Miridiya Lake Resort — Hotel in Sri Lanka

Dear Readers,||||1. I and my wife stayed at this "utterly disgusting place" for one night on 06 Dec 2024.||||2. I had booked this hotel through CEYLO TRAVELS, COLOMBO as our second destination on our 14 nights itinerary.||||3. Good Points. It is customary to commence a review with good points first but I must state that I did not find anything good worth remembering due to the problems faced right from the check in on 06 Dec 2024 afternoon till check out on 07 Dec 2024 morning.||||4. Reception & Front Office. |||| a. There is no worthwhile and functional FO. it was quite unusual to find that there was NO intercom facility between the FO and the rooms.|||| b. We were allotted a room initially on one corner in the corridor type building adjacent to the FO. The location and amenities in the room were pathetic and disgusting. I decided NOT to open our suitcases and called up my Travel Agents to intervene and change the hotel itself.|||| c. The hotel Reception staff then showed me yet another room on second floor in the main building behind the swimming pool which was slightly better than the earlier room. ||||d. Yet another EXECUTIVE Deluxe Room on 3rd Floor was shown to me after about one hour and I decided to accept it in FATE ACCOMPLI situation.||||e. The noise level in the resort is terribly high due to the ongoing renovation and construction of one more block near the main building.||||5. Specific Points.||||a. The so called executive deluxe room had the floor carpeted which made it look shabby and unhygienic. ||||b. The washroom fitments were old and rusted.(Photos attached). Toiletaries were of very poor standard.||||c. There was one bathing shower located in one corner of the washroom having no place to hang towel or clothes while taking a bath.||||d. The charging points for the mobiles were not located at a convenient place near the bedside.||||e. We were charged LKR 800/- for two additional one litre mineral water bottles asked for in the room since the hotel provides only two 500 ML bottles every 24 Hours. (Bill attached) which is highly insufficient.||||6. Food & Restaurant.|||| a. The choice and variety of menu was very poor and substandard. |||| b. There was very marginal improvement in the breakfast next day after pointed out to the Catering Manager about our being vegetarians.|||| c. The preparations of the items and dishes were not upto the mark expected in a 4- || Star Resort.||||7. Feedback Form. I filled the form given by the resort and kept a scanned copy of it(attached herewith).||||8. I did happen to meet the Lady Manager in the FO while checking out and conveyed my sheer disappointed to her about my experience of the previous day. She called me later and apologized for the inconvenience faced but that did not mean much.||||||9. Summary. |||||| A. This Lake resort is a 3-star standard property and is highly overrated in the reviews. I assume the visitors don't have patience and inclination to write a thorough and realistic review.|||| B. I would also admit that I had made a huge mistake by booikng my 14 nights tour to Sri Lanka through Ms CEYLO TRAVELS,COLOMBO. This company is into excessive profiteering and is making a fool of the Foreigner Customers like us after taking 10% advance before reaching Sri Lanka and collecting balance 90% in CASH (USD or INR) immediately on arrival at Colombo.|||| C. I would therefore suggest that the Foreigners especially Indians MUST not use the services of this company which is looting its customers in a systematic and organised manner ,knowing fully well that it will be very difficult and highly un-economical for a foreigner to sue them on the Sri Lankan soil and obtain refund for the deficiency in service with 100% payment already received. ||||ANIL KUMAR...

