Cocobay Unawatuna

The staff were very friendly and the location was great. Our room looked nice and was spacious, though it needed some touch-ups, and I think the hotel as a whole needs refurbishing. The water wasn’t very inviting for swimming, and the surrounding area was a bit dirty. They tried to keep things nice, but for what we paid, it didn’t feel good enough. We already thought it was expensive before arriving, and after seeing the area, I found it overpriced. Near the end of our trip, I realized there were other places I liked better for the price. At a lower rate, though, this would be a perfectly nice place to stay.

I’m fine with paying to use a pool, but a hotel of this caliber should be more consistent about how guests can use its facilities. We’d visited the resort pool several times before being told there’d been a rule change and that each person had to pay 3,000 rupees, including our three-year-old. The day before, we’d been able to order food at the restaurant without any minimum spend. They said the rules had changed a week earlier, even though I’d gone to the pool three times during that supposed week.

The room, 306, was huge, and every interaction with the staff was great. They were friendly and helpful. I’d read plenty of reviews before arriving and expected the worst, so I was pleasantly surprised in some ways. The beach chairs were very comfortable, but I didn’t find the beach appealing for swimming. It’s close to the river mouth, and the sea looked a bit dirty, though it may just have been sand churned up by the waves. The food was okay for me. I had Sri Lankan dishes at breakfast and a couple of dinners. Eating out locally would be much cheaper, of course, though the weather sometimes makes that choice for you. The room decor felt a little dated, and the shared areas, including the space by the balcony, could use cleaning and fresh paint. The hotel was built in 2013, and it seems little has been done since. Good hotels need regular upkeep and refreshes, and the menus look like they may be original too. My biggest issue was the local tuk tuk drivers intimidating or bullying guests and other drivers who came into “their area.” We used PickMe to avoid the prices they tried to charge, but app drivers called to say they wouldn’t pick us up from the hotel, either because staff wouldn’t let them in or local drivers argued and fought with them. We had to walk up the street and ran into more of the same nonsense. Maybe we were wrong not to support the local drivers, but the prices were wild: on our last morning one wanted 5,000 lkr to take us to Galle train station, while PickMe was around 700. On our first day, a tuk tuk driver first quoted 1,000 lkr, compared with 300 on PickMe. The hotel acknowledged the drivers were aggressive. They could improve things by dealing with the situation or offering better transport themselves. When I stayed at a local b&b in unawatuna back in 2015, it provided free tuk tuk rides around the area.

The restaurant was a highlight: the meals were delicious, and the generous daily set menu changed every day, with 3-4 courses. A friend joined me here for my birthday, and the staff surprised me with a cake at dinner. I also upgraded to a Sea Escape premier room and was pleased with it. It was spotless and well laid out, with a lounge area and a spacious balcony overlooking the beach, complete with a lounger. The luxury bathroom had a walk-in shower and jacuzzi bath. The resort is well located for getting to Galle Fort, and I’d recommend the Unawatuna shopping area for local arts, crafts and jewellery in a relaxed setting.