Michelle Boutique Hotel

Simply the worst hotel on earth! So disappointing from the Manager who smokes cannabis and plays the DJ decks all night long to the worse food ever.

Staff can not speak English.

Rooms are dark and mosquito infested.

Vegetarian food does not exist at this hotel other than pasta in a to store sauce and fries. So do not bother with the $100USD dinner as this is not worth it when there are no options other than frozen fish reheated or insect infested bread rolls. PLEASE go to the Taj in Benatoa instead where the food is amazing and there service exceptional- really wish we had booked there. We ended up eating at the Taj most nights.

Apparently the hotel is owned by some Germans but clearly they love so far away and have let the hotel be runny management who are not skilled in hotel management nor hospitality.

I had to call all the staff on my leaving day as witnesses to management that there was no vegetarian options reflecting the $100 USD charge per head paid for the so called NYE Gala. After arguing for one hour with the manager and we had the fee for one person waived. What a joke. Oh and the Gala is basically a rave for the manager and their external friends, no care for the customers whatsoever.

One piece of advice - DO NOT GO HERE! It is not a boutique luxury hotel but simply an asylum!

It was very quiet when we were there but :

- View from Spa Room is really nice. you can have an awesome sunset from the balcony.

- Bed was very comfortable.

- Room was cleaned everyday

- Food was nice.

- Pool is awesome.

We stayed here on our first night of holiday and had an amazing time, we didn’t want to leave.
A beautiful location, the private beach is incredible, the food is yum, friendly staff, fab!!!

Top tip: There is a restaurant 2 minute tuk tuk down the road called Bord’eaux and we had a delicious meal there on the end of a pier over looking the water.

This is a beautiful hotel in a wonderful location.The hotel is fantastic , well maintained and the staff is exceptional from the desk staff to housekeeping.Food was really delicious and rooms were comfortable and had beautiful views. Awaiting to visit this wonderful place again .

Excellent place. Suitable for all Family, Business even for business purposes. Very friendly staff. Situated in a very beautiful place with natural beauty. Highly satisfied with everything. I recommend to everyone.

“Spent a weekend. Enjoyed every moment of stay from the time arrived at the hotel. Warm reception, courteous staff looks after you well. Fine cuisine. Fabulous environment. Beautiful beach. Strongly recommended.”

We had no words to say...it was really a marvollous experience.They especially had a great service for us to get feel our pleasure.surprisingly it was delicious food & what should I say is finger licking good. It was great sea view for their most of the rooms & such rooms were more than 100% comfortable.we had a nice sun bath.it was very nice to see sun shine & sunset to their pool.again i need to thank those gentlements for their outstanding service.Im gonna come again buddies within couple of months. 😍😍😍😍😍

Annoncé comme un 4 étoiles, je dirai que c’est plutôt un 2 étoiles. Niveau propreté ça laisse au désirer : nous avons nettoyé nous-mêmes la chambre (gouttes de café sur les meubles de chevet et cadre de lit). Sans compter les draps et taies d’oreiller tachés.
Nous avons dîné au restaurant la 1ere nuit...horrible vu le prix. La salade grecque a été revisitée en simples morceaux de tomates et de poivrons avec des tranches de fromage cheddar posées dessus. Sans sauce salade, sans rien!

La plage privée est inaccessible en raison d’une multitude de chiens errants qui squattent la plage.

Rien de rien aux alentours !!! Ennui total

Pour 120€ la nuit et un soir-disant 4 étoiles, on attend meilleure prestation.

