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Reviews of Arabella on Boossa

4 out of 5
Arabella on Boossa
39 Galle Road, Gintota, Boossa

Reviews

9.4

Exceptional

Rating 10 - Excellent. 22 out of 28 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 3 out of 28 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 1 out of 28 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 2 out of 28 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 0 out of 28 reviews" "

9.4/10

Cleanliness

9.0/10

Staff & service

10/10

Amenities

9.0/10

Property conditions & facilities

10/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 6 nights in Jan 2024

10/10 Excellent

Charlotte Sverre Lund

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Amazing place
Amazing hotel and atmosphere on the beach with so much delicious food!
Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2020
Response from Myles Jones on 22 Mar 2020
Thanks for your amazing feedback Charlotte.

10/10 Excellent

Cat, Edinburgh

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Hotel is about a 10 minute tuk tuk from Galle train station, hidden behind a large gate - make sure to ring the bell to get let in. It is a hidden oasis though, its airy, white and concrete leading onto a lovely garden with pool and direct access to the beach. We paid a bit more for a balcony room which I would recommend as the garden rooms don't face onto the ocean. Our room was very comfortable. Only slight downside is there is no back up generator so when there is a power cut (common in Sri Lanka) everything stops working, including the water upstairs. Staff were very helpful and organised a whale watching trip for us. Food in the restaurant was good, with a good range including local food.
Stayed 3 nights in Jan 2019

8/10 Good

NIMISH

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
There is not much choose in food and surrounding L
Stayed 3 nights in Jan 2019

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 3 nights in Dec 2018

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in Dec 2018

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Absolutely amazing hotel, enlightened hospitality at its best. The facilities are superb and the location is perfect if you want to be out of the hustle and bustle, but very close to all of the amazing places along the South West coast of Sri Lanka. The staff were incredibly amazing people and always went out of their way to make you feel comfortable and really looked after. The rooms were beautiful and really clean, the food also fantastic! We were really blown away with how perfect this place was. Highly recommend!
Stayed 6 nights in Dec 2018

10/10 Excellent

jca, Singapore

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice hotel near Galle on the Beachfront
It’s a great botique Hotel on the beachfront near Galle. The hipster vibe that the Australian owners wanted to convey in this eight-room boutique hotel is evident in this contemporary black and white hotel. The heavy bass music in the lounge area is great mid-day while drinking a wine however, I am of an age that thinks music starting at 8:45 am was a bit earlier than wanted. The western breakfast was fine with terrific juice and fresh fruit although the eggs were cold on both mornings. I suggest asking the kitchen to prepare the eggs after the toast and other sides.
Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2018

10/10 Excellent

Lou, uk

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
We had a fantastic 4 days at Arabella on Boossa. A little piece of tranquility against the hustle and bustle of Galle Rd. We had ocean views waking each morning to the sound of the ocean, friendly but not intrusive staff, a short stroll down to the beach and a fifteen minute tuk tuk drive away from Galle. Thoroughly recommend it. Thank you Arabella x
Stayed 4 nights in Apr 2018

4/10 Poor

Harriet, London

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service
So much potential but sadly not there
This was probably one of the most expensive places we payed out for on our trip and having been recommended it by a friend we were super excited as reviews and pictures looked amazing. Sadly this fell well below what we expected. The concept of the place is amazing but sadly let down by numerous pests in the rooms ( we had ants crawling up us in bed in the middle of the night!), staff that don’t speak any English so you can not communicate with them on even the simplest things like ordering food or asking questions about the hotel facilities. There was no manager around when we asked for him and I had to speak to him over mobile as he only comes in at certain times ! The air con in our room was broken when we arrived and so we were freezing cold but no one understood when we went to ask about it being fixed as no one understood us. There was no hot water the whole of our stay from the shower but by this point we had given up trying to get help with things because of the language barrier. And finally the food was awful. It looked great on instagram and the menu looked amazing but when ordered it did not meet expectations and was pricey. We got charged for things we hadn’t ordered and because of the langauage barrier it was impossible to sort out, plus they didn’t even order my food so my friends came and I had to wait another 20 mins for mine to eventually arrive after asking numerous times. We decided to eat out for the rest of our stay there. Avoid!!
Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2018

10/10 Excellent

Matthew

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great rooms, food & service!
Great boutique hotel with a relaxed atmosphere. The standard of the rooms, service & food is excellent and th vibe is great, especially considering limited rooms. They are very happy to arrange activities for you, including a cooking course at the hotel restaurant. Food/drink prices are a lot more expensive than the rest of Sri Lanka, but I think this is representative of Galle too. Would definitely recommend to anyone who wants a calm environment, 10 minutes drive from Galle fort!
Stayed 4 nights in Mar 2018
Response from Myles Jones on 11 Apr 2018
Thanks for the review Matthew, We are happy you loved the hotel staff, design and vibe that we put out there. I understand your comment about the prices of food and I'm sure you will agree, you get what you pay for in life. Once again, thanks and we hope you enjoyed the rest of Sri Lanka. Regards Myles

