Staff were extremely helpful and friendly. The housekeeping is great and the pool is really big. The food is okay.

Hotel really needs a refurb. Pictures are a bit deceiving as we were quite surprised with the condition of the hotel on arrival. There are some really nice hotels in Bentota, so Centara’s prices should really reflect the condition of the property in comparison to its competitors.

pool

facility conditions

Add little vegetarian menu in the breakfast

.

Rooms were sizable

Dated and not well maintained, old damaged furniture in rooms. Breakfast super expensive and it included. Staff not well trained. Hawkers on beach were a pain. None of the 12 wines on the menu in stock, food expensive. Taxi drivers in hotel seriously threatened our Uber driver.

Excellent staff, always smiling and very helpful. We got a double upgrade and the staff ensured we were comfortable in every way. There is live music until 11pm and a bar in the pool serving drinks until 6pm. The property is connected to the beach and has tuk tuks available. On arrival, you are taken to the hotel by a boat and the boat is available 24 hours with free unlimited transfers. The buffet has a great selection with very good prices for a hotel stay. Roshni from f&b arranged a private dinner on the beach for us and ensured everything was perfect. Nipun from the staff took very nice pictures of us the entire evening. Chamika from the staff stayed us with the entire duration of the private dinner, without making us feel hurried at all and also gave us discount for dinner for the next day and arranged special dessert. The dinner staff (very nice smiling boy I’m forgetting his name) decorated the table for us as a surprise and Silva was always smiling and was very hospitable at all meal times. Im forgetting to mention many people but a special thanks to all the staff to make the effort to go out of the way and make our stay very memorable.

The pool closes at 7pm

The hotel arrival and check-in was lovely, as we crossed a river on a boat to arrive to the lobby entrance where we participated in a candle lighting upon entrance. Our family suite was a perfect size for a family of four. We had a room divider (sliding door) to separate the master bedroom and ensuite from the kids room/living area with sofa. Our children loved the pool and we enjoyed spending our days near the kids pools and kids bar.

The first day we dropped our children (5 year old twins) to the Kids Club there was a woman present to supervise. We returned in about 1 hour to pick up the kids, and the kids were left in a room all alone. There were no adults present. We waited around a bit to see if someone would show up, or if we needed to sign them out but no one showed up so we picked up our children and left. We immediately asked to speak to the manager to explain that this is totally unacceptable to leave children there unattended - it never happened again during our stay. The beach had no chairs or umbrellas at all, which is extremely strange for a beach front property. It was so hot, with no area for shade that we never were able to use the beach our entire stay. Our housekeeper introduced himself to us and let us know he would be cleaning our room each day. He was very friendly and each day asked us if the room was okay, in which we always said yes. However, the morning before our last night at the hotel - there was a different cleaner(maybe the head of housekeeping?), knocked at our day and asked how everything was. I opened the door in my pajamas, he asked if he could come in even after I told him my husband was still sleeping but he still shook my hand as if to gesture please let me in, in which I did let him step in while the door was still open. He presented me with a pen and pad and asked me to write a review because this was him and our original cleaners last day(were going on holiday). I told him I will return it later - in which he asked could he have it in 10 minutes. It was a really strange and inappropriate interaction that should never happen in a hotel. I have worked in hospitality for years, and housekeeping should never be asking for a review and/or tips. Also, during breakfast while we were still eating and serving ourselves at the buffet, I noticed multiple staff members in full uniform serving themselves breakfast right beside us.

It was in a great location for kids. Everything was a tuk tuk ride away. They were right outside the resort waiting. The pool was large with many kid areas. The staff were mostly really helpful. .

The kids club was unstaffed. Many times kids were left alone. My child lost her shoes the first day. There were many times when there was only 1 staff member and over 10 kids.

LIKED THE BEACH BY THE HOTEL.

IT WAS VERY TOURISTY, PACKED WITH PEOPLE. ROOMS WERE COMMERCIAL IN A ROW ACROSS FLOORS. BEACH CHAIRS WERE MISSING AT A BEACH RESORT.