Camelot Beach Hotel

Very Disappointing Experience – Poor Communication and Customer Service

I stayed at Camelot Beach Hotel in Negombo during my recent holiday in Sri Lanka. I am Sri Lankan, but I have been living abroad for several years, and after a long time I returned to Sri Lanka with my family for a holiday. We travelled around the country, including the South, Ella, Kandy, Anuradhapura and Sigiriya, and everywhere we experienced wonderful Sri Lankan hospitality—even at small hotels such as Olu Leaf in Yatiyanthota, where the staff provided excellent service.

Unfortunately, my experience at Camelot Beach Hotel was completely different and very disappointing.

I booked this hotel directly during my holiday. At the time of reservation, we specifically requested a ground-floor room. We were told this was possible and were even charged extra for it. However, when we arrived and checked in, we were given a second-floor room instead.

When we questioned the front desk about this, nobody properly addressed our concern. We were simply told that the person who made our reservation was currently off duty. That was not an acceptable response, especially after we had specifically requested the room and paid extra for it. Eventually, we had to pay additional money again to get a ground-floor room.

The communication at the reservation and reception desks was extremely poor. Unfortunately, some of the front-office staff were also very rude and did not know how to communicate properly with guests. Their attitude made the situation even more frustrating.

The only positive experience we had was with the pool staff, who were friendly, helpful and polite.

I have stayed in many hotels, from small guesthouses to five-star properties, both in Sri Lanka and abroad, and I have experienced much better hospitality and customer service than what I received here.

Sri Lanka is famous for its warm hospitality, and I genuinely believe the management of this hotel needs to provide proper customer-service training to the staff, particularly the reservation and front-office teams. Good communication and treating guests with respect should be basic standards for any hotel.

After travelling around Sri Lanka and experiencing excellent hospitality in many places, Camelot Beach Hotel was unfortunately the most disappointing hotel experience of my entire trip.

I sincerely hope the management takes this feedback seriously and improves the reservation system, communication and staff training. Based on my experience, I cannot recommend this hotel to anyone looking for a relaxing and welcoming stay in Negombo.

Very disappointed with my final hotel experience in Sri Lanka.

I visited today with my family for a day out. I felt that outside guests are treated differently compared to in-house guests. When I asked the pool attendant about the pool tower, the response was very rude.

We came to enjoy and spend time with family, but this experience was very disappointing. I kindly request that all guests, whether in-house or day-out, receive the same warm and respectful service.