Serein Beach Hotel

We really enjoyed our stay in Serein Beach Hotel. Fantastic location - in a quiet area, right on the beautiful beach. Hotel is run by fantastic people and the Staff was very friendly, nice and helpful. Room was clean, spacious enough and comfortable. Pool as well as surrounding area were well maintained. Breakfest always fresh and tasty. I can definitely recommend this place.

Everything was perfect. Idyllic location, wonderful owners and staff, delicious breakfast and the hotel, pool and grounds are divine

Nothing!

Right on the beach . Quiet and comfortable.Nipuna was amazing. Incredible customer care. He is a superb asset to the hotel

Lovely quiet location right on a very quiet beach. Great coffee shop (Pumpkin) 5 mins walk away. Large clean pool and communal spaces. Very nice hotel manager and friendly lady owner. Room was a little basic but comfortable and clean.no AC but the ceiling fan kept us cool. we enjoyed our stay and extended.

The bathroom is really a wet-room with no shower screen or curtain so the floor was always wet. No storage at all in the bathroom, a shelf would have been useful.

Upon arrival we got to know we are the only guests at this 10-bedroom resort, witch for us was a perfect benefit, the luxury privilege of having the entire resort for ourselves, with the staff’s full attention – PURE LUXURY! The flips side of the coin is that if you want to dine lunch and/or dinner – there is a 1-day advance notice required and there was no bar available either. But we found many good restaurants, so this was never a problem for us. We can recommend “Mamas Kitchen”, “Dream Family Restaurant”, “Chili Hot Café” and “Ceylon Excel”.The on-site staff lead by Nipuna was very attentive, the place is cared for daily within garden, pool, sunbed areas etc. The breakfasts severed are good and healthy with included options available. We were offered Singhalese breakfast and had this option 3 times – delicious and well worth trying (I also got my morning eggs with this choice). KUDOS FOR THE ON-SITE STAFF!The rooms are on the basic side, but clean and functional, there was never a problem without A/C and the rooms are reasonably cooled by the trade winds through the room, enforced by a ceiling fan. Warm water was also never an issue (but as mentioned only 1 room occupied). Room was only cleaned once during our 6-night stay, but with complete change of sheets and towels.The beach is deserted, clean, very long and with wonderful sand. The surf mostly tends to be too high with strong currents (at least in this season) making it difficult to swim right outside of the hotel. If you walk about 800 meters towards the east (Mangrove Beach) perhaps 10-15 minutes walking along the shoreline. There is a partition of the beach that is much better protected, by larger structures of bedrocks – giving us a safe area to swim in the ocean. It’s well worth the effort and when walking there, one passes a handful of beach restaurants, serving drinks and food, on the way to the safe beach.

The owner of Serein Hotel (not present at the time) insists not only to use the sell rate (as if she was selling us USD, when we pay cash in LKR), she also adds an extra 5 LKR per USD. This greedy claim was for us an outrageous, almost 3.5% additional cost. When working in the hospitality industry, normally that means, when being a host/manager/owner – you listen to your guest – not just yell at them – as if they are idiots! The owner was calling the hotel from Dubai, demanding to speak to us, being very unfriendly, she has no ability to listen, and she yells at the customer and is very rude. We now faced a situation where we had to collect a huge amount of cash from ATM’s. Now we had to find a place selling us USD locally – not so easy but in the end it was doable.DO NOT expect that a credit card payment is possible,2) BRING CASH to avoid having to walk into central Tangalle to find ATM’s3) BRING CASH IN USD to the exact amount and do ask for a receipt ON DEPARTURE – the owner, that had arrived at the property the evening before, sleeked new situation for provocative arguments – we simply could not escape her anger, forced to leave by taxi with an overall sour feeling.

Loved everything, location, pool, breakfast, a lovely hotel

Situation was great with a view through palms to the Indian Ocean. Great pool which was kept in perfect condition. Breakfast was excellent with both European and local food

Very clean and well maintained. Backs directly onto the beach with a number of restaurants in close and easy walking distance. Staff were lovely and provided very good service except for the owner

The staff are lovely but the owner easily becomes angry and aggressive with staff and customers. Her typical approach is to shout at her staff to demand action. She took the same approach with us when we simply wanted to pay by credit card inlline with our booking conditions. In a raised voice and aggressive manner we were told that she only accepts cash and despite us showing evidence that they claim to accept visa she had not set this facility up. It felt that this was our fault even though we had booked over a month before and she could have easily advised us of the position. Basically we didn’t want or need this hassle on our holiday. I must say that all other staff were lovely and can only wonder how long they will stay due to their challenging working environment.

