Name: Gallene Gala Nature Resort
Address: G18, Malwatta Kitulgala, 71720 Kitulgala, Sri Lanka, Gonagamuwa, Gonagamuwa, Gonagamuwa, 71720, Sri Lanka
Rating: 7.6

Location

Castlereigh Reservoir Waterdrome

Polgolla Reservoir Airport

Gallene Gala Nature Resort

Very scenic location, extremely novel concept (only a roof, open in the front, two sides covered only by mat and the four side has the bath and toilet / door), sleeping to the sound of waterfall and pond, clean room, friendly staff, lovely dog and cat, good food. Although the road in the one last km before the resort is terrible, once I reached the resort it felt so worth the trouble. I'll surely come here again if I had to return to Sri Lanka

Disliked · - it is very far from the rafting place, however the tour company that the resort puts us in touch with pick up from the resort and dropped me without any extra charges and the journey takes you through a very scenic road
- there was some confusion / lack of communication that the place involved getting off my car at about 5 kms before reaching the resort and switching over to a tuk-tuk
- google map location is completely wrong and that added to confusion
- although I was regularly in touch with the hosts, and was provided guidance on how to reach the resort the above points were somehow not mentioned, and this was a bit of a let down for me before I reached.
- the last one km is a very rough patch and is bumpy

This is an amazing place! The place to be if you're looking for a bit of adventure and an exceptional natural experience. The setting in the middle of the jungle, at the edge of a river with crystal clear pools and waterfalls, ideal for cooling off or relaxing, the laid back atmosphere,  the interesting talks with our host Mona, the cabin above the water... all led to an incredible off the beaten track adventure.  The waterfall hike with Mona was a real highlight, partly through the river (not for the faint hearted) and the jungle (remember to take a flashlight, there is a big change you'll be gone longer than you thought thanks to the great swim stops, meetings and views along the way). The canyoning was incredible as well.  Due to a dam closure (happens only occasionally we were told)  the river was a bit low for rafting, but this was still fun.  The guide arranged through Mona was great!
If you're traveling by train, you can get off at Nawalapitiya and take a tuktuk for about 1 - 1,5 hour, or book a car beforehand at the resort, an interesting ride along rice fields, jungle and village along a comfortable road.  Only the last couple of km are off road on a more adventurous jungle track.  Too bad we booked for only 1 night, I would have loved to stay longer!

Su and Mona are lovely hosts and really genuine. Although I couldn’t sleep it is one of the few places in world you can sleep next to a waterfall, open to the elements. Don’t be tempted to put put four in the open room. Think about whether you can sleep with the thunder of a small waterfall. I couldn’t. However the hosts are superb. The chance to dip in the natural pool at the base fo the small waterfall is lovely. Go for the experience and sleep inside glass and concrete with air con another time!!!

It's not easy to reach, but once you get there it's worth the trouble. We had a room above the river with our private natural pool next to it. The employees were very kind and dinner and breakfast very tasty.

This place requires some commitment: in the middle of nowhere, hard to find, and does your wife/GF really want to rough it?
The Pros: great and scenic location, bungalow has nice terrace with view over the waterfall, friendly hostesses Domi & Eva & friendly staff, comfy bed, clean, swimming in the waterfall, cheap and cheerful home-cooked rice & curry dinner, reasonable (bush-bush) internet 7.7/0.6 Mbps (D/U)
The cons: remote, waterfall is noisy (she) unless you like that kind of thing (he), fish nibble at your heels in swimming lake.
We loved it and would go again.

Gonagamuwa

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Very unique concept and beautiful location-MUST visit

A true off the beaten track natural experience

Unique Stay.  A real experience. We stayed in the open-sided room beside the falls with great views of falls and jungle.

