Browns Beach Negombo

Having read the other reviews I can only echo the excellent comments. The hotel staff really make your holiday and it is a great shame sadly felt by the locals that the resort and local businesses are not being more patronised by tourists since the tsunami. I would recommend taking the boat trips with Roy who can be found daily at the hotel with his portfolio. His english is somewhat limited, but eh! what a super guy. If you want to travel further eg elephant orphanage (a must) contact George who can be contacted by reception. If you like a drink the country strictly observes "POYA" which occurs whenever there is a full moon. No alcohol will be sold by the hotels, bars and shops. TIP: shop the day before and buy a bottle of something and then get your mixers from the bar.

stayed at this hotel in sept 05 and had a fantastic time. all staff are friendly and helpful. the hotel is quite old but is exceptionally clean and offers everything you could need.

food is usually a buffet, self service but they hold themed nights too, e.g barbeques and chinese.

guest relations will give you details on available trips and organise everything for you. when we stayed here, the hotel was extremely quiet and most days found we were the only ones in the pool and just a couple of us on the provided sunbeds on the beachfront. in all we had a really good relaxing holiday.

This hotel ranks as one the friendliest and most professionally run.

The food is excellent although the Western alternatives to local dishes were a little limited. All of the staff are extremely friendly, from the bar and restaurant staff down to the housekeepers and maintenance personnel. Everyone takes the time to say 'hello'

The stars of the show are Raja who works in the Beach Bar and Kumar who is the Head Waiter in the Carnation Restaurant.

The rooms are spotlessly clean and the housekeepers take a pride in their work, even decorating the beds each day with lotus, hibiscus and bougainvillea flowers in a variety of patterns.

Don't bother to pack beach towels as these are provided by the friendly pool staff

The town of Negombo itself is a bit of a shock on your first visit, very dusty and grubby. The noise and countless vehicles can be a little daunting, but by the time you've visited twice you'll be used to it. Apart from the market, be sure to visit the Fashion houses in the town centre for clothes at throwaway prices.

For European essentials whilst in Negombo, ask a tuk-tuk driver to take you to Cargills supermarket. It's only as big as an average Spar store but you can get most things that you may need there.

All in all we can thoroughly recommend Browns Beach, you won't be disappointed

Other tips:

We found that the trip to visit Kandy wasn't worth the long journey. The Buddhist Temple in Negombo is much more interesting.

The trip to the Elelphant orphanage is a must although you may be offered the chance to ride an elephant at another site close by, The Millenium Elephant Foundation. The cost to ride an elephant is expensive, we paid about £9.00 each for 15 minutes. However, at this site you are able to get in the water with the elephants and bath them, the only cost being a tip to the handler.

A complete tour of Negombo takes about half a day and is best done by jumping on a tuk-tuk. These guys are extremely proud of their area and will take the time to show you the sites and stop to let you take photos. The price is negotiable and to a certain extent is at your discretion. We paid about 800 rupees (about £5.00)

We stayed at Browns Beach for 19 days, was very good, best holiday we have ever had. Staff very friendly and hotel was clean and food first class, will go back again. The Hotel is some 30 years old and does show it in places but work is still being carried out on some minor parts after the terrible day 24th Dec 2004.Wonerful people and a great relaxing time was had. Another bonus was it was so cheap there with fillet steak costing about £2.00! The locals were very friendly and honest. Negombo town was not such a nice place but there is no need to go there, the other towns were fine.

We stayed at Browns Beach for 11 nights following a short tour of sri lanka through Kuoni (which we would also highly recommend). The hotel rooms are basic but clean and have great views, we were originally meant to be staying in one of the beachfront rooms with direct access to the beach but they had not re-opened following the tsunami, however, we had such a stunning view of the sea from our 3rd floor room that we felt we had got the better deal!

The food was fantastic, in particular the evening buffet's were great, such a variety of curries - its a must for any fans of asian cuisine. All the staff in this hotel were brilliant and could not do enough for you, it was kinda sad to see just how empty the hotel was (one member of staff confirmed it was about half as busy as it would usually be although we were there in low season anyway).

