Centara Ceysands Resort & Spa

Let me begin by saying this resort is on such a beautiful, unspoilt beach that it really took my breath away. Having travelled quite a bit through SE Asia, I have visited so many beautiful beaches that have been strewn with refuse (plastic, bottles etc), and expected this to be the same. Imagine my surprise to find a long stretch of wide, golden sand lapped by unpolluted gentle waves and hardly a tourist to share it with. I spent many hours a day floating in the sea, it was paradise! We stayed for 6 nights, and had pretty good weather. Expect some heavy showers and storms every day, but weather here moves fast, so you can also expect plenty of sunshine every day too. Most people were sunburnt. Nice breezes due to the location. The resort itself is between this beach and a beautiful stretch of wide river. We had a river view room, which was lovely, we could look across to the jetskis and boats zooming around, and up to the bridge with a white Buddhist temple gleaming in the distance. I hear the beach view rooms didn't get much of a beach view anyway due to the angle of the building and the trees out the front. The room was nice enough but could do with a bit of a refresh. Bed was comfy. No power socket in the bathroom strangely. A/C was good. I wouldn't call it five star but it was nice. This resort isn't in Bentota, it's in Aluthgama. This is a small town that is not set up for tourists. Nearly all of the small restaurants in Aluthgama cater to locals and don't have English menus. Bentota is reachable by tuk tuk, but there's not a lot to choose from there, either. You could say that the lack of tourist infrastructure didn't worry me, as it gave the area an authenticity and untouched feel that I didn't expect. I imagine this is what Bali or Phuket was like in the early days. Problem is, though, that means a lot of meals in the hotel. The buffet restaurant Bem was good - food was delicious, but did lack a bit if variety, same dishes for breakfast and lunch every day. Dinners were themed, and we ate there three nights and really enjoyed it. The poolside cafe though - ugh. I like to eat local food when I can, and there was nothing local on the menu.There was only burgers, pizzas etc. That's ok if they're done well, I've had some great cafe food at poolside cafes over the years. Unfortunately not from here though. Pizza inedible, burger terrible, at least the beer was cold. Food and drinks in the hotel was pretty reasonably priced, thank god, except 360 restaurant which was very expensive. It might be great, I didn't eat there - I didn't think it was worth the risk given the food elsewhere in the hotel. The pool area was great. Spent a lot of time here, lots of lounges, swim up bar was great, fantastic! Not to crowded when I was there, either. I used the gym a few times too, it was adequately equipped. Not maintained though, often no towels or water (remember they are calling themselves a five star hotel and it's not cheap). The reception staff were the biggest let down. We arrived at 1pm after 20 hours travel, they made us wait until 2pm because that was check-in time. They said they would come and tell us when it was ready, at 2:15 I reminded them, oops they forgot about us. You see, the reception area serves as a social club for staff, they like to stand around and gossip there. Every time I went to reception I had to wait for the gaggles of staff to finish their conversation before they would begrudgingly ask what I want. In summary, despite the letdowns, I would stay there again. It's such a beautiful spot, and the lack of hotels in the area means the only other similar hotel is the Taj Bentota, which is considerably more expensive, both in room rate and food and beverage. I have stayed at a Taj hotel before though, and if you can afford it this would be a far more luxurious experience.

Hotel very good wonderful location . Made better by Nuwan who serviced our room and made some lovely towel art on our bed. Udaya who was very helpful and polite. SUZUKI TOURS was disappointing. He asked for recommendations from us to other guests. Which were willing to do. He also guided us on a item we bought in local town from his cousin. Was told it was BEST QUALITY on getting our wrapped item home it was of very poor quality. We have asked Suzuki to contact these people but to no avail as he acted as an agent we thought he could help. Do not trust this person with any purchases he recommends. As he works closely with your hotel we thought we would bring it to your attention.