We stopped for a drink at lunchtime and enjoyed a gin and tonic and a beer, all served very efficiently and when we looked at the dinner menu it was interesting so we booked for the following evening. We asked for a particular table and were assured it would be reserved for us.
What greeted us on the following evening was little short of a farce. We sat in the bar area and ordered a gin and tonic and a beer. The beer came immediately but there was a lot of discussion between the three boys at the bar and eventually a small glass almost full of a clear liquid was placed in front of me with a large bottle of tonic. I asked for a larger glass since there was no room for the tonic and also some ice which came in its own bucket - so far so good, but when I smelled the liquid I knew it was not gin! We asked to see the bottle and it was rum! We were then told that they didn't have a licence for anything other than beer and rum which of course we knew to be untrue. We asked for the manager and was told he was off sick so it would appear that there was no one sensible around! However after a short "stand off" the manager whom we had spoken to the previous day appeared albeit in ordinary clothes and surprise surprise the gin appeared!
It didn't get any better! He took our order and after half an hour we hadn't been told our food was ready so we walked into the dining room only to find our table had not been reserved! The restaurant was almost empty so we sat at another table and then just one starter appeared which was strange since we had both ordered the same! Finally they produced another but the prawn topping smelled bad so we were not inclined to risk it.
Then the strangest thing happened- and this is supposed to be a five star restaurant not a French bistro - the waiter carefully removed my used knife and fork to my side dish on top of the roll and butter I had been eating and it appeared that I was expected to use the same cutlery for my next course!
For my main course I had carefully chosen the crab since it didn't have rice which I cannot eat. Lo and behold the dish came with the crab in its shell (and I have never seen such a small one before) on top of rice. The only other thing on the plate was what appeared to be a potato croquet, not the spinach in the description.
We decided to leave at that point but got into conversation with another couple who were staying and equally disgusted with the place and were going to move to another.
Finally as we left we were stopped by the Events Manager who wanted to understand our concerns but she didn't seem to take on-board the fact that the restaurant and food were so badly run and that apart from the manager the staff were running around like headless chickens!
No not the best experience and a total waste of time and money.

The Hotel was nice and clean. However, I would not rate it 5 star. We were given a room with lot of maintenance issues and upon making a fuss about it. We were moved to a room with better facilities. Even though, the manager was very apologetic and we had a complimentary dinner. I feel the hotel could use refurbishing and the front desk staff a bit more equipped to handle international customers. Also I could advertise it 4 or 3 star.

Michelle Boutique Hotel:

The quality of the veg and non veg food was intolerable and unpalatable.

We reached the hotel late in the night and were shown our rooms. When we asked for dinner they initially refused but after multiple requests and telling them we had children they made some parathas for which they charged us 2500 SL rupees. We contested this rate during check out and they relented. We refused to pay 12500 for five parathas.

The Acs in all rooms were not cooling and the tech had to be called to rectify it.

Next day early morning we spoke to the head chef and asked him to make sure we get proper veg food for lunch. Considering that it’s a 16 room hotel and we occupy 3 rooms, it’s a request they should honour. Again the food was horrible and we left half of it.

Post lunch I wanted to have a coffee in my room and called up the reception saying that they refilled the coffee and sugar but forgot to give the milk powder. I was shocked when they said that they do not refill the milk powder and I should go to the market and buy it or order milk from their restaurant (paid).

We called our guide and told hm to find a good restaurant in bentota since we could not eat again at Michelle.

So our guide takes us to Avani (?) which was a fabulous place and he also speak s to the hotel management at Michelle in local language about the milk issue.

That brings me to another problem: everywhere else in Sri Lanka, all hotel staff spoke perfect English. Here they just didn’t understand English and had to call some or the other waiter to translate.

So by the time we return, the finally give us a bottle of coffee mate for the room.

Next day breakfast again was as bad and we booked the Taj bentota for lunch and had a great time there.

No our return we pleaded with the chef to make good veg food for the new year’s “Gala” dinner that they had planned.

The music starts at 8 pm and the kids are hungry and we go down. Again the food was bad, poorly made and had no connect: there was rice, pasta in red sauce and potato. What were we to eat the rice with or the potato with? Again complained and they cooked some noodles and gave ice cream for the kids.

