Falcon Hostels, Mirissa

A welcoming family, a proper room, and a very nice breakfast. We've stayed at plenty of guest houses and hotels, and this breakfast was better than many of them. If you'd like to experience staying with a local family, this is the place.

Quiet location, welcoming family, and a good breakfast.

There's a very ancient Bo tree at this Buddhist temple.

We stayed two nights. At check-in, I wasn't good at speaking English, so my girlfriend asked the owner how much a night cost and whether breakfast was included. He smiled, and I initially thought he was a nice person. I skipped breakfast the first day. On the second day, it was toast, fried eggs, banana juice, and Ceylon tea. When we finished and were checking out, the owner brought the bill. It was 1,000 rupees more than the original price. I objected, and he said breakfast cost 500 rupees per person. My girlfriend asked in English, "You said breakfast was included in the room rate, right?" He replied that he hadn't understood what she meant. We went back and forth about whether to pay. In the end, he crumpled the receipt and threw it at me, so I left the inn. He kept complaining as I left, and I felt awful. Someone who was there later told me that we kept complaining even after we left, which made them feel bad. Sri Lankan people are always smiling, but when money comes up, they get serious and it's scary. It was the last day of my trip to Sri Lanka, and I felt terrible. I'll never go again.