Alison & Mike
England, April 2026
What did you like most about Sri Lanka?
The Welcoming People
The Lushness
The Landscapes
The Variety of Places we stayed in and visited
The Personal Care and Attention given by our wonderful driver [guide], Nihal and indeed by John Besthewick [Beswetherick; in the UK office] right from first contact, start of visit and to finish.
What did you like least about Sri Lanka?
Nothing.
What is your opinion of your accommodation in Sri Lanka?
Brilliant choices throughout.
Lake Lodge [Kandalama, Dambulla]... a lovely introduction... Superb situation... Friendly & Excellent staff.
Hanthana House [Kandy]… a good situation… Friendly & excellent staff.
The Line House [Meena Amma's Tea Experience]… Ambewella… Great location… Loved it... Friendly & Excellent Staff... Plus having met only by chance… a good attentive manager who went out of his way to help give us a good experience.
Clove Tree Cottage – Amba Estate… Ella… superb situation… excellent & friendly staff… high end ethos and people care throughout the estate... a pleasure to witness. Superb tea tasting presentation.
Mailagama Cinnamon Residence, Kataragama… lovely place… friendly & excellent staff.
The (Elephant) Collectors House – Matara… beautiful stylish accommodation throughout… excellent & friendly staff who went out of their way to be helpful at every turn…
The Merchant Galle Fort, Galle... more of a quality style commercial style hotel… but with excellent & friendly staff throughout… well situated in lively, bustling environment which we enjoyed walking around…
Villa Hundira, Negombo… what an architectural feast… lovely friendly staff… perhaps we could have done with a second night there… if only to allow us the explore the fish markets and fishing port… which we were driven through on our way to the airport… I’d have loved that opportunity.
What is your opinion of your chauffeur guide in Sri Lanka?
Nihal is by far the best advocate Tika Lanka [Tikalanka] could possibly have.
Welcoming, kind, thoughtful, attentive, knowledgeable, personable and endearing... he is a truly remarkable and wonderful person... and an utter pleasure to be with.
He’s also a superbly skilled, highly competent driver... Capable of dealing calmly and pleasantly with everything that comes his way. We have every faith in him.
He is not simply a driver and a guide. Tika Lanka could not have chosen better.
From the very moment we first met him, and throughout our trip... a bond was formed and steadily grew in strength.
Such bonds are remarkably rare. They are precious. Once formed, they never fade.
The way he accepted us into his charge and what he did for us will never be forgotten.
What is your opinion of your flights to and from Sri Lanka?
As a highly experienced world wide flyer we found the actual flight experience with Sri Lankan Airways [SriLankan Airlines] good.
The crew aboard were excellent.
The actual food served in economy... could do with some re-thinking... it could be simplified in the manner it is presented and in what it aims to try and serve. It’s unnecessarily complicated from a straightforward customer care point of view.
The tin lidded boxes used to cover the main course are inadequately labelled. Because of the noise of the engines... it was not easy to understand clearly what the person describing each choice was saying... it may have been useful to have a picture with a brief description for each choice. The food coming back was much better than the food from LHR.
Sri Lankan Airways Web Site & Seat Booking: On the surface the web site appears adequate and fit for purpose save it is cluttered by attempts to get you to pay for extras at every possible turn... which ultimately is a turn off... particularly in the way it has been executed.
The major issue we encountered was trying to check in and book our seats once we were in Sri Lanka... The Sri Lankan Airways Web Site and help from the Sri Lanka Airways Call Centre proved utterly frustrating and useless... even the hotel staff using their own lap top couldn’t do what was needed. As a last resort we were forced to turn to Tika Lanka for help. John immediately responded and could not have been more helpful... he ended up managing to book the seats for us. I can’t praise him enough. In my experience as a Professional International Customer Care Guru his help while on WhatsApp to us was truly of the highest order. He unhesitatingly deserves acclaim.
Any other comments?
It was a truly remarkable holiday. We loved it.
From the very first moment we made contact with Tika Lanka we found ourselves in very good, competent, thoughtful and comfortable hands. The contact, care and attention given throughout is of the highest order. I cannot praise it enough.
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