Browns Hotels & Resorts

Club Hotel Dolphin

Club Hotel Dolphin is a family beach resort at Negombo, for families who want big pools 35 minutes from Colombo's airport. It has 154 rooms, three pools including one for children, two restaurants and three bars on the Negombo shore, and part of its usefulness is that airport: this is the resort people book at the start or the end of a Sri Lanka trip. All-inclusive is a rate plan or a paid upgrade rather than the default, and that is the thing to pin down before arrival. Guests praise the pool areas, the staff and the service, the buffet and the Sri Lankan cooking, and the family layout. The complaints are all-inclusive restrictions and a la carte exclusions, rooms and bathrooms wanting refurbishment, air conditioning in some rooms, a lively resort that is not a quiet one, and sea conditions that vary by season. The thing people wish they had known is to ask specifically whether the Waves restaurant and the premium drinks are inside their plan. Where a rate carries all-inclusive, expect the buffet at Sands, the bars on selected drinks, Wi-Fi and the Kids Club, while the a la carte Waves restaurant, room service, the spa, the excursions and the airport transfer sit outside it. Confirm in writing whether you are booked on bed and breakfast, half board, full board or all-inclusive, because guests have arrived expecting one and found another. The Superior Room is the value, the Sea View Villa is the resort feel, and the Superior Family Room has the bunk beds. Light sleepers should avoid the poolside rooms, and couples wanting quiet seclusion should look at the south coast.

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