We stayed at the Villa--a short walk from the hotel-- that is owned by the owner of Drifters. It was great for our family of 5 (3 children 11, 8, 5 and 2 adults). The booking process was very easy. We called via Skype and spoke with the owner. His English was excellent. The owner and his family were very helpful the entire time we were there. He organized our roundtrip transfer from Colombo for a very reasonable rate and the van that picked us up was great and had air con. He also helped us to arrange a quick trip to Galle via the train. I would highly recommend the quick train trip as it is a great experience. Our children loved it.
The villa was beautiful and had all the needed amenities + air con--which was a must for us. The best part is that his family is in the house downstairs and so anything we needed at anytime was no problem. His whole family were very helpful and they spoke excellent English. We ate regularly at the hotel restaurant and we loved the food and the service was fantastic. The pool was clean and great for when we did not want to spend all day in the ocean. There is no internet/tv at the villa. This was actually great and allowed us to "unplug" the kids for a bit. There is internet at the hotel/pool.
Everything was extremely clean and well kept in the villa. You will need to bring shampoo and soap, but this is common for any apartment rentals. Everything you may need can be found right near the hotel. We had laundry done across the street and it was quite reasonable. There was a washing machine in the villa but we did not use it.
You can buy sunscreen at the shops next to the hotel as well. The only two things we were glad we brought were aloe vera and bug spray. Both a must and not readily available where we looked. We would definitely recommend this hotel/restaurant/villa to any of our friends and we would return if we come back to Sri Lanka.
