Amara Villa

I was travelling with my adult son, we booked the property after seeing amazing photos online, however we never got to stay at Amara villa. We were put into a small property called Amara house which was situated outside the main premises. Amara villa has a high brick wall all around it and huge wooden gates which are locked. Within the house, the manager asked us to choose 1 bedroom and promptly locked the other one. It didn't make sense, as we had booked a property with 2 large double bedrooms. The next morning, there was no WI FI connection, no TV or radio, not even basic tea/ coffee powder. After a stroll in the village I went to see the manager at Amara villa as I was confused by the set up and what we were paying 4 times the amount we paid at other properties for. He was not helpful. On a second occasion, an hour later, I met the owner Sam and told him how unhappy I was. They offered me breakfast and told me that I should pay Rs 44,055 Sri Lankan rupees (150 dollars) and leave the premises or else they would call the police !! I had booked stay for 2 days and didn't have any other bookings. Within 10 minutes, the manager turned up with three police men at my front door. The police officer understood when I showed him my booking at Amara villa as opposed to where I was staying. I agreed to pay half the amount and leave. Sam the owner, his wife, and the manager warned me not to write a bad review since they had reduced the price ( it was still double what I paid elsewhere). I was happy to get out of this place, took the first taxi to leave. Sam, if you treat your guests like this, they will stop coming. I suggest you take some tips on hospitality from your own countrymen as they welcomed us with open arms wherever we went. I think the world deserves to know how you twist peoples arms and intimidate them if you don't get what you want.

We only had one night here as they were fully booked the next night but we loved it. Quiet and serene, big bed, lovely rooms, attentive yet discrete staff. Perfect and hard to fault. We also had a super Sri Lankan style breakfast. As Arnie says “I’ll be back”