the desserts were fantastic.



The dress code for men in the evening is long trousers, which is not a problem, as I don't think they would let you into to Ritz to eat if you were in shorts!



Would we go back... Yes!

I stayed at Tangerine Beach December 2006 for 16 nights. Food is excellent quality – both European and Eastern. Staff are friendly and helpful.



Beach: Hotel grounds are right on the beach but are separated. If you’re not a ‘pool person’ (I’m not) then you sun bathe in the grounds.



Only yards from the sand and sea but it is separated. No problem going onto the beach and enjoying the sand (or beach fishing as some people did) and indeed swim but as has been said previously it is a sharp drop.



Since I’m not a strong swimmer I stayed out of the sea but others were braver!



Hawkers: Not too bad in comparison to Goa! Your reaction to this all depends whether you have come across beach hawkers before or not. My only comment is that in Sri Lanka, at TBH, it was all very friendly.



Nobody there means you any harm; they are trying to earn some money; they will put some (considerable) effort in trying to earn that money. Okay: good for them.



Respect that, and if you’re not interested then “No” seems to work.



Shouting from beach: I simply asked them not to shout my name and they didn’t from there on in. Respect.



Tours: I was walking up the road outside the hotel and by chance one of the shops I went into the guy (Sanka) said “I also do tours”.



I did two tours with Sanka and both were excellently organised. First was the one day trip to Bentota (which was great – turtles, crocodiles, mangroves, kingfishers, fishermen, hotels, nice houses etc).



But what really impressed me was the two day tour to Kandy. I did pineapple farm, bricklayers, gems, elephant orphanage, elephant riding, tea factory, Sri Lankan dancing, botanical gardens, Tooth Temple and more (you know the list!).



But what I really want to say is that I’d arrive at a venue and someone each time was right there to take me around the place and explain what was what. No fuss. No messing. No waiting. Each and every time, right on cue.



For example, we were supposed to start at 6.00am the first day and the taxi indeed arrived at 6.00am. And this remained true throughout the trip (a couple with another company had been waiting from 5.30).



As a tour that made me feel as though I was being taken personal care of, I’ve never seen better – and I mean in England or India or anywhere else (and I’ve seen a few).



These posts have recommended a few different local guides. Well, all I will say is, check out Sanka.



Guests: By and large the usual mixture (depending what you’re used to I suppose!) – not many newly weds, but otherwise split between families, singletons, (older) couples and Sri Lankans, British, German and Russian, an occasional Frenchie. Nothing different as far as I could see.



Now one last comment about Tangerine Beach Hotel: please note that if you do choose to eat an evening meal in the hotel, then they do require you to wear “smart casual” which essentially means no shorts.



Personally, that sucks, and I would anyway recommend trying out some of the local restaurants. They are all within 100 yards or so.



I did challenge this and my only proviso is that reception sometimes struggle to help straight away. Having said that, once I asked and pushed a bit then supervisors or managers or someone would do their absolute best to help.



And there were a couple of people on reception who were wonderfully helpful to the extent of predicting what I was going to say before I had even asked. I was impressed!



So be prepared for possible initial frustration but also that somewhere, someone will sort it out for you. Given a bit of effort.



Would I go back? Yes.

The hotel is situated in one of the most impressive parts on the West Coast, although the building is well established, it is very well maintained, its design and decor is a delight.



The grounds and swimming pool are large and very clean and tidy, with adequate sun loungers to go around, the gardens are very neat, and cleared of leaves and debris early each morning. The attached beach is kept very clean and tidy by the hotel garden staff.



The food is very artistically presented, very large selection, and of a very high standard (we stayed at two other hotels on the Island, of a higher star rating, and their food came no where to the standards of TBH ) All the food is prepared and cooked by a staff of very high quality chefs, and cooked to perfection.



The hotel is very well staffed, and all so very friendly, and go out of there way to make your stay very welcome.



The only down side of our stay at TBH, was that the bed linen had seen better days, and on several occasions we had linen with holes .The table covers were made of bamboo canes, although they look attractive, we never seen them being cleaned, they appear to be unhygienic.



Apart from the main restaurant, which is no smoking, we found it impossible to get away from passive smoking, in all other areas of the hotel, this was an irritation.

Due to the high humidity levels, we found wet clothes never dried, and clothing hanging in the bedroom wardrobe together with the bed linen appeared damp at times, but this is of no fault of the hotel.



The rear of the hotel overlooked a large water tower with behind the scenes hotel services, this was noisy at times and also sewage smells could be observed.



Overall we enjoyed our stay at the Tangerine Beach Hotel, and would have no hesitation in recommending the hotel.

Just returned from a fantastic holiday at the Tangerine Beach. Would thoroughly recommend this hotel and country - it is beautiful! The hotel is very friendly and situated in a great location, right on the beach. The food is of plenty and we had a fantastic room with views across the beach.



The country is very cheap and tours are great value for money - BUT only if you book with the locals. The hotel rates are diabolical so go outside for less than half price!! We used a man called Silva (also known as Raja)) too book our tours and he was reliable, cheap and friendly. He owns a tuk-tuk and a restaurant named Relax on the beach, about 50 metres from the hotel complex. He is very well known in Kalutara and surrounding areas and very trustworthy. We cannot praise him enough, even Saga residents at the hotel, chose him over the Saga rep tours! For great value for money and an English speaking guide - use him.



We recommend his trip to Kandy and the Temple of the tooth-fantastic tour and the temple is mesmerizing. The elephant orphanage was worth a visit but I found it quite sad with how the elephants were treated - seemed just a money pit! Take a trip to a temple though as they really are fabulous and such a big part of Sri Lanka. I can not wait to go back again. The wildlife is great too - Kingfishers galore, Iguana's, Crocodiles.... Enjoy!

Very good hotel which, when repairs after Tsunami are completed, will be excellent. During our visit there was extensive work being carried out - mainly of a cosmetic nature. All staff were friendly and very efficient. Meals were varied and very good with wide choice of both local and international dishes. The position of the hotel, bordering Kalutara beach was ideal. Internet access was available but not good, being situated in the office behind the reception desk, and was very limited with only one computer available.



There was still quite a lot of evidence of Tsunami damage to the surrounding towns, which makes it difficult to assess whether the poor state of pavements etc. was due to this or was a normal state of affairs. There was a fair amount of locals touting for business/trying to sell goods but this was, on the whole extremely good natured.



Overall the holiday was excellent value for money.