They took 100USD as cover charge for all adults compulsory but gave no free alcohol… even the taj was giving free booze at 112USD. What did we pay the 100$ for?

By 9pm the mint leaves for the Mojitos were over and we couldn’t order them - what kind of hotel runs out of mint leaves?

By 10pm the head chef had already taken his plate and was eating in front of us and retired from the scene.

By 1015, the coals that keep the buffet dinner warm ran out and the food was cold stock by 1030!

We retired to our room and most of the hotel guests also retired by 11.

We were seeing from the balcony that the management was pleading with the remaining two tables of guests to stay there till new year.

The so called GM of the hotel had a major attitude problem, probably never went to a hospitality school or knew the ABCs of talking the guests. He was arrogant to the core and deserves to be shot for spoiling our new year.

Our new year dinner was peanuts and chips that we ate in the rooms.

When we peeked out of the room at 1am, we saw that there were no guest and the hotel staff was dancing to extremely loud music.

At 130am I requested them to turn it down which they did not.

At 145am I finally went again, took a video of only the staff dancing and I could smell weed in the air and I threatened to call the police if they did not turn the music off. No point in the music because all guests had left. They finally turned the music down.

Next day breakfast was ruefully bad. We were just happy to check out and run away from what was the worse hotel experience ever.

Other points:

The hotel shower area was poorly designed. That was no ledge or countersink. So every time you had a shower, the water would run from under the glass door and flood the entire bathroom. When we asked for extra towels to block the water they refused and said that we first need to return soiled towels. We had to flick some towels to use in the bathroom from the pool area.

The pool changing rooms and showers were in thorough neglect. It was worse than a public loo.

We took 2 sessions of half hour massages per room and each massage got over in 15-20 minutes and were charged full. Even the massages scheduled at 8am started at 10am because the staff arrived late.

Of the three rooms, only one room had a safe! The rooms were poorly maintained and had a damp smell.

No supervision from the hotel for the beach either!

he Sri Lankan head chef couldn’t even cook good SriLankan food. One incident when we asked for a cheese and mushroom omelette, he bought us a regular omelette, a cheese omelette and mushroom omelette - three omelettes!

You will see someone has posted a review on 31st evening saying the hotel shouldn’t even be called a hotel.

This place is not an hotel. It’s the worth place wéve ever been. The common facilities are not clean, the food is it good at all. The staff is not engaged and don’t understand English. Our room was a complete desaster ; dirty bathroom, damaged curtains, used carpets that are not vaccumed. The management is not honest and doesn’t recognize the issues in the room. Completely overpriced for a place that doesn’t deserve the name of hotel.

I stayed at this hostel a few weeks ago and it was a comfortable stay overall. The location is great with great sea views. The rooms were spacious and all the room facilities were good. But definitely have some areas to improve,

We stayed over a weekend and on dinner the restaurant was quite full and we had trouble finding a table to sit even though it was around 8 and not too late, and the staff wasnt very helpful in that. Also most of the food were running out and none of them were refilled even after inquiring about it, so we had quite an unsatisfactory dinner. Food tasted just average so they could definitely work more on it.

Also one more thing we found to be bothersome was in the bathroom after taking a shower water leaks out into the rest of the bathroom from the shower area and as there were no floor towels or anything the bathroom was just flooding with water and some came into the room as well. Despite requesting the housekeeping twice for some floor towels and were told they'd be in a moment, yet no one arrived.

Other than those the hotel is quite a nice one with friendly staff. If they can improve those small issues, it would be a great stay for the vacationers.

Lovely place and time in Michelle boutique hotel! 100% recommend for romantic stay! The beach and swimming pool, rooms are amazing. I have to tell thank you for super tasty food and our special wedding dinner!

A good, small hotel with a commanding view right over the sea. The beaches were lovely to look at and walk on but the sea was too rough for swimming. There was a reasonable swimming pool.

