Oceanic White House

I chose Oceanic White House on my recent Sri Lanka trip because it was close to the beach and diving centre, and I loved staying there. The rooms were spacious and clean, and the host was friendly and very cooperative. The location is absolutely amazing. Food isn't included, and transport can be arranged for an additional cost.

Suresh, the owner, made our stay feel like home. He was kind, genuine, helpful, and professional throughout. The clean, comfortable, well-kept rooms were another plus at this affordable, good-value place in Trincomalee. Oceanic White House is within walking distance of Nilaveli Beach and the boats to Pigeon Island, so it's handy for beach trips and snorkelling. There are plenty of restaurants nearby, and we especially liked the simple, traditional home-cooked Saiva vegetarian meals. If you're looking for an affordable, convenient, welcoming place to stay, we'd highly recommend it.

It was affordable, within walking distance of the beach, and the people were friendly, though contact was limited and their English was limited too. The affordable Euro breakfast was white toast, some papaya, sweet jam, and a baked egg. There was a fridge on the porch for our water, useful when it could get as hot as near 40 (July'24). The rooms didn't have enough bed sheets for everyone, so we took some from the spare bed. The AC worked and most fans worked. Hot water was available in the showers. Water at the bathroom sink had been turned off or wasn't working. When we opened the main pipe, we found the sink leaking from behind and smelling, so we turned it off and brushed our teeth and washed our hands in the adjacent room we'd booked for the kids.

Construction started on the property at 7 am, and people also burned trash close enough for the smoke to get into my room. It was unpleasant, and I had to leave the room. The room had no curtains to darken it, so sleeping past 6/7 was very difficult. The wifi didn't work. They tried to fix it but didn't even run a speedtest, and they didn't seem to know what they were doing. Communication in Englisch was VERY limited, and the place didn't feel professional. The booking tags were strange too. It was tagged as having a sea view, though obviously there isn't one. Air conditioning was listed twice as included in the room details, but a third entry said it cost extra. Very strange.