Descubra sua estadia em Dambulla

A few days ago l stayed at Occidental Paradise Hotel. I'm really previllged to give a review to the hotel , my one of a friend recommended this hotel, then called to book, the receptionist Nadun the phone handling, great call handling, he is really nice, supportive, he is all for what we need. Told the information ,the day we arrived at the hotel, the front team welcomed us warmly. , the welcome drink was great, we got the tamarind drink which was really nice, the dinner was great, we didn't feel like we were in a hotel, we felt like we were at home, we really felt like we were at home, really from the moment we entered the hotel and checked out. We had good support from the hotel staff until the next day, especially thanks to the receptionist Nadun who provided excellent customer service from the day we booked over the phone during our stay, he is a very friendly innocent guy. We will definitely come back one day with our family highly recommended to everyone.

This is not our first stay at the hotel. This was our 3rd or 4th visit and it is the last for sure due to their poor customer handling and management. I must say that our previous stays were fabulous and i have made positive reviews in TripAdvisor for those. However, this time most of the staff are new to us and not so friendly and caring as the ones who were there earlier starting from the front office. They just don't care, I don't know if its because we are local travellers. On the other hand, the ”amberella” welcome drink is awesome as always. We stayed in a Duplex as there were 4 adults and my 9 month old baby. The rooms were clean and spacious. The living area was giving a calming vibe and had the same look as their other villas we have stayes before. Our baby, husband and I were in the upstair room and when we entered the room is was heated up and the air conditioner was not working properly. It was so uncomfortable so we called the front office and they sent a team to repair. It was taking alot of time so we requested for another room as our baby was feeling tired and needed a nap. Plus, they had adequate rooms vacant and even had Duplex category rooms available too. Still, they refused to shift us to another room so we kept the baby in the ground floor room. The repair took around 2 hours! And then we went to the room and the air conditioner was working. Yet, we were not able to have a nap and relax as we had to go out to Anuradhapura which is the main reason for our visit. So we came back at around 9.30pm and the air conditioner was not working again. Again the same drill, a team came, inspected and told us they need to repair again and it was 11.45pm when they said this. We refused because we were already exhausted as needed to sleep. Also, now, at 11.45 at night they are asking us if we can move to another room (Duplex category). They had vacant Duplex category rooms all this time and in the moddle of the night they are asking us to shift. In my head I was bursting but we were all too tired to keep arguing or leaving the useless place so we stayed in the same Duplex room just till morning. Early morning we left the hotel without breakfast eventhough we had paid for full board. They charged us the whole amount and invoiced for the additional food as well as mini bar (just mentioned this if not someone could think that they must've given a discount or wave-off). So we paid almost 500USD just for one night for this drama. We will never go back to this hotel and not at all recommend. I guess the main issue was poor management of the situation and it shows how poor the hotel management is. We were in Duplex 3 (Kohomba). This hotel staff or management will never care about the customer if something goes wrong and lacks hospitality. Afterall, while we were having our breakfast we got a call from the general manager of the hotel and he apologized but I think it is too late as we have already left their property. On the plus side, t

I made a reservation around Dambulla to rest one more day in Sigiriya, and they let me check in 2 hours early. The staff were really friendly, and the owner of the restaurant next to the pool was really kind. They also provided room service, so I was able to rest well. The hotel was spacious, so it was nice to walk around, but I recommend going to the treetop. It would be really nice to do yoga there. I wanted to go to the pool, but there were too many Westerners, lol. They booked a taxi for me the next morning and packed breakfast for me, so I was grateful. The room was the same as in the picture and was very spacious.

The concept of the hotel as a retreat is very nice. Huuuge property with beautiful nature everywhere you look, which you can explore by the free-to-use bikes they offer. The view from our room into the nature and to tge mountain was beautiful. We liked the architecture of the rooms and the restaurant area with the window facades. We also liked that there was no music in the restaurant area to be able to enjoy the sound of the wind, trees and animals (especially birds). Also, as the hotel has only nine rooms in total, you have a lot of privacy. Actually my friend and I have only seen two other guests one time at dinner but had the pool all to ourselves (but we have to say that we have been there during low season). The staff of the hotel is very friendly and attentive. If you have any wishes/needs they are happy to assist you with anything (e.g. the FO manager helped us to book the train from Kandy to Ella). The best feature of the hotel for us was the food, which was included in our room price for 2 nights. For breakfast they have a Sri Lankan option and a western option (we chose the latter and enjoyed omelette and nice fruits and sweets). Dinner was excellent the two nights. Well-thought 4 course menus that are changing every day, including starter, soup, main course and desert. Every course was a gusto. Also they cook a lot with their own grown plants from the garden and you can really taste the difference between these fresh nutritious meals and the frozen fish and vegetables in Germany. We really LOVED the food. The only thing we would improve is the maintenance of the hotel. The walls, windows and the pool could be cleaner. Also the sun loungers could be renewed as well as the bikes and the roof covers. If maintenance and restoration in the hotel would be improved, it is without doubt an amazing place. Just a little tip on the side: the time we were there it was very windy, especially during the night. The wind was very loud and the roof cover made noises due to the wind. So if you are noise-sensitive and can’t sleep when it’s too loud, better bring ear plugs 🫠🙂