Kottukal Beach House by Jetwing

A simply beautiful place, totally tranquil with the sound of crashing waves!! Excellent accommodation and a service level that could not be beaten, the team could not do more to help and everything is done with a smile and a greeting. A walk along the beach is particularly amazing, saw no one and ours were the first footsteps Absolutely amazing sunrise from the room, didn’t even have together up, although how could you not greet that!!

Looking for a nice place to stay close to Arugam Bay and having had a good experience at the great value Jetwing Jaffna, we were drawn to book the Jetwing property Kottukal Beach House. We were not disappointed with our choice. The property is a nicely converted colonial era villa with a fantastic aspect and view of the coastline. From our 1st floor room with a balcony we were afforded a fantastic view of the sea and to hear the waves crashing onto the beach.  Our room was generously sized with a high ceiling and with a comfortable king bed and associated mosquito net. It had a decent bathroom with twin basins and a rain shower. Plenty of hot water. Room air conditioning worked very well and added to ceiling fans for those who prefer, which are quieter and allow you to hear the sounds of the sea. The property is small with only a few rooms, which assists the feeling of serenity but although small scale it is assigned with a couple of permanent staff members to service guest needs. A minor flaw was that there was no “official” way to make contact with them and there were no phones in the room or a bell to draw attention. One morning wanting a coffee (no kettles in the rooms) and after knocking on a few doors, I was forced to finally give up.  However, an hour later I was successful and finally had a delicious plunger coffee delivered to the room and foresightedly then preordered for the following morning. An a la carte dinner was also pre ordered and highly delicious curries were prepared by the inhouse chef. We purchased a bottle of wine in town as none was available at the property, but they did stock beer. Breakfasts were also very good. Other points to highlight include the generous gardens bordering the sea, the friendly in-house dogs and a decent pool. Would recommend if looking for a quiet and beautiful stay close by Arugam Bay (tuk-tuks easily arranged).

We checked in on 3rd June and checked out on the 4th of June. The stay was really good and the food was excellent. But on the check out day, before our check out time, some other visitors came before their check in time, and started complaining to the staff that they don’t want to interact with other people and that the head office has promised to give them the villa at 10.30 am, which is before our check out time. But the staff was very nice, they didn’t tell us anything but they were very helpless. Then again during our lunch, the other visitors shouted at a staff member saying that, they don’t want to interact with other people during their stay and was calling to the top management of Jetwing and complaining about other guests (us) being their and that they don’t have privacy. We were also having lunch. And we checked out at 12.00 pm and we were just dining. Their behavior was so unacceptable. The staff was helpless and they apologized on behalf of them. The head office should coordinate properly, if they are accommodating that kind of guests who don’t like to interact with others and to make sure that they don’t accommodate any other guests on the day prior to their stay.