Taru Villas Villu - Wilpattu

TARU VILLAS WILPATU We were told (after we arrived) that the hotel had taken 3 years to build and had only been open for 7 months - however for $1000 per night you would expect much more and hence we were very disappointed with ……… * Very Sketchy wifi - I couldn’t work or connect with family/friends much of the time * Hot water runs out after 15 minutes so you are left with shampoo in your hair unable to wash out unless you do so in cold water (I was not happy at all) * Whilst the naturalist Ravi is a delightful young man who tries really very hard and he is absolutely lovely, the Safaris are quite mediocre - and if you have ever been on a safari in Africa - do not even bother here. * No Gym * No TV * No Spa treatments * Not even any board or card games available so when it rains and boy does it rain - even in the so called “dry season” you are left with NOTHING to do - you cannot sunbathe, cannot watch tv, cannot work, cannot have any spa treatments so you are left watching the rain and twiddling your thumbs. * Not even a yoga mat Whilst the staff are beyond incredible and really cannot do enough for you - Mark Anthony (Hotel Manager available 24/7) and his team are wonderful - it leaves a sour taste when you have paid so much money and so many things need massive improvements The food is exceptional - a lovely new menu every day and you can eat whenever you like Rooms are beautiful (quite dark) - beds and pillows very comfortable and linen is lovely, however there are no sun beds on your private patio so you HAVE to go to the pool if you want to sunbathe !! The hotel is part of a privately owned small chain and as such they should know better to have everything in place PRIOR to opening their doors to paying guests. However it is beautiful - both the grounds and the rooms but for that amount of money there needs to be much more and personally I think that EVERYTHING that is lacking should have been in place before opening their doors to paying guests !!! And travel agents should not be recommending them until all is in place. In addition they totally mucked up on our bill which should have had 1 whisky on it and they OVER charged us over £1,2000.00 - total incompetence. Would I come back - No

We were told (after we arrived) that the hotel had taken 3 years to build and had only been open for 7 months - however for $1000 per night you would expect MUCH more and hence we were very disappointed with ……… * Very Sketchy wifi - I couldn’t work or connect with family/friends much of the time * Hot water runs out after 15 minutes so you are left with shampoo in your hair unable to wash out unless you do so in cold water (I was not happy at all) * Whilst the naturist tries really very hard and he is absolutely lovely, the Safaris are quite mediocre - and if you have ever been on a safari in Africa - do not even bother here. * No Gym * No TV * No Spa treatments * Not even any board or card games available so when it rains and boy does it rain - even in the so called “dry season” you are left with NOTHING to do - you cannot sunbathe, cannot watch tv, cannot work, cannot have any spa treatments so you are left watching the rain and twiddling your thumbs. * Not even a yoga mat Whilst the staff are beyond incredible and really cannot do enough for you - Mark Anthony (Hotel Manager available 24/7) and his team are beyond wonderful - it leaves a sour taste when you have paid so much money and so many things need massive improvements The food is exceptional - a lovely new menu every day and you can eat whenever you like Rooms are beautiful (quite dark), beds very comfortable. Pillows and Linen lovely however there are no sun beds on your private patio so you HAVE to go to the pool if you want to sunbathe !! We wanted privacy but had no option but to leave the room to sunbathe. The hotel however is beautiful - both the grounds and the rooms but for that amount of money there needs to be MUCH MUCH more and personally I think that EVERYTHING that is lacking should have been in place well before opening their doors to paying guests or getting travel agents to sell !! This is an experienced brand so there really is no excuse ! Would I come back - Sadly I don’t think so !

My wife and I stayed two nights at Taru Villas and had the most magical stay. Mark Angelo the property manager went above and beyond to make our stay exceptional. We arrived at 6am due to our flight from London and Mark ensured he greeted us, along with light snacks, to ensure we had an early check in for us to rest. The villa we chose included a plunge pool - the accommodation itself was stunning, huge! The bed was probably the most comfortable bed we have ever slept in. We enjoyed a safari trip organised by the hotel as well as a bike ride to the lagoon. The pool is beautiful. The food is on par with michelin starred restaurants anywhere in the world - absolutely fabulous. We chose the full board package. Every dish we had was truly delicious - we even asked the chef for the recipes of some of the dishes, which the kitchen staff kindly provided. Huge thank you to Mark for being on hand for any of our requests. Also a huge thank you to Jeevan for looking after us at the restaurant and bar every day. We will also miss our adopted dog Muddy who we loved. This is a fairly new property but the standard is amongst the best of the best. Will highly recommend to anyone thinking about visiting.

A simply beautiful hotel in an idylic and peaceful location. Our villa was stunning with every wish more than catered for. Mark and the team were amazing, they made our stay one that we will always remember as being perfect, for so many reasons, from their attentiveness to our safari and kayaking with Ravi.