Palm Garden Ayurveda Resort

It’s a peaceful little hotel with lovely styling, a happy, calm atmosphere, and good food at the restaurant. The staff are delightful and gave us excellent suggestions for things to do and places to eat. The pool is usually quiet, and after swimming you don’t smell of chlorine. We liked being away from the beach because it’s cooler and quieter here. Tuk tuks are easy to find for trips to the beach, restaurants or massages. This is a peaceful place, so it wouldn’t suit you if you’re looking for a party vibe. I’d definitely come back!

My friend and I recently stayed at palm gardens, and it was calm and serene. If you want somewhere isolated, this could be the place for you, though it’s far from the main road and getting a cab or tuktuk might be difficult. Liza Perera is a sweetheart who looks after you like family. She made our stay better and more memorable.

For the price, I expected better from the service, food and accommodation, and the experience fell short in all three. Having travelled around Sri Lanka, I’d personally choose a local homestay for a fraction of the cost and a much better stay.

The rooms were very clean and lovely, but so much of the rest of the stay was disappointing. We arrived at 9am and asked about checking in early, expecting perhaps an hour or two before the 2pm time. They said it should be possible and gave us watermelon smoothies. The receptionist also said we’d be added to a WhatsApp group for treatments and hotel updates. It started well, then went downhill. We went out for brunch and came back around 11am. They still said early check-in should be possible, so we asked for towels to use the pool while waiting. They said no, and we waited around reception. At lunchtime we tried the restaurant. The service was terrible and the food awful. My chicken Caesar salad was limp and soggy, with half the ingredients missing. The only drinks available were tea, and my husband's fish was raw and freezing cold. The server was scrolling on his phone and nobody asked how the food was. We paid and went back to reception. By about 1.30pm we hadn’t heard anything, so figured we wouldn’t get in early. That was annoying after spending the day waiting because they’d said it was likely, but fine. At 2pm, the official check-in time, we were told the room wasn’t ready. We asked again for pool towels and were told housekeeping was short-staffed and none were available. We finally got towels about an hour later. The room wasn’t ready until around 3.45pm, and nobody came to tell us; we had to ask again. The room was lovely, but there were no robes, and the plugs by the bed didn’t fit normal chargers because the bedside tables were too high. The Wi-Fi was dreadful, so I used my mobile hotspot the whole time. We didn’t get fresh bath towels or a change of bedding. We also weren’t added to the WhatsApp group. We stood at reception for about 15 minutes while they tried to work out how to add us, then gave up. On day two we were finally added and booked treatments as instructed, receiving a confirmation. The next day we arrived for our 2pm appointments and were told we weren’t booked at the spa. We waited around while staff looked confused and asked for our details repeatedly. Eventually I was taken to the spa, then left in a corridor with no explanation, not knowing if I was having a treatment. My husband saw the doctor, who said they shouldn’t have booked him so late because the treatment is better in the morning, so he had a massage instead. Nobody had told us that. I also had a massage, but the room felt sterile, and while I was undressed on the table someone simply walked in. It was all very strange. Another time, we asked reception to call a tuktuk. One arrived, but the driver insisted it wasn’t for us, and nobody from reception was around to help. We ended up walking and were 25 minutes late for our dinner reservation. It was a really strange, disappointing stay. They did refund our lunch, but every interaction with staff was painful. I couldn’t wait to check out and definitely wouldn’t stay again.