10/10 Excellent
Jo P.
15 Mar 2019
Spacious villa in beautiful tropical garden
We spent a week of our month-long trip to Sri Lanka at Olu Villa. Nina was extremely efficient and helpful in the reservation process and went the extra mile to FaceTime me to help ease the payment process. She also provided us with lots of useful information prior to our stay and organised some shopping in advance of our arrival.
We were warmly received by Sarath and Nina's husband Niluk who explained how everything worked and we made arrangements for Kumari, Sarath's daughter, to come th following evening to cook for us. The curries were inexpensive and delicious - and plentiful enough to provide a second dinner.
The downstairs living area is vast, with cooling fans but no air conditioning. A spacious bathroom is also situated downstairs. There are doors out front and back to beautiful, well-tended tropical gardens, both with tables, seating areas and overhead fans. The kitchen is well equipped.
The two double bedrooms upstairs are generous and have air conditioning and mosquito nets. Both have balconies overlooking the back garden. The larger bedroom also has a settee. Both have plenty of wardrobe space. It was a pleasure to lie in bed in the mornings with the shutters open and watch and listen to the birds and monkeys in and around the garden.
Being there in March, the weather was at its hottest and most humid and we were very grateful on some evenings to be able to sit upstairs in the cool of the air conditioning. We were advised to close the shutters at dusk to avoid bugs but told that it would be ok to open them again once it was dark. We may have been over-cautious but we tend to get bitten so we didn't want to risk it.
It was quite easy to get a tuktuk from the road outside the villa to go to local beaches or into Galle and we also made use of Sarath's other son and his tuktuk/ contacts. We enjoyed the beaches, particularly Wadija but we also enjoyed visiting The Jetwing Lighthouse Hotel which has two beautiful pools overlooking the Ocean and who sell day tickets for 1500 LKR. On one of the cooler days we also enjoyed walking round the walls of Galle Fort and exploring the shops and restaurants. I also enjoyed a massage the nearby centre in the Ayuverdic Village, only a few minutes walk from the Villa.
We saw Sarath most days and he was extremely attentive and helpful. We travel a lot and it's always good to find good self catering places - definitely recommended.
Jo P.
Stayed 7 nights in Mar 2019
