After such a long day yesterday, none of us had trouble sleeping. We chose to have an easy dinner at the 24 hour restaurant (once we found some staff to serve us) and had an early night.
It was back into the fray at the buffet restaurant for breakfast at a respectable 8.30am. Once again, staff are a bit scarce, but we eventually found someone to seat us. The breakfast spread, and layout of this restaurant is not as good as our previous hotels and the staff are slow and totally unmotivated.
When we returned to our room after breakfast, housekeeping had been usy in our abscence
Nevertheless the hotel is comfortable and in a great location, right on the beach, and has a great swimming pool.
View from the hotel foyer
After breakfast, we had a bit of a look around the hotel. The entrance is quite spectacular with a big water feature in the middle of the access driveway.
Looking from the foyer back up to the main road entrance
Sharon and Carole in the grounds
We had a quick look at the shopping arcade which consisted of a jewellery store, selling local gems (that look a bit oversized to be real), and a small souvenir store. There was not much of interest although you have to admire the Sri Lankan sun screen marketing.
They have a special grade of sunscreen for Cricketers
Further exploration along the beach seems to be in order. There are supposed to be some good restaurants within walking distance in either direction, so we will see if we can find a venue for dinner.
Like most of Bawa's architecture, our hotel really blends in with the environment
Walking down to the beach we decide to head South of the hotel along the waterline where the sand is nice and firm. We are looking for the Jungle beach restaurant, which is recommended in Trip Advisor as the best restaurant in this area.
The surf is dumping today, so there are not many people in the water
After about 15 minutes we found what we were looking for.
The restaurant is tucked away in the palm trees just off the beach, so we wandered in to see if we could find someone to see what type of food they served and when they were open. I nice young guy came out and advised that they opened at 10am, and closed when the last people left. The menu looked good, mainly fresh seafood and the prices reasonable. So it looks like we have found somewhere to have dinner tonight.
The restaurant is small but looks nice
To the North of our hotel are some other options, so we walk back up the beach to what is for offer up there.
As we got closer, it looked to be a hotel/restaurant complex, and while is was a bit old, they were renovating and it would be difficult to get a better location.
The White Villa Hotel
On a little beach next door is another small "resort" that looks more suited to surfers and backpackers. A few fishing boats on the beach adds to the charm.
According to Trip Advisor the second best restaurant in the area is the Sunshine Beach Restaurant, which is located in the jungle behind the White Villa Hotel. The food must be great, because the ambience is less than salubrious.
It is now noon and very hot, so we backtrack along the beach (the waterline because the sand is too hot), for a swim / rest and lunch.
The best option for lunch is the coffee shop as we are a bit over buffets. The service is still incredibly slow as one person only is attending to everything. We think he also cooks the food and does the dishes. There is only one other table of guests in the restaurant and it took an hour from when we sat down till when we had a meal in front of us.
After a bit of a rest after lunch we met up with Sharon and John at the pool bar for a pre dinner drink, before walking off into the dark along the beach to find our restaurant.
We were at the restaurant by 7.30pm, and there was a bit of a storm brewing, with plenty of sheet lightning, but no thunder or rain at this stage. There were a few other tables occupied at the restaurant as we were seated and the waiter appeared with a platter of seafood to explain the daily specials.
Whilst not on the menu or drinks list, the waiter explained that they do have beer and wine. John and I ordered a Lion Beer and we asked what white wine he had. He wasn't real sure but thought it was a Chilean Sauvignon Blanc. He explained there would be a bit of a delay in getting the wine as it was in his fridge at home. He returned later with a bottle of South African Chardonnay, which was actually very nice and much cheaper than buying it at the hotel.
Carole and I ordered 2 small lobsters and 4 large prawns with chips and salad
The storm did develop but it only rained for a short time and they had roll down plastic curtains so we didn't get get. By the time we were ready to leave the storm had passed and we had a pleasant walk back along the beach to our hotel.
After so much exercise, a cleansing ale was in order, and we sat around talking for a lot longer than we realised, going to bed just before midnight.
No comments:
Post a Comment