Heritance Ahungalla

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Heritance Ahungalla Hotel
Formerly The Triton Hotel
Ok, so here we go with a long awaited review of the newly refurbished and renamed Triton Hotel in Ahungalla, Sri Lanka.
The new name is as it is above, Heritance Ahungalla, why? Well this is now a very much up market hotel, and if I owned it and had spent the amount of time, effort and money on it as the owners have then I too would want it to stand out as an outstanding property, and you have to believe me here when I tell you that this is exactly what they have now made this very popular hotel to be, so hence the new name.
No expense has been spared here, and it is very visible from the time your vehicle arrives at the extremely impressive lobby entrance, a sight that will leave you truly mesmerized and enchanted forever! Ok, so you may say that as a previous guest I have seen it all before, yes, but with a major change, and that is the welcome you will receive, not only from the doorman, but from all staff that are in that area, be it a bell-boy or a passing manager, trust me, everyone will welcome you with open arms, warm hand shakes, and genuine smiles.
I will continue this review as events unfurled upon my arrival:
Arrival at the Lobby entrance, after a drive along the impressive driveway, my car comes to a stop, then without knowing it, the door is opened by the doorman, I am greeted by a very warm good afternoon sir, and welcome to Heritance Ahungalla, by someone who I have actually known for several years, Dudley, but because he cannot be sure, he uses the welcome that everyone receives.
I am quickly, and very politely ushered into a very nice and coolly air conditioned place, well, I should have known it really, The Bacchus Bar, and here I am welcomed very warmly indeed by a very nice lady from the guest relations executive, well actually her name to be polite is Warshi, (pronounced Varshi) and I may add a very nice lady too.
Oh, I nearly forgot! The flowers! Where else was I going to get a beautiful garland of Orchids draped around my neck? And by such a lovely lady? Yes you are right, no where else on this earth that is for sure! Only here at Heritance Ahungalla.
So, what’s next? Oh my God! Another old friend, Don (Head Barman) appears from nowhere, bearing a very cooling white and sweetly smelling face towel, and a menu of fabulous cooling welcome drinks to chose from, after shaking hands with someone I had not seen for around 4 years, I gladly accept his offer of a cooling Passion Fruit cocktail, how very civilized, and of course after the long drive from airport, how very welcomed too.
Seem too good to be true? Well trust me; that is how it actually happened!!
Registration
Ok, so the hotel knows who is arriving, so part of the sometimes long and drawn out registration forms are already pre filled, but here I find something a little different from most hotels I have visited, no, not only here in Sri Lanka, but in most parts of the world, the lovely Warshi asks if I have a business card?, and if so, then all I need to do is to sign, and she will fill in all the boring details later, again, how very civilized?, business card parted with, I sign on bottom line, so what was the easiest hotel registration I have ever had, was completed., so far so good? No, so far excellent.
Escort to room:
After one of the most pleasant registrations to any hotel I have stayed in, anywhere in this world of ours, it was time to be shown to my room, no! Not just shown to an elevator or stairway, and hopefully pointed in the right direction, I was actually escorted to my room by the lovely Warshi, and to my surprise, when we arrived, all of my luggage was already there!, hmmm, now how did the bellboy know that? When I did not even know my room number until I arrived at the door? Magic? Or just maybe professionalism? I suspect the latter here.
Upon arrival, I was shown all of the controls, and light switch operations, of which there appeared to be many, but after a while, it is clear that all is quite simple really, even for me! Ah Ha, I think I have caught them out! I quickly notice that the sockets are no good for recharging my quickly failing mobile phone! How wrong I was to be proved, within 1 minute, my phone was on charge, courtesy of very rapidly supplied adapter! Incidentally this was left in room for the duration of my stay, very useful too.

So, after approximately 20 minutes of arrival, here I am in my new home for the next month or so, with around a couple of hours or so till dinner, and yes I was a little hungry after my long journey from London, I decided to unpack and freshen up a little.
From now onwards, I will describe the hotel facilities:
Accommodation:
Large, airy, and well illuminated rooms. Mine is a first floor deluxe room (202), well actually all of the rooms here are mostly deluxe, and I can only comment on these, as I never ventured into the more luxurious rooms/ suites.
