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"We arrived at a fully booked hotel. It was terrible. It was mostly Russian package holidaymakers (families or seniors), with very few young people. It's a good thing we only spent two nights there; we wanted to leave the next day. Breakfast was so crowded that you'd spend five minutes walking around with your plate looking for a free table. The Russians seemed starved, scooping up food and pushing each other. On the beach, the sun loungers were so close together, it was as if they were lying on top of each other, there was no privacy. The beach was small, cluttered with boats, the sand was unpleasant, and the bottom was rocky. The rooftop pool requires a fee if you live below the 9th floor; it's unclear how to get this information when booking."

"We stayed at this hotel for one night. While the property is quite old and the décor and furnishings are noticeably dated, the room was impeccably clean. I was able to walk barefoot in the room without any discomfort, which reflects the hotel’s strong cleanliness standards. The location is one of the hotel’s highlights, situated beautifully along Hikkaduwa Beach with plenty of beach chairs and sunbeds available for guests. Breakfast and dinner were satisfactory, though not particularly outstanding. The service was very good, with warm, friendly, and attentive hospitality, which is consistent with the high standard of service generally found in Sri Lanka. The hotel was also very kind in allowing our driver to stay as well, which was a thoughtful and generous gesture. Overall, it was a pleasant beachfront stay with excellent cleanliness and service, despite the aging facilities."

"We were first given a room with a view on the bar and swimming pool, just next to the second floor open terrace which was awful in terms of privacy. Fortunately we were changed to a room on the far East of the old building and the view as fantastic.. the room was old but well maintained. The problem was the terrace door was not sound proof and we learnt at night how bothersome it would be. Because you see, our room was just above the restaurant that gives directly to the sea where waves crash on the rocks. Impossible to have a quiet night. Light sleepers better choose a room in the swimming pool area. Food was ok. Service as everywhere in SriLanka was slow and not very responsive. You had to ask twice for hot water or something. We expected more for a 5 stars. We tried the restaurant next to the spa on our last night and service was great there. The pizza at the pizza restaurant next to the pool was very good. Location of the hotel was great, a 5 min by tuktuk to the castle. Unfortunately, everything was almost perfect until the day we left. We realized the hotel has a monopoly on all the taxi and tuktuk that come and leave the hotel. As I couldn't book a car on Uber or kangaroo cab, we just asked a driver who just dropped a group of people if we could hire him and he was ok but the hotel staff interrupted us and sent him away because they asked us to choose from their drivers which was completely absurd. We insisted on using this driver so they entered in a negotiation with the driver to get a cut on the fees. Apparently these are common practices in 5 star hotels. A total mafia style management. Outrageous. And in the hotel room, you have a biography of the founder that highlight his ambition to highlight Sri Lankan hospitality. I encourage him to take a look in the mirror. For that I would not recommend this place, especially during winter vacation when prices are half a grand for 2 nights!"

"Fantastic hotel with a beautiful location, and generally completely new and renovated. Great pluss for most, only minus is that the food was medium and often took too long. There is no alcohol in the hotel - so it was not possible to get a cocktail or beer (large minus)."

"My trip to Sri Lanka staying at RIU Hotel was amazing. It was my first time booking an All-Inclusive package, and I wasn’t quite sure what to expect—but overall, the experience exceeded my expectations. There were a few areas that could be improved. The food, for instance, felt a bit low in quality, with limited options for a healthy diet. The gym was quite small, with limited equipment, and it would be great if the opening hours were extended to accommodate more guests throughout the day. That said, the service was exceptional. The staff were attentive and professional, always anticipating guests’ needs—especially in the buffet restaurants. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to try the à la carte restaurants as they were fully booked and very much in demand—something we weren’t aware of in advance. We’d definitely love to return once the monsoon season is over, as the weather wasn’t ideal during our stay. The beach, while beautiful, was unsafe for swimming at the time, which was a bit disappointing."

"I would say just book it and forget about it. They will take care of everything. Cant see a better five star hotel than this. Also they celebrated my birthday as well. The cake was totally amazing!!"

"The best of the five-star hotels we live in in Sri Lanka. The thick colonial style rooms are all independent villas. Both the twin rooms and the big bed rooms are very good. The most favorite is the gauze mosquito net. It is very romantic. The room is full of porcelain ornaments and oil paintings. It feels like a room. Antiques. We went early the next morning, the hotel arranged for us, and the breakfast was very intimate."