Second Trip to Kalutara

This weekend we went back to Kalutara to get away from the noise and pollution in Colombo. We decided to stay in a really nice hotel before the rates increase in September when the tourist season starts. We booked a room at the Royal Palm Hotel.



We found however that the hotel however has some strange rules and practices. For example, the pool, which is the centre of the resort, is closed 12 hours a day. (Some staff members said that it was closed from 9 pm until 9 am; others said it was closed from 8 pm - 8 am). We learned about this rule when we decided to go for a swim after dinner. We swam around for about 15 minutes before a staff member came and told us to get out of the pool. We resisted at first, as there were no signs that the pool was closed - the pool lights were on, there was no rope across the pool ladders, and there was no sign stating the hours that the pool was open. The magic words that finally got us out of the pool were “we are doing a chlorine treatment”. Yikes! We were also not impressed when someone removed the bottle of water that we put in the bar fridge and then locked the fridge so we could no longer use it or access the minibar, as if we were naughty children. In the end, as nice as it was, we did not feel very welcome at this hotel.