Selenya Talpe - Boutique Villa

The pool is great - big, pretty, good temperature. They have some fun games like basketball, cricket etc that you can play in the garden too. And you can easily access the beach from the property (though at least when we were there, the tide was very high so there wasn't much of a beach to lie on per se) Nice shower pressure and size. Our room was also very spacious!

I want to preface by saying this isn't anything against the staff, rather I think the owners need to put an injection of cash into the place to repair issues. Or lower prices. - There was a leak from our bathroom ceiling that dripped heavily during the night - it soaked half of my clothes in my suitcase (which was unfortunately lying underneath this leak). Luckily it didn't hit my laptop or other valuable goods. - This leak dripped so loudly and frequently in the night that it woke us up. - The AC was making strange crackly noises - also waking us up at night. - Our first breakfast was cold (they rectified this on our second day though upon feedback) - Overall the place feels run down - we saw another leak in our bathroom under the sink, there was masking tape keeping something together on the ceiling, the ceiling fans were dangling precariously etc.) - Only one other couple there during our stay so the place felt dead - They seem to be cutting costs maybe? There were very few staff - often the reception was unmanned, no security at the gate etc. All of this and more definitely put a damper on the last 2 nights of our honeymoon in Sri Lanka sadly.

Exceptional My recent stay at SELENYA was an experience I won’t soon forget. From the moment I arrived, I was surrounded by pure luxury and comfort. The property itself was nothing less than magnificent. The attention to detail in the interior design and the quality of the amenities contributed to a sense of exclusivity. The staff were super friendly and very attentive. They were always ready to go the extra mile to make my stay comfortable. The food was incredible!! Breakfast was also excellent, and chef was attentive to my needs and tried to fulfill every wish I had. I felt absolutely safe as a solo female traveller staying at Selenya. Fantastic location too. Only a 10 min ride to Galle fort and Unawatuna.. This is one of the nicest villas I have ever stayed and I will definitely come back again.

My experience was sadly so bad. When I arrived there was no staff at all in sight & I wandered around for around 10 minutes until I found the staff area/kitchen & found some people. I had let them know ahead of time what time I would be arriving (11am-12pm) & I arrived within that exact time (11.25am). Once I found someone, they offered me a room with the door off the reception but as I am a female travelling alone & realised that the hotel isn’t manned at all (I was walking around for ages with no-one in sight), I requested a room on the first floor. The manage was put on the phone to me & she was extremely abrasive & rude, telling me I will have to pay for an upgrade if I want a different room. I said no issue at all, but I would prefer not to be on the ground floor for my own security. She ranted on the phone to me for about 10 minutes until I handed it back to the man on reception & I was shown to a room that he stated was the same price point to what I had booked. The one redeeming factor of the hotel was that the room I was given was lovely. I then fell asleep & woke at around 7.15pm & looked outside & the place was pitch black. I wanted to order some food so messaged reception (reception was never manned) and he said sorry the chef has gone and I cannot get any food. He offered to get the chef back to the hotel but I declined as that was not fair. They then directed me to a restaurant across the road which was closed. I ended up getting some crisps from their bar area & going to bed hungry. Reception admitted he should have let me know the restaurant closed at 6pm (so early!!) They turn off ALL the lights at night, so genuinely the place is pitch black. The next morning I went down for breakfast & in the night I had changed a setting on the air con so asked reception if someone could change the settings back as it got quite warm. I was clear to them that I think I had pressed something.

I then went down for breakfast (they charge for machine coffee it seems) & whilst sat, was again handed a mobile phone where the manager was on the other end and her first words were ‘What is your problem?’ I said excuse me? Who is this? I was told ‘I am someone’… Suffice to say I hadn’t expected this. She then said she has heard that I was complaining about the air con & no-one else had ever complained about it before & that I was the worst guest they have ever had & that I should leave the hotel & she would refund me my money in full. At this point I decided that leaving was exactly what I was going to do. Even if they hadn’t given me my money back, I would have left. I asked her if she owned the hotel or if she was a manager or a representative and she refused to answer me. Found later that she is the manager. Ive been to Sri Lanka before & Im a very seasoned traveller & have never ever had this kind of experience before. Luckily I had the ability to get my next hotel a day early & I left within an hour of that conversation. The staff did try to get me to stay, but I politely declined. They also mentioned to me numerous times that they felt I hadn’t done anything wrong & that I was very polite. I would urge extreme caution if you are a female solo traveller as this woman has the worst attitude I have ever experienced. I have screenshots of the conversations with reception to evidence what I have said as I want no dispute with my review. I also have photos of the hotel itself – a very pretty building, but all common areas were dirty & stained. It was low season, but putting cushions through a washing machine wouldn’t go amiss. AVOID THIS PLACE AT ALL COSTS.

Beautiful villa. Tastefully done interior. Friendly staff and excellent Sri Lankan food

Layout and interior of the Dining Room. It was dark and uninviting.

Stunning location, private beach front, good pool and large room size, boutique and great staff. Suresh, chef and team went above ans beyond to look after us.

We loved everything

Everything. The staff was wonderful, suresh took really good care of us. They provided us with anything we needed. The food was mind blowing. The pool was clean.

I wish the jacuzzi was hot. But apart from that absolutely lived everything

Everything was great about this Villa. We simply fell in love with the pool and beach views , massive rooms with magical artistic atmospheres and the kind staff who are really polite and will go out of their way to help you. Rooms are containing all the needs and wants too. 100000/10 for the views where it will bring peace and calm and I highly recommended this place if you are looking for memorable stay out.

If they can make the place name board a-bit noticeable from a far that would be nice.