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Added by Jopie, at 30 December 2014
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9 Reviews
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03 April 2018
Very beautiful place
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09 February 2018
It's alright, could find better places for that rate than this.
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20 June 2017
Amazing hotel tucked away from the main road and very peaceful.
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09 May 2017
Super calm, mind soothing..
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19 September 2016
Poor customer service.
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11 September 2016
nice environment.
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21 July 2016
Was amazed by the beauty of this hotel, lovely bathroom and a nice pool. I read in the comments that there wasn't a driver accommodation but there is now! Very friendly staff. They made a mistake with our booking so sadly we could only stay for 1 night instead of 2, that's why I am giving a 4 instead of a 5. But they did everything to make up for it!
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23 April 2015
I was underwhelmed by my experience of Arika which was a real shame. I believe that with a few tweaks, the hotel could be so much better and more reflective of their 'luxury boutique' claim. Some issues the staff addressed, some were niggly things we didn't express as we didn't want to spend time on our trip complaining Cleanliness: we found spider webs, dead flies and bat poo (more on that later!) in our room. We understand the property is situated in a natural environment but when you CHECK IN (with the prices they're charging), you want to find a clean room. And while we appreciate the odd gecko and ant might make it's way in to say hello, we were slightly traumatised by discovering a bat had found its way into our room before check in - we were just relaxing after arriving when something whooshed by our bed and had to subsequently coax the manic bat out of the balcony doors but not before it scattered some bat poo across our room :( the staff were quick to go into the room and give it another clean though. Also small things like the ornate tissue box holder containing an empty tissue box, and half used tea and coffee sachets showing they hadn't been sufficiently replenished since the previous guests was a kind of shabby and not 'luxury'. Noise: we had room 107 initially but asked to change the next day as the room is right next to the hot water pump and made a loud churning sound every 10 seconds until around midnight and then started again at 6 ish. We slept better in room 108 and appreciated the manager moving us to a quieter room. Prices: the food is more pricy than anywhere we tried in town (at least twice, if not three times as much). It was indeed very tasty (we had the rice and curry for dinner, and Sri Lankan breakfast), however it felt like the owners were taking advantage of a captive tourist audience. You want to enjoy your meal and feel it's worthy of the price you pay, but we just felt ripped off. Also the lime soda I ordered tasted watered down and flat, and they were charging an obscene 450 rupees for it. I expressed my dissatisfaction and the manager duly removed the drink off the bill. Facilities: one of the reasons we booked Arika was their pool and this did not disappoint. It was lovely having a swim after a hot day sightseeing. However many of the other amenities promised on their website were not available. Such as four poster bed, bathrobes, dvd player, indoor gamesthese were the little extras that we were looking forward to enjoying during our relaxing time at the hotel. And most annoying was the lack of driver accommodation - the website did note that additional charges for driver accommodation may apply and we accepted this, however upon arrival we were told there was no such facility so we had to ask our driver to go back into town and find a place to sleep for 2 nights. Not cool really and essentially false advertising. Whoever manages their website needs to reflect the current available facilities so guests can manage their expectations. We didn't have an awful time here but we expected much more, so we were disappointed overall. Finally, make sure you check your bill when paying up. Our dinner and breakfast were charged twice and additional water added for no reason. This may be a genuine mistake and they did rectify the issue, but perhaps some tourists in a rush may miss this kind of oversight
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06 January 2015
We stayed at Arika as part of our honeymoon trip around Sri Lanka, and sadly it was the most disappointing accommodation we had.
Frustratingly, Arika has the potential to be the thing it wants to be. A boutique hotel. It doesn't come close to being one for a number of reasons. If hotel owners want to sell themselves to travellers, they need to get the basics right, and Arika didn't. Here are a few reasons why, based on our stay.
The general cleanliness of Arika wasn't up to the standard I'd expect for a hotel charging the money that they do. Corridors and communal areas often contained small animal droppings, and whilst being in a jungle setting doesn't make cleanliness easy, it should be regularly cleaned up.
The hotel website boasts robes, board games, dvd players/dvds, four poster beds, and driver accommodation. When we asked for these items, none were available. The latter not being available was a massive issue considering we had a driver with us, and after seeing a Tripadvisor post a month ago stating driver accommodation was free to guests, meant our driver had to stay miles away in town, at a cost we didn't budget for.
Our room (107) was dirty with a few droppings when we got in to the room. We didn't say anything to staff until my wife got 'deposited' on whilst lying on the bed. We figured that whatever pooed on her was still in the room in the high ceiling, and then a live bat flew down and started frantically circling the room! We let it out, cleared up new droppings and told staff. They kindly mopped the floor, not sufficiently, and let us back in. It was only after one night's sleep, having complained about the very noisy water pump above room 107, that staff changed our room to 108.
108 was cleaner and less noisy, but we still found a bizarre brown lump on the window frame in the bathroom. It looked like more poo, but I didn't get close enough to find out. Poo photo on Tripadvisor if you're interested
To summarise, Arika has some appealing features in a peaceful location, but the prices are way too high for the experience that you are likely to get. 450 rupees for a soda was one example of the place ripping guests off where they can. Food in the restaurant couldn't be faulted though. The pool was also nice, and a welcome relief from the heat.
Based on other complaints that Arika have received, I imagine this review will be replied to saying nothing of substance, other than that my feedback has been taken on board. That's not sufficient, and guests should be financially compensated when hotels such as Arika don't offer the high levels of service you pay for.
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