Villa Aroshina with cooking class

The stay at Villa Arushina was exceptional. The lady took care of every request, the beautiful villa is impeccably decorated, a clean and air-conditioned room with toilet and shower. The internet was also excellent. Happily, I arrived at a great time - on New Year's Eve! I got to experience the holiday in a pure authentic way and learn about Buddhist customs and tradition. Eat local food through breakfast and holiday dinner. For me it was an amazing experience. I got to know a lovely family. I have no doubt that on my next visit to Sri Lanka I will return there. Thanks🙏🏼

I had a delightful stay at Villa Aroshina. The property is the family (2 adults, 2 kids) home in a quiet residential area. The family accommodation is on the ground floor and guest accommodation is up a short flight of stairs on the first floor. Despite having no formal training Aroshina appears to have "an eye" for the aesthetic, in the public areas every direction you turn presents a calming, beautiful, smile inducing expression of her talent. Aroshina and her husband, Manju, encourage you to treat their home as yours. Conversations are accompanied by the ever present Sri Lankan smiles and a warmth of expression. They are wholly and genuinely concerned with the satisfaction of their guests and go out of their way to help you with anything you need or desire; dietary needs, local food education, travel arrangements, tours, bicycles, mopeds, cultural experiences, medical supplies, ask and you will receive. A huge bonus is that Manju has his own Tuk Tuk, so short local journeys are quickly sorted out and longer journeys to visit attractions in nearby towns are easy to arrange. They will insist on not taking money for this service, I suggest you insist, as I did, that they at least take the equivalent cost of an Uber or PickMe (SL type Uber service) ride. It's a 10 minute ride or a 25 min walk to the Galle Fort heritage site. Aroshina is a fantastic cook, breakfasts are good; fresh fruit, savouries, sweets. If you get the chance do take advantage of the offer of an SL meal and/or her cookery class. Oustanding value for money. You will definitely get an authentic and comfortable SL experience at the property, the family are a joy to be with.

During my stay (March 2024) an outdoor dining area and off-street parking area were being constructed, due for completion end May 2024. Unfortunately, the builder had been unreliable with his attendance (not uncommon around the world) and Aroshina had suffered a family bereavement in the previous weeks, so this disruption was completely understandable.

Hosts were very kind and generous - free tuk tuk ride to and from bus station. Free lunch. Very well designed and pretty home. Nice areas to sit and relax rather than being stuck in your room. Hosts speak good english which means conversations was enjoyable and interesting.

Nothing!

We really enjoyed our stay at Villa Aroshina. Aroshina and her family are really welcoming and nothing is too much trouble. The Villa is beautiful and the rooms have good air conditioning and are spacious with hot water and very comfortable beds. Aroshina took us to buy vegetables and we helped prepare a meal which was great. We will tell our friends and family about this place and hope to return soon.

Best to bring ear-plugs.

We felt very comfortable and welcomed at the villa. A nice family house with amazing and helpful hosts that gave us a lot of good advice and greeted us with a local breakfast every morning. An authentic homestay experience, we enjoyed it.

We felt very welcomed by Arosha and her lovely family, we had a long journey and were made to feel at home straight away with some local tea. The house is lovely and comfortable and set in a peaceful setting, in a good neighbourhood where we walked around and always felt safe. The walk to Galle centre was just right for us and took about 25mins. The bedroom was really comfortable, as was the bed, the air con worked great and the en suite had everything you needed with good hot water. The villa is well decorated and nice touches of fresh flowers and immaculate. We had breakfast on both days which was delicious and made with care along with a hot flask of tea each morning when we woke up. On the last day we got help with our next journey and dropped off to the bus stop and helped onto a busy bus which was so nice. By the end of our stay we felt like family and we will always remember our time here with great memories, thank you Arosha and your family

Nothing

The house is very comfy, clean and tidy. This is not only a place to stay but also like a family. Aroshina offered us good authentic Sri Lankan breakfast and also some interesting cultural experience. She brought us to the local market, football night party and do the cooking class. This definitely makes my journey 100% interesting and worthwhile.

Nope

The best is Aroshina and her family! They help us with everything and felt us feel at home. The cooking class was really good and the food super tasty! Room and bathroom are very clean.

I have written this honest appraisal after reading other reviews and Aroshinas replies to the negative ones. Owners are lovely and very welcoming. They insisted on doing our washing, we did leave a tip to cover this in our final bill. They took us to see the turtles in there tuk tuk, which again we paid for. But the experience for us was poor due to the crowds around the turtles almost herding them on to the beach, this will distress any animal lover. We were collected by tuk took by owner husband but only after a couple of calls.

Our room had a ensuite attached bathroom but the double bed was pushed against the wall so the inner person had to climb over to get out of bed. The bedding and sheets are very worn. The shower room and toilet is fairly small and requires mopping out after a shower, mop is provided. There was no hot water, tepid at best, during our 5 day stay, owner said it was due to lack of sunshine. The owner is extremely pushy for you to review the property prior to you leaving and giving her a score of 10! You need to be firm in refusal. The breakfast spread for a homestay is good and varied but if you are not at the table on time the food is covered with newspapers and crawling with flys. Food is left on the table during the day at times and this is not good. The walls are paper thin and we were woken up on night 2 by the loud bedroom activities of the next room! Our last night there was a celebration downstairs for a couple leaving and very loud music and singing which started at 1030. We found a cockroach in the bathroom, not unusual for a homestay, but also on within the sheets! We were badly bitten at night on our lower bodies by bugs, had to tell if these were bed bugs or other insects. I expect Aroshina will deny all of the above but my review is truthful and is submitted to duly advise anyone who wishes to stay. We did not experience any of the above during any of our other stays in numerous places over 3 weeks touring Sri Lanka.