Hidden treasure

And now .... for something completely different

The environment was exceptional! Which we enjoyed very much. 
However, the property and the staff need improvements. Staff was friendly enough but was lacking basic hospitality training I believe. Food was not that tasty, the BBQ was not properly cooked and some were only half cooked. No hot water in the shower even though they had a heater thing installed. Not much mobile connectivity but they advertised Wifi Internet, which wasn't available at the time we got there. When we finally got it, we got to know that it was only for a very limited area, not even 100m! And they kept giving various reasons, which we were not interested at all. That was very disappointing. No doors for bathrooms, but for a couple that would be OK.

Excellent environment! Poor service.

The place itself is very unhygienic and the service is poor, overall my family and I had a bad experience - The place wasn't family friendly either as there was another loud group here that was playing music loudly throughout our stay.

Terrible experience

If you read some of the reviews on this property (which includes one on sexual harassment), you would stay away - Went with my family for a relaxing stay, however my wife noted that she was subject to very lewd comments by the staff under their breath, including the owner. We had wanted to stay here for 3 nights during a long weekend , but we went elsewhere after the first night. Learn to behave yourselves and treat your guests with hospitality first.

Avoid - Bad behaviour from the staff and owner

DO NOT STAY HERE.  I rang Su the owner to check on walking potential.  Having suffered a fractured skull adventure sports are a no.  He asked me not to book through Booking.com to save us both costs.  Thank goodness I did.  On arrival we were shown what I thought was the tent which was obviously a building.  I was also told it was $45 per night! On booking.com it was $25.50 for 2 nights.  So we were shown the tent. Please see pics.   As a festival goer, I've seen better things abandoned. Please bear in mind we had travelled by train and bus for hours to get here and it was nearly 3pm, and it had a no cancellation policy.  So after a chat we decided to stick it out.  Oh my goodness what a bad idea.  I asked about the private bathroom.  I was shown two decrepid toilets which were being  used by the on site workmen.  Next to them was the signs of a demolished shower room.  I was, believe it or not, instructed to use the river for bathing.  There was no shared kitchen, ( I looked in the staff kitchen where our food was prepared..bad idea) and no market for buying anything.  We asked for beers.  There were none.  We asked for soft drinks.  They only had one bottle of coca cola.  I spoke to Su on the phone again and he was no use whatsoever, saying I had misunderstood the info on booking.com.  I have taken pictures of the premises which show what we managed with.  The actual area is very nice.  Just pick somewhere else.  Also, check the reviews on trip advisor, particularly the one from the single female traveller.  Very worrying.

DREADFUL EXPERIENCE

This place sounds idillic. 
To be fair it’s quite a nice setting with loads of potential but we wasted two nights here and I would advise against it.  

I’ll try to bullet point a bit to keep it short. 

References to booking.com refer to the advert we saw. 
We have contacted booking.com who were excellent and provided a full refund. 
Therefore the advertised content must have been provided by the business and is not an accurate reflection and in no way a reflection on booking.com

Advice
Use Booking.com so if you are unhappy you have some recourse. 
The owner sounds nice in the phone but may try to persuade you not to use Booking.com to avoid their commission charges but be aware he will still charge the full amount. 

Read reviews first, and on trip advisor too. There are some scary ones especially if you are a lone female traveller. Be warned. 

The owner will arrange and provide free pick up, not the return. This was necessary and worked well. 

Plan ahead. 
This place is remote. That means no shops, no supplies and despite this place stating they have a mini market, they don’t. 
They don’t plan ahead....so you need to. 
Other guests here had made their own plans for activities. Handy as if this place offers to facilitate trips for you then so far we have not seen the owner to make any arrangements.  This is almost now our second night. 

On our arrival day we asked for a beer. No. Coke, yes. But between six guests they had only 3 bottles but a promise for a restock the next day. Well, at 16:35 the next day a cold coke finally arrived but nothing until then!
Not only is this poor management but a missed business opportunity. 
It appears the owners interest is purely booking, not customer service. 