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Beautiful hotel with delightful staff.
A beautiful hotel with wonderful helpful and smiling staff. The rooms and gardens were delightful. Only gripe is that there is no tea/coffee making facility in the room and breakfast does not start until 8am. The breakfast, whilst good, is too prescriptive. i.e. One could not have curd with fruit as curd comes with muesli! Prices in restaurant were priced without tax and service charge which was misleading as everything was 25% more than expected. We checked out other hotel in the area whilst there and we feel we made the right decision to stay at Arabellaonboossa. We are planning a return trip.
Response from Myles Jones on 11 Apr 2018
Thanks for you review, we take a lot of pride in our hotel and staff that make the guests stays great. Regards Myles Jones

10/10 Excellent

colin

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Five star Arabella
An amazing week at Arabella. The team worked tirelessly to provide a first class customer service. The food was of a very high standard and the waiting staff were brilliant. The hotel is right next to the beach and the staff arranged transport if you wanted any day trips out. The rooms were very comfortable and clean. All of the areas of the hotel had a very attractive design. The staff were very customer centred and provided consistently high levels of service.
Stayed 7 nights in Dec 2017

10/10 Excellent

Byju

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Spectacular Design meets Beautiful Beach
This is the first time I've personally looked for and decided on a hotel online (i usually have a travel agent's package hotels or on-the-go sort of bookings done). And so, after much reading through reviews on hotels.com and many other popular sites, I decided on Arabella. I just had to see if the photographs that were being posted, were infact the real deal. It turned out to be one of those places where 'photos don't do justice'. The service was excellent from the minute we arrived, and at times i felt they were even going out of their way to make us feel comfortable. The design language of the hotel is a mix of minimalism, contemporary design and Srilankan style. The Suite was nothing short of spectacular. The balcony doors opened to the beautiful and clean beach, with views of the garden and swimming pool below. I couldn't stop taking pictures of the room and the view, and found it very pleasing to sleep to the subtle sound of the waves crashing onto the shore. Even their restaurant - ahara - has a beautiful range of food and drinks to offer. It overlooks the pool and the beach, almost as if it all flows as one. We're a family of 3, and we went to Galle only to experience everything we had heard about the place - from the fort and the architecture, to the great food and the beach. Next time however, it'd be for all that + Arabella on Boossa.
Stayed 2 nights in Nov 2017

8/10 Good

Rakesh, Mississauga

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
Close to the beach.
Rooms are nothing to gloat about but the view was fantastic. We ran into some glitches with wi-fi that took some time to get sorted.
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2017

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Liked: Room comfort
Disliked: Staff & service
super overrated, never again
Pros: - employees smiling and kind - nice grass Cons: - room without window - floor very sliding and dustry but they do not provide sleepers - No wifi in the room - Beach very dirty (they clean it by making a hole in the sand and put garbage inside) - Service inefficient: - bad english: they say yes to whatever you say but after you discover that they did not understand - totally irresponsible to take care of kids: they say on the website "babysitting and childcare". But they let our 3 years old daughter alone at 20 meters from the sea. Basically they just give you things to draw and paint for 15 USD... - manage everything yourself or you will have bad surprises (bad service and charges) - They overcharge external services like Tuk-tuk (700 rs instead of 400-500 !) - There is nothing to do around. If you want a restaurant you need to pay for a Tuk-Tuk to go Galle (10 km) - The restaurant is super expensive 15-20 USD for a main course, and it is not good. Only presentation is good. The breakfast is ok.
Stayed 3 nights in Sep 2017

10/10 Excellent

Birdincharge, Kent England

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Fabulous hotel, great staff, awesome location
We stayed at the Arabella for at total of 6 nights and throughout the stay the staff were wonderful and very attentive to our needs. The hotel is peaceful and the food was especially good.. Breakfast is fab with plenty of variety to suit most peeps taste. I especially loved the crab curry.. We will return to Sri Lanka and the lovely Arabella.. Thank you
Stayed 9 nights in Jun 2017
Response from Myles Jones on 19 Aug 2017
Thanks for the awesome review. We will also take note of your comments in our upcoming project.

10/10 Excellent

Magdalena

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
A lovely boutique hotel, peaceful & private
We had a great time and it was relaxing. We were in room number 8 which I believe is the largest, has great views and is spacious. Plenty of space for our little one to move about. The staff were very friendly and eager to help. The beach is a little dirty but you can safely enjoy it without issue as we did with our 21 month old son. The pool is not very large but proportionate to the hotel. The entire hotel is spacious and welcoming and you can relax almost anywhere in the hotel. It is definitely a good place for family with young children as you know everyone around. We also made use of the babysitting service provided which gave us adults a bit of time for ourselves. The breakfast that is included with the stay is good the only thing I would say is that for the price of the room you could throw in the bacon for free :) The food menu is a little limited if you are staying there for more than three days but all the food I ate the restaurant was well prepared and tastes great. The kids menu can be improved. If you like your food there are many places available to eat in Galle (15mins) and other hotels in the area which we did and enjoyed a lot. Dutch hospital & Fort Printers in Galle and WB Villa (30mins) for great seafood and Italian with an amazing selection of wine. Overall it was a great stay and we returned refreshed and rested. Thank you all and we will be back.

