Mawella Beach Resort

The bed has a sharp ledge built around it, and the manager warned us to be careful getting in and out. I still hit my shin on the corner during the night and it bled a lot. Another guest had the same injury, with bruises and cuts, when we talked the next morning. What idiot thought that ledge was a good idea? The room would be considered dangerous in Europe. The room itself was big, but the TV was too far away to watch and didn't work anyway. There were only three tea bags, no coffee and one toilet roll. At $100 a night, it was an absolute rip-off. Nobody was eating in the restaurant, and guests were eating at the beach instead, which says a lot. Breakfast was average at best, with items arriving randomly. The Booking pictures felt fraudulent and didn't match reality. I'm very angry and feel robbed. Management seemed not to care, after insisting on payment upfront. At least we only had to stay two nights. AVOID.

The beach location is great and the rooms are nice, maybe 25 to 30 sqm, but the price feels like a scam. This is a $40 guest house dressed up as a $150+ boutique hotel. We got the same poor breakfast every day, with only basic toast, cheap tea and coffee, and “Sri Lankan Omelette” to choose from. Cleaning happened only every 3 days, and hot water was unreliable. The staff felt intrusive and lacked basic concierge skills. They said local spots were fully booked when they weren't, while trying to steer us to a tourist trap restaurant. We told them twice it was our honeymoon and got no effort at all, not even a glass of champagne or anything. It makes you wonder why Prassad gets mentioned so much in the comments. The WiFi barely worked. For us, this was a bad joke from day one. Save your money and stay somewhere else.

The best part of the location is the 3km stretch of clean, fairly empty beach, great for a walk or body surfing. The resort sits right on it, so that alone made the stay worthwhile, and I highly recommend it. Prasad greeted us and made such a good impression that we booked. He turned out to be “Mr everything.” The rooms are lovely and over 50sqm, and the pool was in great shape and maintained every day. Breakfast was good, with toast, eggs cooked how you like them, fresh fruit and coffee or tea. We had a few lunches and were happy with them. We also recommend walking 100 meters or less west to Illuk, where the food, service and ambience were fantastic. We were happy with our stay, felt very well looked after, and would return. Instagram senior_globetrotters

Such a beautiful beachside spot for a relaxing getaway. The rooms were exceptional, and the staff were incredibly helpful, always ready to do whatever they could for you.