Pandanus Beach Resort & Spa

We have just had a wonderful two weeks holiday at this hotel. We had paid the upgrade to get the larger room with the jacuzzi bath - it was well equipped with plenty of storage and hanging, a safe and bathrobes/slippers. The balcony was huge and overlooked the beachfront. We explored a little of the area - there are always local tuk tuk drivers available to take you places locally and the train station is about 5-10 minutes away in the tuk tuk. We have to say that what made our holiday so memorable was without a doubt the staff. They were so cheerful and helpful and we were very impressed by their dedication to their work. My partner has a garlic allergy and the kitchen staff were amazing - making separate meals for him so that he could relax and not worry about an allergic reaction! I tried pretty much everything else on the menu - there was always a number of curries to try but also plenty of “European” style food as well of curry is not your thing. The bread is amazing (my favourite was the cheese bread, thank you to Loulith the baker (who also makes delicious cakes…) Ranjith and his team in the kitchen and restaurant must work so hard and our thanks to all of them, but in particular a big thank you to Kalum, Surand, Isury, Savinda, Lahiru, Tharaka and the lovely Dhananji. We were all inclusive and it was very good value for money, but the staff here certainly deserve an extra tip if you manage it. The live music and entertainment was good too - the three man band who sang well known songs and ballads were our favourite.

We enjoyed our stay in the hotel. The room was very confortable and icluded jacuzzi with seaview. The stuff was very nice and attentive. The hotel has exit leading to the beach. We liked the restaurant, especially food prepared by chef Thivanka.

Lovely hotel with all sea facing rooms. The rooms were spacious and well appointed. The 50 mtr pool was my favourite feature. Chef Thinakala went out of his way to make sure we were well taken care of. He and his team do a great job. Amar and his team of pool boys made sure we were looked after on our loungers by the beach. The hotel works hard to create a wonderful ambience with live music all over the hotel.

We arrived on the 30th of December, to a lovely decorated reception hall. The welcome was very warm and this continued throughout our stay. The staff really make this hotel what it is. Always courteous and possessing photographic memories. The New Year's celebrations laid on by the hotel made for a very enjoyable evening. The staff and a lot of them put in a lot of hard work. Quite a few tables were laid out on the beach, all tables and chairs covered in black cloth. Unfortunately the rain came in around 6 pm. The staffed moved them all into the reception/foyer, no small feat. The dessert room was beautifully decorated and could easily give Harrods a run for their money. The room was a good size and a very short distance to the beach, and made up with some very nice touches every day. The pool is so much better than it looks in the photos. This was a quiet hotel and into the new year even more so. I'd read reviews before I booked and quite a few mentioned Ruwan a travel guide who works from the beach. It wasn't long before we met him, and after he said "after you've met with your rep regarding excursions come back and see me". We were initially going to possibly book a safari or temple tour through them. But in the end we booked 4 trips with Ruwan. He even threw in a free thank you trip for us at the end of our stay. He's well worth talking to, infact all the people on the beach were very nice people with something to say and to offer. Don't be out off having a conversation with them. Ruwan also took us to a lovely restaurant on our last night, which was always going to be quite difficult to find, and he materialised to take us back to our hotel just before we were going to call him! Sri Lanka can be quite expensive for tourists, so it's worth getting a good deal and all our tours with him were private if not in his tuk-tuk but a comfortable and clean air conditioned car. We thoroughly enjoyed out stay at Pandanus. One small gripe most of the cocktails were probably created for the all inclusive crowd and weren't really the best, but were still as expensive as in England and Europe.