Sea View Beach Hotel

The sunrise was beautiful, and it felt safe to swim in the sea here in Trincomalee. There was a wonderful view even from the balcony, the food was fantastic, and the staff were friendly and always helpful. English and Sinhala can be a little difficult to communicate in, though they also have bilingual staff. Boat tours to Pigeon island and to see dolphins are available just a 50 meter walk away. During the season, life safeguards are available until 6pm. Our large family room had very little furniture, just a few options. A table and some chairs are a must. We only stayed in the room at night, but still had to sit on the beds until bedtime. The washroom was OK, but the door lock was troublesome and the AC didn't work properly in one of the rooms.

Restaurant only review! The budget take away menu is such a gem, and the hotel's spot right beside the beach made it easy to get good food during our beach day. It was meant to be takeout, but the manager let us eat inside the quiet, peaceful restaurant. The manager is the sweetest person ever. Still, they should stop other staff from approaching guests while they eat. Several people came over to ask the usual “Where are you from?” and “What’s your name?” questions. As solo women who weren't looking to start conversations with young men, it got old. I tried to hint to one younger man that we just wanted to eat, but he kept asking questions. It was annoying and felt disrespectful of our personal space.

We left immediately for health reasons after finding the family room unclean and the washroom in awful condition, with a bad odor and even worms. It seemed like the room hadn't been used in a while. The person assisting us had an unprofessional attitude from the start, which set a bad tone. After we decided to leave, staff offered us a better room, making it seem they had better options but hadn't given us one initially. A very disappointing experience. I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone.

We spent two days here with our family while visiting trincomalee. The sea-view room was great, and the hotel is very close to the water. It was clean, and breakfast was good; the dinner buffets had plenty of choice and were reasonably priced too. The staff, from the entrance and front desk to housekeeping and the restaurant, were exceptionally helpful and did a lot to make us comfortable. The hotel is showing its age and could use some updates, but we found it very good value.