Grand Residence

The breakfast was excellent, and I’d recommend this place. Our room was large and clean, with a big balcony, and the pool was great. It’s a five minute walk to the beach. Thank you!

I can’t recommend this place to digital nomads planning to work remotely. The listing on booking showed a room for two with three separate beds, though the rooms actually have one queen bed and one child size bed. My friend and I needed separate workspaces, so we had to pay an extra 25% for separate rooms. They had asked for about 35%, but we disagreed. We then had to put tables in the rooms ourselves, even though tables were shown in the pictures and weren’t there. The WiFi was available, but the 10-20Mb/s bandwidth was poor, and the connection dropped for a few seconds 3-4 times an hour. Mobile reception wasn’t great either, which made working difficult. If you care about dirt, be aware there was plenty. The rooms weren’t prepared for mosquitoes. There were holes in the terrace door and bathroom, and no bed net, so I slept covered in mosquito repellent and had a terrible night. I’m sorry to leave a review like this because the people working there were kind, and we tried to take things in stride. Still, it was a bad experience, and there isn’t that much that needs to be done to fix it. The pool was nice, though.

We spent 20 days here in December 2021 and loved it. The pool was great, and the location worked well for Goyambokka beach, red beach, and silent beach. There’s also a shop across the road, and breakfast was a fantastic mix of traditional Sri Lankan and western food. Dr and his family went above and beyond. They were always friendly, kind, and patient, bringing mosquito ninja and various medicines, and arranging tuk tuks and taxis. My children had a few health issues, and he checked them out without charging us. They did two loads of laundry for free as well, and would sometimes bring us local food to try by the pool or in our room, like string hoppers, sugar cane, coconut seed, rose apple, and mango. We were there over poya day, and they offered free rice and curry for lunch and dinner that weekend. My six year old daughter became friends with his children and now wants to live here instead of carrying on with our travels! The room had A/C and a fan, though we mostly used the fan. The balcony was handy for work, relaxing, and laundry. The beds were big and comfortable, the furnishings simple, and there were lockable bedside tables and a wardrobe. We didn’t use the TV, but there was one. My husband had to work throughout our stay. There were a few WiFi issues, and the family did everything they could to sort them out. They now have a whole new connection with unlimited data, so no one else should have issues. The shower pressure, mounting, and temperature weren’t great, though we hardly used it and my toddler preferred the running tap anyway. It was useful having a kitchenette to extend out to and a mini fridge, but we found out after buying food that there was nothing to cook on. When we tried to give the food to the doctor, he invited us to cook downstairs anytime, and we were welcome to use the restaurant equipment. A few nights later, grandma helped me boil pasta and fry some vegetables in the kitchen. It was fun, even though her English was limited. The place isn’t new anymore, and some items have seen better days, but everything worked and felt right for the price. You come here for the nature, surroundings, and people. I think if we’d mentioned anything, they would have gone out of their way to fix or clean it. There’s no 24 hour desk, but the family seemed happy for us to approach any of them at any time. A manager at a hotel across the road speaks better English and can help arrange things if you visit or call or text.

Grand residence has been our best stay in Sri Lanka so far. The owner was very helpful and really tried to help us get the best deal and spend as little as possible. On our last day, checkout was at 12, but because he had no other guests, he let us stay longer at no extra charge. We had a scooter, which made it easy to get to tangalle beach, where the restaurants are, and into the city for shopping. You’ll need to hire a scooter or tuk tuk. Goyambuka beach is just a walk away, and with a bit more walking you reach silent beach, which is perfect, empty, and watched by guards.