Mermaid Hotel & Club

Rated as a 4-star hotel, but I would give it a maximum of 3 stars in its current condition. However, it has the potential to get 4 stars with some measures. + Cleaning in the room was very good + The pool area was kept very clean + The outdoor areas to lie down and enjoy were well maintained + Friendly staff in the restaurant and cleaning + The fruit and drink room that can be used by all inclusive guests - Lack of information at check-in. The bags were gratefully carried to the room, but we were not given any introduction to relevant information about the hotel. - The rooms are quite worn. The surfaces need to be refreshed and some furniture replaced. - The bathrooms need to be overhauled. Water flows outside the shower area to the entire bathroom floor and the water flow in the shower and tap is unstable. (However, the bathroom was large and a plus with various shelves to put things on). - Unfortunately, the food did not live up to the standard. Surprised by previous comments that the food would be "fantastic". It may be a matter of taste, but we ate much better and tastier food elsewhere during our stay in Sri Lanka. - The staff in the restaurant were, as I said, friendly, but unfortunately not sufficiently trained in service. No personal criticism of the individuals (who tried to do the best they could), but it is a management mismanagement, which has not trained its staff sufficiently well. There was only one person in the restaurant who clearly knew how to handle service, then you immediately noticed a difference in how "it should be". - The most provocative situation occurred at check-out. First of all, we were greeted by two nonchalant receptionists who giggled (for some unclear reason) while the payment was to be made and barely said "Thank you and Goodbye". Not only that, there was no possibility to book a Taxi through the hotel. I could not believe my ears, so I spoke to another person who knew English a little better, but he confirmed the same thing, i.e. that they cannot book a Taxi for us. "There is poor communication from here, we have to send our cars from Colombo, if you want a taxi". Ok, but maybe you should have informed about this earlier? Unfortunately really lousy, provocative and downright shocking. No, there is a lot to work on, at this hotel, from the management side. Make sure to first and foremost train the receptionists on how to take care of guests. As I said, the restaurant staff were friendly, they just need a little training. Currently, the hotel gets a maximum of 2.5 *, but as I said, it has the potential to be 4 if things are addressed to improve parts of the hotel.