Villa La Serene

The place has been running for eight years and, by now, more than 1,500 foreign tourists have stayed and left. Some visitors return every year and say it feels like home. The owners are very nice and treat guests like family, and although some facilities are lacking, I think it’s the best place for the price. Go there without fear. Some foreign tourists have alleged that belongings went missing. The owner has spare keys to the rooms, which is why some people accuse him when things are missing. But these tourists come after drinking too much alcohol, and when they ask the owner for money and he refuses, they post negative Google comments to get revenge. Ignore those comments and stay a few days.

I didn’t drink any alcohol during my stay. The owner is called Indunil, and he gives himself five stars. Of course he’d say we’re all lying. The place was very unclean, and I also had things stolen. I noticed the owner checking my room while I was out because sometimes I’d forget to turn off the fan, then come back and find it switched off. The breakfast also looks nothing like the pictures on Google. This place isn’t safe. Don’t go there, there are better places to stay.

The room was near the kitchen, and it was dirty. The towels and sheets were stained, and nobody cleaned the room during the two weeks I stayed, which was difficult with all the ants and insects. I asked to move to a cleaner room, but its bathroom was still very dirty, so I cleaned it myself. The kitchen is available for guests, but I had to clean the shelves before I could store anything because they were so dirty. The Wi-Fi didn’t work, and the beds had no mosquito nets, despite what the pictures show. The breakfast photo isn’t accurate either. Breakfast was just two dry rotis and dal that wasn’t very hot. Later, when I asked for fruit, they sometimes gave me two bananas. I wouldn’t recommend staying here. I paid for a month and left my luggage in my locked room while I spent five days inland in Sri Lanka. When I returned, my gold necklace was gone. The owner was the only one with a spare key, and other guests told me they’d had things stolen too. That’s why I left after two weeks. All in all, a very bad experience. Don’t go there.

The place was very dirty, and the owner seemed pretty strange. They check your room while you’re away. Don’t go there.