Large, no, a VERY large double bed, at least 6 foot square, so plenty big enough for me, and I like lots of room in mine. Room very tastefully furnished with up to date and very modern décor, and fittings and floor coverings, including fitted wardrobe, with plenty of hanging space, and drawer space too. Light comes on when door is opened, off when it is closed. Electronic, and I may add, easy to use safe too, free of charge, nice change here from some hotels. Large flat screen television, with facility to plug in your video camera/player, or kid’s games consoles too, simple but such a nice touch here I think.
IDD telephone.
Tea/Coffee making facility, complimentary I may add.
Mini bar, chargeable though!
Working area, consisting of desk, chair, and would you believe 2, yes 2 internet ports, so if you are thinking of bringing a laptop, then you have in room facility for internet, very useful.
Bathroom, well, this will take your breath away I think, a bathroom to die for, especially that huge walk in shower with the biggest head I have ever seen on any shower!!, but a word of caution here I think, if you have a ground floor room, then please make sure you pull the blinds, because the walls are all made of toughened glass! Don’t want to upset the locals do we?
Oh, just in case, an extension telephone by the loo too! Came in useful for me, you know, how many times does your phone ring when you are in the loo at home? Exactly!
Bathroom equipped with hair dryer, shaver adapter, fluffy bathrobe and slippers, and plenty of toiletries too. Easily adjustable and very effective air con and ceiling fan are fitted as standard in all rooms. Rooms kept spotlessly clean by room attendants, towels changed twice daily, bed linen daily. Oh, and a nice large, well furnished balcony too, with pool/ocean view.
Pools:
2 Huge pools as before, both now retiled in new colours, main one now lighter shade of blue, old blue pool, now a tasteful shade of green, both pools lovingly keep clean and clear of fallen leaves and other debris by the pool attendants/lifeguards.
Watch out for the kingfishers here, beautiful!
Lifeguards on duty from 8.00am till 8.00pm.
Sun loungers/ Umbrellas:
All supplied free of charge dotted around the grounds, on the beach, and under nice shady trees, towels also supplied free of charge and clean each day, so no need to pack yours!
Oh, a really nice little extra here, watch out for a waiter strolling around with some really nice goodies! Yes, some ice cold, fresh fruit kebabs, really refreshing I can tell you in the hot sunshine, and free too!
Beach
Extremely large, and very deserted stretch of beach, right in front of the hotel, nothing to your left for what seems miles! And to the right, the ancient fishing village of Ahungalla, with a nice little gift shop about 500 meters away owned and run by a nice lady called Melani, yes she is back despite having her original shop and home destroyed by the Tsunami, oh by the way, no visible signs of Tsunami damage along this stretch of beautiful beach. Lifeguards on duty from 8.00am to 8.00 pm in case you fancy a dip in the very warm Indian Ocean.
Bars:
So, want to keep hydrated and cool in all this hot sunshine?, well now you can have a cooling relaxing drink in your choice of no less than 5 bars, yes 5!
Bacchus Bar
Premium air conditioned cocktail bar, where any cocktail, yes any! will be professionally prepared for you by some of the best cocktail barmen to be found anywhere, just ask, and it will be yours within a quick shake of the cocktail shaker.
Very well furnished, using some of the best materials known, including volcanic lava from Indonesia, exquisite!
Light background piped music.
Pool Bar/Mirror Lounge
Self explanatory really, nice cooling drinks next to the main pool, very comfortably furnished too, snacks/sandwiches, tea and coffee available during the day here.
Mirrors on entire ceiling and walls, very pleasant.
Wall Bar
This is an old favourite by the Green Pool, very nice and airy, and very well thought out and furnished.
Apollo Bar
Now, this will maybe be the most popular bar in the entire hotel, situated on the first floor, and spreading the entire width of the main building front, it is air conditioned, and has fab views of the pool and the ocean, that will be illuminated during darkness hours.
Piano background music 3 times a week. Also on offer here, a fantastic range of international coffees, and cigars for the quiet relaxing period after dinner.
Opious Room
Doubles as a nightclub/ disco, with live band entertainment and Karaoke several times a week, extremely pleasant, and very professionally decorated too, also air conditioned.