A relatively long stay from 22nd July to 29th July at Miridiya Lake Resort, Anuradhapura, was an extremely enjoyable experience due to the very high levels of customer service, as well as an overall good standard in other areas such as facilities, services and location. The main purpose of our stay being to explore parts of the ancient Capital of the Sinhalese civilization - Anuradhapura; the hotel was well placed to reach most areas of interest in around a 15 to 20 minute drive. Sited close to a large water reservoir/lake/tank; the historic 'Nuwara Wewa', built around the 1st century BC, the view was excellent and inspiring, the environment cool and comfortable (even during midday). The location also offered an excellent jogging track just a 3 minute walk from the hotel. While the expansion plans of the hotel involved some adjacent construction work, during the entirety of the stay, it did not cause any disturbance of note. In terms of facilities, Miridiya, offered everything a discerning guest would generally require. The pool was well maintained, and the outdoor restaurant quite pleasant, and well laid out. While the food served as a buffet, for breakfast and dinner was good, the restaurant also offered choices off a menu, which were in my view, well prepared, presented and reasonably priced. The room I was allocated, was comfortable and clean and sported a mini bar and safe. The air-conditioning was fine and a little verandah space with a view of the garden (with its numerous trees), the pool and lake beyond was a pleasant bonus ! ||Customer service was excellent - reminiscent of the kind of customer service that was once quite common across the island !!||From the very beginning, Mr Udara Vithanaarachchi; the Front Office Manager, was extremely, polite, patient and well informed with regard to the multiple questions I had prior to making the booking; he continued to follow up, was extremely flexible, and went the proverbial 'extra mile' in making the stay a very pleasant one. He always had a smile and often anticipated our needs in advance - and acted accordingly; much to our satisfaction and delight. The restaurant supervisors, Mr Nirosh and Mr Indika were always positive and flexible, and engaged with a lot of enthusiasm and warmth - as did the rest of the staff; to name a few; Nuwin and Harsha from the restaurant; Pasan and Anjana from the kitchen. The team that assisted the FOM at the front desk; Tharaka, Thilina and Supun did so ably and with enthusiasm. Mr Gunaratne and Ms Renuka from housekeeping were efficient and always positive, ensuring a very quick but good cleanup and even getting laundry given in the morning delivered by early evening the same day ! The customer centered approach was reflected everywhere; even the pool attendant Mr Nishan was constantly engaged and ready to help. While these names have stuck in our minds, every staff member we interacted with had a very positive attitude. It would be remiss not to add that during our 7 night stay all this personalized attention by the staff was in the midst of high guest levels; with a new group arriving at least every other day if not earlier. Finally, this review would not be complete if there was no mention of the Resident Manager; Ms Gina, who hails from the Philippines - she appeared to be a hands on manager who constantly engaged with the staff and was very concerned about the comfort and satisfaction of the guests. Being personally very sensitive to standards of customer care, it was a real pleasure to see customer service offered at this level - From this most recent experience we will have no hesitation in picking Miridiya Lake Resort for any future stays in...

Worst Hotel Experience Ever – Absolutely Not a Star Class Hotel

We stayed at Miridiya Lake Resort by Lavendish Leisure in January for one night on our way to Jaffna, and it was a complete disaster. Despite being priced similar to a five-star hotel in Colombo, this hotel is nowhere near star class—it was the absolute worst experience we’ve ever had.

We booked three rooms, and the disappointment started the moment we entered them. The pillows had stains and creases, clearly not changed after previous use. The bathrooms were disgusting—there were thick, dark stains and patches making the toilets look filthy. The glass shower cubicles were full of stains and looked like they had never been cleaned. The shower cables were so dirty that you couldn’t even touch them. My niece literally threw up when she entered the bathroom.

The sink table was dirty, and the bathroom tiles appeared to have never been cleaned. To make matters worse, when we requested bathroom mats to avoid slipping after a shower, they sent us door mats!

The food experience was no better. The lunch was extremely overpriced for the poor quality. To make matters worse, the waiters carried food from the kitchen (100 meters away) along an open pathway under the trees, without covering the dishes. This could easily allow dirt and insects to fall into the food. One waiter even brought a dish with his finger dipped in it, and then wiped his hand on a chair cushion after placing the dish on the table! The water glasses had stains and we ended up drinking from the bottles. The table cover was very old and dirty.

The property is located in a beautiful area, and it might have been a good hotel in the past. However, it is now run down, with dilapidated buildings and equally poor service. This hotel is not a star class hotel by any standard. The images on the websites are nowhere close to reality except the pool area. The lack of cleanliness, professionalism, and basic standards was appalling.

We booked this place because it was listed as a four-star hotel on Booking.com, but it didn’t even come close to meeting our expectations. For the price, there are far better options in the area. This was the worst hotel experience I have ever had, and I would not recommend this hotel to anyone. I have stayed at hotels around the world and have never stayed in such a low quality...