Fantastic, peaceful hotel
My husband and I stayed at this hotel for 5 nights in February, and thought it was fantastic.
After a rather disorganised check-in, we were shown to our room, which was very nice and spacious, with a lovely balcony overlooking the sea (perfect for sunsets!), and a large bathroom, with a wonderful shower. The rooms were very comfortable and clean with modern, stylish furniture and decoration.
The pool area was again very stylish, and had plenty of sunloungers, although it may get a bit crowded if the hotel was full.
Some negative comments have been made about the beach and sea. If you are expecting clear white sand, and sparkly blue sea then yes, you may be disapointed. But the sand is clean, and the sea is safe for paddling/swimming, certainly at this time of year. As with anywhere in Sri Lanka, I would recomend swimming only when there are other people around. There was a life-guard about most the time. The hotel was on a peninsula of land between the sea and the rivermouth, which meant that there was no passing traffic, and the hotel grounds were very peaceful and relaxing.
The food was good, although you do get a little sick of buffets at every meal. There was a good selection of food, both sri lankan and western, and this did change daily. The entertainment was very low-key, and mostly good.
I didn't try the spa, as it was very expensive, and although watersports were available, noone seemed to be using them.
The staff were very friendly, and mostly efficient. We went all-inclusive, which saved the cost of the pretty expensive drinks. There was a lack of information about what was included though, and we had to ask a couple of times for this.
Kalutara itself is not that interesting. We spent a couple of hours there. There is an interesting temple, but beware of people showing you round and then demanding money. There are big signs everywhere saying 'no guides, no fees' but one guy got fairly agressive with us when we told him we were only giving a donation to the temple. Also, as elsewhere in Sri Lanka, beware of people pretending to be from your hotel (call their bluff, and ask which hotel it is) and then asking to borrow money.
We went on a nice morning boat trip organised by Kuoni, which I would highly recomend.
All in all, an excellent hotel, which is desperately trying to build up it's reputation. A few teething problems, but we enjoyed our time there.