Only downside we could find was that the annoying 'hawkers' on the beach would shout at and harrass you while you sat having a drink, desperately trying to flog sarongs and stuff, they will not take no for an answer and if you do wander past the line of palm trees on to the public beach expect to get pounced on. This was not the hotel's fault though and they do have security to prevent them coming into the hotel grounds.

Bar staff at the 'pub' were really nice and became great friends, all in all its a super friendly hotel with good food, right on the beach - its not the savoy but if you want a value for money break in a beautiful country you cant do much better!

My husband Alan, my brother Robert , his partner Ann and myself,Lynne stayed at Browns Beach hotel in November 04, we had such a wonderful time we don't know where to start to describe the lovely hotel it is. The rooms were well furnished, and we overlooked the private beach the sun set was out of this world, the food was fantastic and the staff were really friendly and went out of thier way to be as helpful as they could be. We would highly reccomend the boat trips off the beach, up the dutch canals and to the lagoon. Can't wait to go back in 2006

We stayed in Browns Beach Hotel, for 2 weeks, 18/02-05/03, and the only visable damage to the hotel is the beach cabanas, which are being aired and re-decorated at the moment.

We found the hotel to be spotlessly clean, and with the most friendly and helpful staff. Service was second to none.

The food, and choice of food, was excellent, both Sri Lankan and Western.

And so beautifully displayed in the buffet.

The hotel also organizes excursions, and day trips, along with recommending drivers. Our, driver, Sylvester, a lovely and knowledgeable gentleman, made our day trips very pleasurable, and knew all the right places to stop for eats and drinks!!

The beaches were clean and very beautiful. And the swimming pool very relaxing.

We recommend Browns Beach, not only for being very central for the Cultural Triangle, but also for making our 25th wedding anniversary celebration a truly memorable experience.

Stayed here in July 04 for almost 2 weeks and had probems with the rooms cleanliness. Stained bedding and dirty bathrooms along with ant infestation. Complained and was shown four other romms the same. The staff failed to see this was not acceptable. Only when our rep intervened were we moved to a cabana which although ok was not great. Friends who stay there often only ever use these rooms.

We stayed at Brown Beach Hotel November 18-19, 2004. We found the staff very friendly and helpful. We stayed in a beautiful cottage, that was very clean, large, and beatifully decorated. The young man who cleaned the room even demonstrated how he folded the sheets to make the bed look like a lovely fan with real flowers for the final touch.

The Buffet breakfast was out-of-this-world. Anything you desired to eat was available outside on the veranda.

The beach was very clean. Even though there were people trying to sell their wares to the tourist, they were friendly and not pushy.

I would appreciate the management letting me know if Browns Beach Hotel was harmed by the recent December 26th Tidal Wave.

My wife and I along with two friends visited this hotel in november on an all inclusive basis.

On arrival we were greeted with a warm greeting, cold drink and a shell necklace.

We were taken to our rooms with the minimum of delay.

The room was simple, comfortable and clean. Bottle water was provided.

We had a choice of buffet or a la carte [at a small extra charge, I had a beautiful sirloin steak for £2.] The food in the buffet restaurent was very

good consisting mainly of various curries, but they also catered for

vegetarians and more british tastes. The atmosphere was very friendly and relaxed. The staff went out of their way to speak to you and were very helpful. The entertainment was low key and abit amateurish, but this didn't worry us as we spend most nights in the bar playing caroom, a cross between shove halfpenny and snooker, with the chef's from the kitchen after they finished work at 10:30.

The beach in front of the hotel was kept clean and was ok, with hardly any hustlers and those that were there were very polite and non threatening. The only downside was the pool and pool area, it was very sad and tired looking and was badly in need of refurbishment, but the towel boy and the pool bar staff more than made up for this with their attention and good nature. The street outside the hotel was a bit rough

but we walked up and down at night without any problems, all the locals are pleased to say hello and seem genuinely interested in talking to you without selling you anything.

All in all we really enjoyed our holiday thanks mainly to the local people and staff at the hotel.