Coral Sands Hotel Reviews

We booked our holiday with Mercury holidays as an All Inclusive lite board basis (meals plus selected local alcoholic drinks). However, we discovered upon arrival that this was essentially Full Board Plus, a single drink with each meal and a few beers a day. Not much use if you don't drink beer. Thankfully our Mercury rep Ananda and the Hotel Manager Thilina were absolutely fabulous and managed to sort us out a deal that work for us. FYI wine is imported so not a local drink. All the staff were absolutely fabulous throughout our stay. The pool "boy" the bar staff, the waiters, cooks etc, all brilliant. Friendly, attentive, engaging, helpful. Honestly cannot praise them enough. Rooms are basic, but with everything you need. Wardrobe shelves looked worn but they were clean and dust free. The fridge looked rather outdated, but it worked very well and even had a freezer section which we put some bottles of water in. The beds were very comfy, absolutely no complaints about them. Plus our son had a proper bed, not a sofa bed which is always a bonus. There was also very good air con in the room which was a welcome relief from the Sri Lankan heat. Shampoo and body wash are provided, along with bottles of water, tea, coffee and a kettle. Other than the water we didn't have any drinks in the room (except those brought back from the bar!). There is also a TV but we never used it so can't comment on it. The balcony was lovely with a clothes horse to hang your swim wear on. The rooms were cleaned daily. Meals were excellent, for a small restaurant there was a lot of choice each night. We never had a problem finding something we liked for the 10 nights we were there. My son loved the omelet station at breakfast, and the shredded bacon. Personally the deserts were my fav, but they did some amazing mains too. We tried a few local dishes and instantly needed glasses of water, our pallets are not that spice developed! Lunch was a 4 course meal which was far too much for us, particularly with the heat. The staff were fabulous though and let us just have a burger or something lighter. The hotel has two pools plus a small kids pool, which was primarily used for sunbathing in while we were there! There were clean and of a good depth with varying levels. All very warm due to the heat of the country. By the smaller pool were the steps onto the beach, these could do with some work and it felt safer to cut across the diving centre section to get to the beach. Also the brilliant idea of a small area of water to wash your sandy feet in as you come back from the beach, along with a shower. The beach is great, watch the waves depending upon the tides, but there is a clearly defined swimming area and next to it a defined area to explore the coral reef. We saw so many fish, but the delight was the sea turtles, a least a meter long swimming alongside you!! That experience was just amazing. Even better than seeing them at turtle beach which is a 10/15 minute walk down t