10/10 Excellent

Gary, UK

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
A paradise retreat
If your looking for a relaxing five star experience at an excellent price with unbelievable service this is the place for you. Can't recommend this quiet boutique hotel enough. Arabella is a stunning white villa on a quiet beach, a great place to unwind and a good base to explore the southern and western part of Sri Lanka. The staff are exceptional and will cater to your every wish. The hotel only has four rooms and feels more like a home than a hotel. Without a doubt it's my favourite hotel in Sri Lanka. . Also there is a beautiful family beach restaurant called Sadans one hundred metres down the beach to the right, and a backpackers bar a little further.

10/10 Excellent

Rosa

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
We loved our stay at the Arabella on Bossa! It was really magical
Stayed 5 nights in Nov 2023
Response from Myles Jones on 21 Nov 2023
Thanks for coming Rosa, Very happy you loved the hotel.RegardsMyles

10/10 Excellent

Expedia

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 14 nights in Jan 2020
Response from Myles Jones on 16 Mar 2020
Thanks for staying with us. Glad you enjoyed your stay. Regards Myles Jones

10/10 Excellent

Kari

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Hotell Arabella on Broosa
Topp service,fersk sjømat daglig.personalet var veldig imøtekomme og hyggelige.ordnet opp med en gang hvis det var noe.kom med forslag til utflukter og arrangerte en 2 dagers tur med fyldig program,for oss.lite,hyggelig hotell med koselig hage med svømmebasseng,ved sjøen med flott strand.anbefales.
Stayed 9 nights in Feb 2019
Response from Myles Jones on 8 Apr 2019
Thanks for the great review Kari. Regards Myles Jones

10/10 Excellent

Rikke

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Lovely, clean and very modern!
Beautiful interior, lovely beach view, friendly staff, best cocktails, clean rooms and great quiet location north from Galle. I highly recommend Arabella for a place to stay.
Stayed 3 nights in Nov 2018
Response from Myles Jones on 4 Dec 2018
Thanks for this great review Rikke, I am very happy you loved the place. Regards Myles Jones

10/10 Excellent

Saranda, Zürich

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Wir haben eine sehr tolle Zeit im Arabella gehabt. Die Atmosphäre war familiär und freundlich. Das Hotelpersonal hat uns bei allen Anliegen geholfen. Sehr empfehlenswert :)
Stayed 7 nights in Mar 2018
Response from Myles Jones on 11 Apr 2018
Thanks Saranda, for the Review, your enjoyment at our hotel means a lot and we couldn't be happier about the review. Regards Myles Jones

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
너무 이쁜 호텔이였어요!
세심하게 디자인되었고 관리되는 것 같아서 좋았습니다. 음식도 조금 가격이 있긴하나 맛있었으며 플레이팅도 좋았습니다. 골포트랑은 거리가 있어서 툭툭으로 이동을 해야했지만 해변이 한적해서 좋았습니다.
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2018
Response from Myles Jones on 11 Apr 2018
Thanks for the review, we are glad you loved the hotel and enjoyed the awesome food. Regards Myles

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness
Disliked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Not recommended - Definitely overpriced
It was the most unpleasant stay in Sri Lanka and in general in several years traveling in Asia. The receptionist was totally unfriendly, just interested in getting us out out the hotel....and we understood why: some rooms were under renovation, so there was noise from early in the morning through the day. Nobody addressed us any excuse or recognize any kind of compensation for that. The guy at the restaurant was superb and hostyle, trying to reduce breakfast against what was our right to receive (juice in alternative of fruits even though the menu reported both) and other similar things. Others guests have been complaining too. Dinner was not available. Garden is small (from the picture you don't realize) basically a cage, beach very short. Nothing interesting around you can reach by feet. Too expensive for what offered, in line with the country, charging tourist too much for anything you do!
Stayed 3 nights in Dec 2017

10/10 Excellent

Li

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
酒店很漂亮，重点是酒店的厨房从主厨到工作人员都超级热情，人特别好，所以玩的很开心。酒店自己划出一片海域，白天漂亮极了，晚上睡觉的时候会吵，不过整体特别好。不足是vifi基本没用...附近没有就餐的地方。
Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2017

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Magnifique hôtel familial et luxueux
Merveilleux hôtel. Bien situé. Décoration soignée. Confort absolu. Personnel bien veillant.