Casa Colombo Collection Mirissa

The staff were so sweet and helpful, and even gave us a phone to use if we needed anything while we were out. The place was very clean and modern, and we loved our stay. Our room was large and gorgeous, with big windows and a balcony looking out over the ocean. Right on the beach, and the restaurant had a good mix of local and Western food.

With just six rooms, it felt more like staying at a villa than a hotel. The staff were great and made us feel at home. The beach in front is gorgeous, but the water was too rough for swimming, so we had to walk a little to find a calmer spot. Mirissa beach, with its restaurants and bars, is about five minutes away.

The pool felt rather small, especially with all the coral in the sea, and the stay was a little pricey. Still, it’s a peaceful place with lovely staff, good food, and a great setting for romantic walks along the beach.

The setting at Casa Colombo Mirissa is beautiful, but the service and food poisoning made our stay a nightmare. After two weeks travelling around Sri Lanka, I booked it as a treat for my girlfriend to finish our holiday. The hotel was spotless, the interior design and furniture were lovely, and it had a beach-chic feel like places in Ibiza. There’s a private beach just metres from the rooms and a pool facing the ocean. It looked like a dream for a couple, and the price was hefty, which made what followed even more disappointing. We had seafood at the hotel restaurant on our first evening. It was delicious and nicely presented, but after going to bed I became violently ill. From 2am until 7am I kept running to the toilet with terrible stomach pain and threw up a few times. I’m not someone with a weak stomach. During the previous two weeks we’d eaten all sorts of food, from street food to seafood on the beach, without getting sick. This was the first time, and it happened after the seafood dinner here. When I told the manager, he immediately said it couldn’t have come from their restaurant. I explained that the only other thing I’d eaten that day was fruit, and that it seemed like fish poisoning, but he kept ruling it out and made me feel as if he thought I was lying. He didn’t seem to have authority to decide anything and said he had to call the head office in Colombo for requests that weren’t in the book. The staff and service were worse than at any other hotel we’d stayed in Sri Lanka, including some very modest places. It was nothing like what I’d expect from a supposed five-star hotel. Being sick made our stay much less enjoyable, and I thought they might at least refund the dinner. The manager wouldn’t help, avoided us, and was dismissive. He told us to contact the Colombo office, said he didn’t have their number, and didn’t offer to look it up, so I had to find it online myself. When I called, they offered a 50% discount on the dinner, and I had to argue to get the whole meal refunded. They still charged us for the wine and drinks, which I found ridiculous. A proper luxury hotel might even refund the room and offer a formal apology, but these people didn’t seem to understand hospitality. Neither the manager nor our personal assistant, who was supposed to look after us, asked how I was doing or offered medicine for the pain and symptoms. That was another example of the poor service. It seemed to me the staff had no training or experience in high-end hospitality, and were completely unable to take care of guests or make a stay memorable. A gorgeous place in paradise, spoiled by incompetent staff and very poor service.