Booking.com states mini market, private bathroom, communal kitchen. No, no, no. 
There is a hut/bungalow with own shower and toilet but the picture was misleading. That’s what we thought we had but instead we had a tatty tent with holes in. 
A festival tent at best!
This was a bad start that was a difficult conversation but we stayed anyway due to time of day and time spent travelling to get here. 
The outside toilets were apparently just for us but clearly they were used by staff and builders. They were in a poor state. 
There appears the remnants of a shower block but it had been demolished. 
We were told the rock pool was our bath/wash area. 
I was not comfortable with use of toiletries/soap etc in the fresh water but apparently that’s what they do and expect us to. 
I used the kitchen sink to brush my teeth mmnnn. 

Tents
There are two tents. 
The larger on we had has two power points. I’m unsure that the smaller one has any?
Both are two person tents that have clearly had some use. 
Large has a basic bed, small has a mattress only and that fills it. 
Toilets are a walk. 
Both overlook a rock pool and waterfall as does the hut/bungalow. That’s the good bit :) 

Tent guests are not provided with towels. 

We used the hut/bungalow the following day inbetween guests for a shower which we were asked by the nice lady. 
It is basic but functional and quite appealing. It overlooks the rock pool and waterfall. 

The waterfall is a constant sound so you may wish to consider earphones/plugs. 

There are plentiful plastic chairs and a couple of tables to use. 

Additional accommodation
There is a 2x double bed area, plus chair all with covered roof and one wall, so open on the other three sides. 
It looked badly in need of maintenance, no mosquito nets or facilities of any sort. 

There is a further bungalow which looks quite nice. No idea of the cost. They have tried with this one but it remains unfinished and in need of a clean. 

Kitchen
This is a staff area which we wandered into accidentally . 
It’s not a pretty site and I doubt would ever attain a hygiene rating in this lifetime. 
We only saw one cockroach. 

Communal kitchen
It is a sink and a toaster. No kettle or anything else. You could not self cater even if you wanted to. 

Food 
Dinner was typical for the area and at additional cost as you would expect. 
Beware if water is provided they charge for it. 
Rice, noodles, curry. 
We’ve had the same everywhere and whilst it varies this one was very average at best. 
Breakfast for two 
Only had one breakfast so far. 
Fried eggs x 2
Pancakes with sugar coconut inside
Pineapple pieces
Apologies as I’m unsure what this is called but slabs of rice with some coconut (cold) quite bland. 
No drink but we asked for hot water to use our own coffee/tea which was provided

The next day was noodles, noodle pancakes with sugar coconut, curry coconut and potato curry with bananas. And water at a charge. 

Staff
The main lady seemed very nice. 
She has limited English but that really is our issue. 
She has a tough job managing without what she’s needs to do it with like cold drinks etc. Even so it is very hit and miss. 

To do
There is little to do here unless you have plans but we managed to find a hike further upstream to a great sunny area of rock pond with no people!
If you want to try, walk up the drive 100 metres until you see another driveway doubling back going uphill. Take this and follow it. If it forks, turn right. You will teach the rock pond. It’s not far but it’s uphill and this is a hot country so we took about an hour to walk up. 
It’s very close to a small tea plantation and one property nestled in the hillside. There are likely more and any locals we met seemed nice. 

Birds and wildlife
There clearly are birds but boy are they hard to spot. Throughout our trip we’ve seen all sorts  of birds but here not so much. 
Plenty of butterflies especially at the upstream rock pool. Some were stunning and quite friendly. 
Oh, and we saw a snake approx 5 to 6 feet long!!!!!

Apologies the bullet points expanded somewhat. 

This place is overpriced, badly maintained, badly managed but may still suit your needs. 
The staff appear friendly and try to please. The owner.... no idea as we have yet to see him. 
Update. We never saw him in two days. 

I would recommend you avoid this place and use your time better elsewhere. 

We have moved into another place now with a pool, a/c, fantastic menu, gym, tv, towels and toiletries, hot tub, tea/coffee in room, kettle, fridge, bottle refill etc. Same price!!! Shop around and enjoy. 



Gallene Gala Nature Resort

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