Club Villa in Bentota

This has perhaps got to be one of the worst hotels I’ve stayed in since I started staying in hotels over 40 years ago! Check-in; After being told “we will try” for an early check in, then being told “1pm”, then finally “2pm” my two young kids and I were kept waiting at the reception after travelling all night on a flight and getting no sleep. The staff were ultra rude and kept throwing the rule book at us. When we asked to speak with the GM Sanoj, he stopped short of abusing me and was again rude and dismissive. They took 1.5 hours to clean the room despite Sanoj’s claim of 30-40 mins. Zero empathy and they kept rudely saying “wait till 2”. Noisy railway line; A railway line passes barely 50 metres away from the room. All night train sounds and unbearable vibrations ensure that you do not get a good night’s sleep at all. Food prices: Absolutely unreasonable and astronomical, which is almost criminal for a place that has no other options around! Water: We were given 2 0.5 litre bottles of water every day for a family of 3! When we asked for extra water, we were asked to pay! The first in any hotel! Only after fighting did we get our water. When leaving, a staff member actually snatched away a water bottle from us saying that they’re reusable glass bottles and we cannot take them away from the hotel! It probably cost just a few cents, but this is how they behaved with guests! The room: We had a duplex room. The side table in the loft was termite eaten and falling down literally. The cooling did not reach the loft, rendering that space hot and almost unusable. Flooring was worn out as was much of the woodwork. Random electrical switches all over the room made lighting impossible to find! And the room was so dim that we had to use torches to read inside! A dangerous staircase with the banister on the wrong side made for a treacherous journey to the loft. So much for a hotel designed by a supposed architect! Common facilities: Just 1 restaurant, an average pool and no other amenities would put this in the 2* category for me. Yet they behaved like it was a boutique 5* facility! Staff attitude: Rude, ****** and highly obnoxious. They seemed to be ***** who were told to run a facility and treated guests like jail inmates! My first ever experience of Sri Lanka was unfortunately shameful and disgusting and this property needs to be condemned in the strongest possible language. Club Villa is a disgrace to Sri Lankan hospitality and culture and I wish it nothing but the worst. Shame!

Absolutely horrendous service and one of the worst experiences of the thousands of hotel stays I’ve had worldwide in the last 40+ years! The GM Sanoj is rude and inconsiderate. So are the staff. I travelled with 2 young kids and received no assurance of a check in time - first I was told “possible early check in”, then “by 1pm”, then they to the the rule book at me for a 2pm check in. They took over 1 hour and 15 minutes to get a room cleaned! All the while their guest sat with 2 sleepy kids at the reception. Multiple people at the hotel with no clue about what is happening. Just plain cold rule book throwing and rudeness. I don’t know what kind of clueless folks run this property but this far from what hospitality is supposed to be. I am stuck here unfortunately for the next 3 days with no choice to go elsewhere. Else I wish nothing but the worst to this place. My first experience of Sri Lanka and it’s an absolute shame and disgrace. Cannot criticise this property enough and would strongly advise anyone against booking it.