Great location and breakfast.

No official check in or clear explanation that our room was ready. Feeling of homestay more than hotel. No credit card payment available without warning for more than 400 usd not very practical.... (Closest ATM in the city with tuktuk or car necessary for transportation)

Hard to beat this very chill beach front location. Nice pool, breezy chic architecture, comfy beds & generous breakfast. Staff really goes above & beyond. Recommend!

Serein Beach is a beautiful small hotel in an excellent location. We had the best food of our trip while staying here, at Mango Shade and Ceylon Excel, both a short walk away. The breakfast at the hotel was also excellent.

Super helpful staff and managementLocation right on the beach, lovely pool area and well tended groundsWe were lucky to have been the only guests for 2 out of the 3 days of our stays and felt really well looked after, with the manager even arranging for delicious lunch to be prepared for us on site.

The hotel is set in a gorgeous location with a pool facing the beach. Very friendly, considerate staff - they were helpful and kind and made the vacation unforgettable!

The place is situated right on the beach and the room had a view of the water and the sparkling clean pool.

Unfortunately, while beautiful the beach at Tangalle is too dangerous for swimming but at least the hotel has a pool.

Set in a beautiful location with sea views and a lovely pool. The manager couldnt have been more helpful. He assisted us to get a driver for the next part of our journey, gave us ideas on activities we should do, orgainsed a tuk tuk driver and arranged to get our laundry done. All the staff there were friendly, attentive and polite. The room was great too.

Not really a problem but important to consider is that the property is quite remote. Although we were able to walk to a few restaurants nearby the options were quite limited as it was the quiet season. The property serves breakfasts only so you would need to use a tuk tuk or hire a bike if you wanted access to more bars and restaurants etc close by.

1. The beach just in front of the hotel is amazing! Very clean and beautiful.2. Personnel was very kind and super helpful. Thanks a lot to everyone.3. Hotel has everything required for comfortable staying.4. Very nice location and hotel for considerably low price.5. Laundry service for very cheap price.

1. Room cleaning was not provided.2. Wi-Fi signal is very poor on second floor.

We liked the view from our balcony, we were delighted about the wild beach.The personnel were always willing to help, the food was good and we also liked the view from our table. The pool was clean and we enjoyed it a lot

We could swim at 20 minutes distance from the hotel, the current was too strong. It was a good opportunity to take a walk instead of just laying on the beach

restaurant and pool staff the view from the room the beach in front of the hotel the amazing and clean swimming pool in the lovely gardengood breakfast and food form the restaurant. we had a nice stay and all the commun area are lovely and enjoyable.

Needs some little renovations. The room felt a bit tired, stains on the wall, on the lampshade, old curtains, old carpets in the room, broken closet, big room but small bed.

The manager of the hotel keeps the service in pace and staff is always on hand. A few seconds after you finish your breakfast your plate disappear from the table. If you need a smoke, ashtray is on the way before you ask. The manager keeps the eye on everything. Food is really good and reasonabely priced. Staff is really kind (mainly young people, but they very very nice). Room has a nice balcony. You can hear the sea and waves to the room (if you have a light sleeping, it can be disruptive). The pool is really nice, clean and with warm water. The hotel is beyond the main beach and the city so you need to walk a few minutes to reach the main beach and all restaurants. But it's a nice walk or you can ask for booking tuk-tuk. I would recommend this hotel to everyone. It's not the cheapest option in Tangalle but you will receive good services for that price.

Nothing in particular. We were satisfied.

Highlights: the hotel has a nice pool and a beautiful private garden leading straight to an amazing beach. Overall, the outdoor area is by far the best part of the property, really green and relaxing. Our double room was cozy, with a nice pool and sea view. Regular western breakfast is available at the hotel. The staff helped us to organize an early morning kayak adventure in the nearby lagoon, a scooter rental (really recommended since the hotel is a bit far from town) and a turtle watching night.

The hotel is straight on the beach, however a bit far from town therefore requiring a tuk tuk or scooter to move around. The road leading to the hotel is quite bad (unpaved) for the last 200 meters. No room cleaning was done on a daily basis.