All bars are served by waiters, so no queuing for service, with all the most popular international drinks on offer, as well as local favourites too.
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A point worth mentioning here I think, cool face towels offered when ordering first drinks, very considerate. Prices are the same, no matter what bar you use.
Dining
The Triton Hotel always had a great reputation for its food, and now would you believe it is even better than before, no, it is much better. There are 3 main food outlets, and are described as follows:
Main Restaurant
Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, this is in the same place as before, but has been totally transformed, and once inside the door this will be immediately apparent to you.
It has been split into 2 sections, one is completely air conditioned, the other is part open air, and the only place that smoking is now allowed. Completely new furnishings and the ceiling of main part is covered in very eye catching Batik material, extremely impressive.
Food
Breakfast and I suspect lunch is buffet style, with a vast selection on offer.
Dinner is mainly of the fixed menu type, with at least one meat, fish and vegetarian dish on offer, as well as starter, soup, dessert, and tea/coffee too. I was extremely impressed by the quality here, and never during my month long stay was the same menu on offer more than once, quite amazing I think. Quality, and presentation is something to be simply amazed at, actually, sometimes I did not know whether I should eat my meals, or take photos of them, quite simply fantastic quality.
Triton Café (formerly The Coffee Shop)
Mainly Ala Carte menus on offer here, with some snacks too and a very good alternative to the main restaurant, open air with lovely views of pool and ocean during daylight hours.
Open 24 hours.
Upper Room (Fine Dining)
Now, where do we start here? This is simply the best fine dining restaurant I have ever come across anywhere on my travels around the world! It would be very difficult to describe in words, but it is really fantastic, not only of course for it’s dinner menus but also for it’s stunning views across the pool and ocean, absolutely magnificent. I dined twice here during my stay, and to say I was totally impressed would surely be a big understatement, I challenge any hotel to even match this, let alone better it.

Room service is available 24 hours a day.
Service
Quite simply put, the service that you will receive at this hotel is second to none! In my honest opinion it cannot get any better than this. No matter what you are doing, having a fine dining meal, or simply going to the beach, the service is very professional here. Nothing is too much trouble. Quite an achievement when you consider that this hotel had been closed for 16 months, and most of the staff had not worked during that period, it was almost as if they had been working all the time.
These people will willing do anything for you at anytime, day or night, and always with a warm smile, and you are welcome madam/ sir, a credit to all of them, no wonder they are very proud of their hotel and jobs. I have seen service that comes a little close to this, but it has always cost a little tip before! Not the case here. Simply put, if this hotel for some reason or other does not get its 6 star rating, it will not be because of the service, this is real professional 6 star service here, and it shows.
Other Facilities
Other facilities available at this fantastic hotel include the following:
Information Centre
Where you can get all kinds of information about the hotel, country, tours and trips ect, including where the reps will be holding their welcome meetings.
Business Centre
High Speed internet access, fax machines etc.
Shopping Arcade
Although not yet open, there will be a variety of shops, including gifts, jewelry, I believe one will owned and run by Aida, one of Sri Lanka’s finest!
Sixth Sense Spa
One of the worlds leading Spa chains will be opening here at Heritance, not until November 2006 though, check their website for more details.
Criticisms
Very hard to find fault here, but I did try to find something, but alas, to no avail, but…maybe one, Niran, the girls uniforms, I know this is a bone of contention at the moment, but for me, and I know the girls think this too, I honestly believe they should be wearing saris, and not the designer ones they currently have! Just a small consideration here.
So, there it is, my much waited for review of this brand new hotel, it was always an excellent one in it’s old Triton days, but.., it is now so much more, and it shows, yes, it is a very much up market resort hotel, and on one of Sri Lanka’s finest stretches of beach.
I am a very much traveled person, who enjoys the little luxuries in life, but this hotel exceeds by a long way what I have become used to in recent times, and yes, that does include The Triton Hotel that I had become so used to in recent years, my advice to anyone wanting a fabulous relaxing holiday, and to be extremely well looked after? Well the answer is simply, you cannot get better than this!
I had a fabulous month here at Heritance Ahungalla, and will be returning later this year in November, so to Niran Ra*****te, and your fabulous staff, I will see you then, and thank you for your hospitality.