Esperanza Beach Mawella

Position

Only western breakfast option, not even good and expensive. Hotel is nice but looks old and not well maintained.

Beautiful and adventurous private beach, marvellous garden / outside area

Slightly run down interiors, e.g. bathroom, bed linen; only western food options in their restaurant

The beach was incredibly beautiful, the pool was awesome, and the staff were so friendly and accommodating to our needs. The local dog Kahlu was so cute and friendly, we loved our stay!!

Esperanza's location is amazing, right by the beach with a fantastic pool that has quite a bit of shade during the hot part of the day. The chef and food cooked delicious food, and were so friendly and kind to us all. We stayed in a few different rooms over two different visits, the Family Suite is a brilliant size with a great spacious balcony. The standard double rooms are a bit small for a family - better for a couple.

A bit more proactive cleaning of the rooms would be good - all the staff are great and happy to help, but you need to ask for bins to be emptied and bathrooms to be cleaned etc.

Great location, quiet. Beautiful beach, beautiful villa and grounds. Columbo Mule is a great drink w/ fresh curry leaves. Villa is spacious and great to have so close to the beach.

This property has the potential to be a 10/10 with just a little effort. The staff is generally lacks initiative to make the place really special. A couple of examples. We asked on day one for a boogie board as the one on property was broken. They stated they couldn't replace it. We asked if they could borrow one from an adjacent property as there were 5 or 6 leaning on a tree, again, no. So we had to go to an adjacent property to get a boogie board. They staff did buy a rubber ducky floatie for the pool that was for babies. Another example, the food is only American/International cuisine, we had to specifically request local Sri Lankan food, why can't this be an option?

We spent 7 wonderful days here, and it was hard to leave. The staff was lovely, professional, and always smiling. We felt somewhat at home. Our family room was huge with a view of the sea and the swimming pool: paradise. The food was delicious. The beach was magnificent and almost deserted. There was a calm, family atmosphere, which is exactly what we were looking for.

The half board menu could have been more varied

The location is outstanding. The rooms beautiful. We stayed in the house with 3 bedrooms which also had a cozy common area for our family. The garden and restaurant area are very nicely done and great to hang out in. Staff was fantastic. We highly recommend this place!

The location | The beach - extraordinary | The Stuff - nicely and flexible | The bungalows - very clean and nice | The price

Dont know of anything

The location is stunning because Mawella beach is VERY special and the hotel gardens run up to it with lovely shading from the coconut trees. The bar and dining area is charming with good style and large comfortable seating and great views of the beach. The hotel has only a few rooms and wasn't full so the ambience was very quiet which suited us. The waiter who looked after us at the bar and restaurant was superb and did a great job. The gardens are well looked after and the pool is large, attractive and clean. Our villa was very attractive and we enjoyed the space.

This hotel is lovely in many ways but could be so much better. The manager was pleasant but lacked any initiative and did not interact with us - luckily we stayed here at the end of our trip so had worked out how to get places and find tuk-tuk etc but he offered us no ideas or help. The food at dinner is pretty good but the menu hasn't any Sri Lankan items and we had to ask for a curry & rice - which was available but not mentioned. The breakfast menu is only over-priced versions of English/American breakfasts (but no pancakes?). When I complained about being charged full price (having declined the sausage, baked beans etc) for a single omelet the manager was unable to offer any flexibility on the price due to some rigid billing tech. Although he tried to appease us with free coffee he had no agency to gain our custom and so lost out on all further breakfasts - not clever when the charming beach shack next door offers a great alternative at half the price! Sri Lankan breakfasts of egg hoppers, curd, and string hoppers are delicious and easy so shouldn't have created such a hurdle. Our (3 bedroom) villa was charming and we loved the tidy garden and pretty styling of the historic house. However, it is not made clear on Bookings that it is outside the hotel grounds and behind another property. This means it is peaceful but not what we expected and wouldn't suit some people. The bathrooms need updating to meet the standard of the rest of the decor and got very wet and smelly after a few days. We had to ask for clean towels, a sweep though, and bathroom clean after 3 days - somewhat necessary in the heat. The third bedroom was luckily not needed by us because it would have been unusable as it smelt very damp, stuffy and of paint. Most of the above comments shouldn't be there with more attention from the owners and with more proactive care from an on-site manager who seemed to want to help but lacked the authority.

Very nice villa is in beautifull location, very quiet beach, not touristy place. Excellent place to relax or take walks and enjoy the nature. Staff did excellent job, could not be better.

Still, rooms need more attention. Maybe we got used to european standards but for such a nice place the owner should invest some more money into interior. Some walls needs to be repainted, the bathroom needs maintenance etc.