Daffodil Holiday Resort

Daffodil Restaurant has a relaxed, open setting that works well for a casual lunch or dinner, and the service was smooth and professional. We had the seafood platter, which was excellent: a generous serving of fresh crab, prawns, and other seafood, cooked perfectly and seasoned well. Everything tasted fresh and full of flavor. The sides went nicely with it, including crispy fries, grilled bread, rice, fresh salad, and light sauces that didn’t overpower the seafood. The presentation was lovely and the portion more than satisfying. A great Unawatuna choice for seafood lovers.

We ordered the seafood platter for two, added prawns, and got a 550g lobster. What arrived was huge and absolutely spectacular, with everyone leaving satisfied. Even before sitting down, the seafood selection on ice at the entrance gives you a sense of what’s available. A five-star experience.

We stayed three nights, and this review covers both the hotel and restaurant. The room was okay, and it was nice to have fresh milk provided. But there were lots of mosquitoes, no chairs in the room, and the balcony wasn’t usable because of them. The floor mats were extremely slippery. We nearly hurt ourselves several times, so we removed them. They need replacing. The wifi was weak. Payment handling left a bad impression. They charged the highest currency conversion rate we encountered in Sri Lanka, even higher than at several four- and five-star hotels. When we queried it, they said it was “as per the bank,” but appeared to use the selling rate rather than the buying rate, which made no sense for a hotel bill. We arrived around 5 PM, and the manager wasn’t available when I first asked. Later, she showed us the selling rate from a random bank, higher than airport rates and those at other hotels where we’d stayed. She also accidentally charged another guest’s bill of around USD 250 instead of our USD 83. It was reversed later, but the mistake could have been avoided. We only had breakfast once in our three-night stay, which was the right call. The Lankan platter looked good, but some items weren’t fresh, and better, cheaper food is available at nearby Hela Bojun Hala. On a closer look at the platter, I’m sure not everything was fresh. Some items may have been prepared the day before. The red sambol smelled off because of the onion and definitely wasn’t fresh. The orange coconut dish was cold, as if taken from the fridge, and didn’t seem fresh either. The pol roti was hard, unlike the soft ones I’d eaten elsewhere, even after they’d cooled for hours. At check-in the manager helped with our luggage, but there was no help at checkout. We told the staff we’d be leaving in 15 minutes, yet they kept us waiting for payment verification while our taxi sat outside in heavy cyclone rain. The stay was average overall, but the payment issues, lack of transparency, and inconvenient service made it a disappointing experience.

The food was fresh, delicious, and beautifully done, and it came out quickly. The chef came by an hour later to ask if everything was to our liking, helped us fillet a giant shrimp, and wished us bon appétit. The inspector was at the establishment.