Palmyra Nature Resort Sigiriya

Palmyra nature resort; what a terrible time we had here. In one word: disappointing. Where shall I begin; several weeks ago we booked at palmyra nature resort and received confirmation of this. We were supposed to stay 2 nights, but when we arrived at the end of the afternoon on Tuesday, our booking was unknown to the people at the resort. After I showed the booking he indicated that he had made a mistake and could not offer us a room because of a double booking. We could go to his uncle's place (the residence next door) but considering the air conditioning did not work well there that was no fun. He promised us a discount on his own safari tour (which we didn't want to do) and then we never got another discount or anything. In fact, we were not looked after at all in 2 days. We could stay with his uncle for 1 day and go to the resort the day after. There was no communication with us the day after so we had no idea when the room was ready. We could use the facilities though, including the pool. We swam for about 5 minutes, considering the pool filled with frogs after that. Again, no one had told us anything about this. In advance we had paid for 2 breakfasts but on arrival again they knew nothing. We had to wait at least 30 minutes for a cup of tea and the dishes were dried in front of our faces. And now comes the worst: in our rooms there were 2 cockroaches, 1 of them in our bed. We called the staff several times and message via Whatsapp, but got no response despite the message was read (see added screenshot). When we walked to the front desk there was no one there, even though the site says they are available 24 hours. Eventually the accommodation next door helped us and we were fortunately able to stay there. So we did not spend 1 night here and did pay full price for incredibly bad service. At breakfast the next day I asked the staff if they had received my message, but they did not know anything about it. I told the story and all the complaints but they hardly responded and did nothing with it. No sorry was forthcoming. In short, totally not satisfied with our stay here and certainly not when it comes to communication to guests. Totally unfriendly and that while the people in Sri Lanka are so friendly. We would definitely not come back here and certainly would not recommend it. I am surprised that the reviews are so positive because it is better to go to another cheaper accommodation nearby.

Do not stay here! Bed bugs or flea infestation and incredibly scary, rude behavior to cover it up, including threatening police on us for asking for a refund. My wife woke up with 50 new bites on her legs in clusters. We asked the owner for help to dry our clothes to prevent spreading the infestation, and search the bed frame for potential bugs. He, in our room, immediately started screaming at us “no! No bed bugs! Many guests and no one else had them!”. He said these were mosquito bites she had gotten elsewhere. Literally obviously not. We asked again for help, he refused, and told us to leave the property. Screaming the entire time. He only agreed to dry our clothes once we said we wouldn’t leave a bad review, which is coercive and messed up. He threatened to call the tourist police on us when we said we would inform other guests for safety. He and one other staff member continued to lie- now, it was a “caterpillar” bite?! Look at these photos. This was scary, having them scream at us in our room, and they’re being so manipulative, selfish. They refused to give us any of our payment back. All the while saying snide remarks like “maybe you know best if you’re a genius”. He never once offered sympathy, apologies or help for us. We had to bargain for help. Instead the entire interaction was him screaming at us, denying, and trying to get us to leave immediately to cover it up. I will find every possible way to report them, this is completely unacceptable and importantly, unsafe behavior for a business owner. They were just so manipulative I’m still shocked. At one point he said “another tourist got a monkey scratch on a hike yesterday and didn’t complain.” What the hell does that have to do with my wife getting bitten to shreds while she was sleeping? My lord.

Wonderfull place to stay at. The rooms are spacious and clean and the bed is very comfortable. The swimming pool is the highlight of this place though and a must visit, with a bar attached from which a diversity of beverages among which fresh juices can be ordered. They also offer a broad range of tours/services. We planned a sunrise Pidangula rock climb via the hotel for which they arranged a chauffeur at a cheap price with a comfortable ride in a jeep. All in all we would recommend staying here!