Palmyra Nature Resort Sigiriya

Palmyra nature resort; what a terrible time we had here. In one word: disappointing. Where shall I begin; several weeks ago we booked at palmyra nature resort and received confirmation of this. We were supposed to stay 2 nights, but when we arrived at the end of the afternoon on Tuesday, our booking was unknown to the people at the resort. After I showed the booking he indicated that he had made a mistake and could not offer us a room because of a double booking. We could go to his uncle's place (the residence next door) but considering the air conditioning did not work well there that was no fun. He promised us a discount on his own safari tour (which we didn't want to do) and then we never got another discount or anything. In fact, we were not looked after at all in 2 days. We could stay with his uncle for 1 day and go to the resort the day after. There was no communication with us the day after so we had no idea when the room was ready. We could use the facilities though, including the pool. We swam for about 5 minutes, considering the pool filled with frogs after that. Again, no one had told us anything about this. In advance we had paid for 2 breakfasts but on arrival again they knew nothing. We had to wait at least 30 minutes for a cup of tea and the dishes were dried in front of our faces. And now comes the worst: in our rooms there were 2 cockroaches, 1 of them in our bed. We called the staff several times and message via Whatsapp, but got no response despite the message was read (see added screenshot). When we walked to the front desk there was no one there, even though the site says they are available 24 hours. Eventually the accommodation next door helped us and we were fortunately able to stay there. So we did not spend 1 night here and did pay full price for incredibly bad service. At breakfast the next day I asked the staff if they had received my message, but they did not know anything about it. I told the story and all the complaints but they hardly responded and did nothing with it. No sorry was forthcoming. In short, totally not satisfied with our stay here and certainly not when it comes to communication to guests. Totally unfriendly and that while the people in Sri Lanka are so friendly. We would definitely not come back here and certainly would not recommend it. I am surprised that the reviews are so positive because it is better to go to another cheaper accommodation nearby.

Wonderfull place to stay at. The rooms are spacious and clean and the bed is very comfortable. The swimming pool is the highlight of this place though and a must visit, with a bar attached from which a diversity of beverages among which fresh juices can be ordered. They also offer a broad range of tours/services. We planned a sunrise Pidangula rock climb via the hotel for which they arranged a chauffeur at a cheap price with a comfortable ride in a jeep. All in all we would recommend staying here!

Really enjoyed our stay here. Great value, lovely staff and decent breakfast. We did two nights here, one night in a standard room and one night in a room with a private pool. Private room was worth it, lovely and new.