It’s a new hotel, opened just five years ago, but looking older and rather neglected. Some redecoration has been done apparently but it needs sprucing up more. Some of the staff were new to the job and had difficulty in understanding our natural English such as when ordering from the menu. Even so, in true Sri Lankan style they were very keen to please so with continuing training they should become proficient. The restaurant manager was particularly good and the meals fulsome.

We were shown around the hotel when we arrived but there was no written information obviously available about things like laundry, restaurant and availability of taxis and tours. Would it be too difficult to do an information sheet for each bedroom?

Our first impression therefore wasn’t the best, but we grew to like the hotel and its main assets: its friendly staff and the magnificent sun deck with views of the sea and beach. We greatly enjoyed a lovely few days of relaxation, food and sun. With more investment the hotel will reach its full potential.

Other notes:
The hotel and beach are photogenic; a couple had their photos taken before and after their wedding. The photographer took ages and it was nearly dark and raining before they finished (photo).
One look at the boat tours on the nearby Maduganga River put us off, lots of boats full of people. If you’re going further South we found the Mahamodara Eco Friendly cruise quite superb (see my separate TA review).

We stumbled on to this place by chance when looking for a place to spend a day out of Colombo. Its an amazingly quiet place with a superb beach. The Restaurant manager Sugath and Chef Kolitha were so much so helpful and dished out some of our favorites to the utmost satisfaction. We were sad that it was such a quick holiday but would have loved to stay longer. Kudos to the entire team for a superb job. The hospitality and welcome was greatly appreciated.

My husband, daughter and I stayed at Michelle Boutique for 3 nights in February 2018. The hotel has a fabulous location as it is right on the beach (even though the sea is too rough for swimming other than early morning). The staff were pleasant, helpful and accommodating.
We did encounter some issues which I list below:
1. We were given a lovely room with a plunge pool and a balcony but the plunge pool was only just being filled as we checked in.
2. The air-conditioning was not working and when I went to inform the front desk of this, the gentleman there (you know who you are.....on duty on 22nd February in the afternoon), told me that it had been fine when the previous guests were there. This is not the most appropriate response. The aircon was fixed..it took 3 people to do so.
3. In the evening, when I went to shower, I discovered that there was no water in the shower. It took over an hour for the staff to fix this problem.
I would suggest that management inspect rooms thoroughly before guests check in. We were left with the impression that very basic things (such as the water supply) were left to chance. This hotel has tremendous potential. It would be a great pity if that is not realised.

It was a good hotel. Cleanliness was there. Staff was good but breakfast service was very slow. One important problem I felt was in their Bathrooms that Whenever you take shower in your cubical. All the water comes out and scattered in your whole bathroom. your bathroom becomes like pond. Rest everything is good and beautiful.

Nestled on a very tight property abutting the rocks on the beach maximum use of space has been made. Just a few rooms 16 in all squeezed between the main road and the sea. The architecture is not great but not bad. Looks and feels a bit stark and with a bit more effort much could be achieved in making it look a lot warmer and homelier. Understanding the issues of Maintanace of buildings next to the ocean a lot could be done in terms of the finishes. The rooms have an attic in which the kids slept. Great idea but most of the amenities like the TV, coffee, water, mini fridge are all upstairs and not within the area of the main room below. Toilets need a bit of attention but clean and crisp towels.
The staff is very pleasant. The reception is helpful in getting the boats etc. pool is under cover and small but works well. Steps down to easy access of the beach but not very swimmable as it’s a bit rough there. The food was pleasantly great but and much effort has been put in to same. They probably need a bit more staff to help out and function better.
Wishing them the very best.

The kitchen staff were very friendly and flexible, among them the young man serving us the Sri Lankan breakfast early morning before leaving for a safari-trip. The housekeeping-manager and his staff were also fantastically helpful; they took pride in a job well done. The rooms were clean and the balcony-view magnificent.

Matilda K /Stockholm