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Jetwing Beach is the former Royal Oceanic Hotel in
Negombo. As the name implies it is owned by Jetwing Hotels whose roots
were also in Negombo and who also own the adjoining a 3 star Blue
Oceanic Hotel and a basic 2 star Seashells hotels. After 2004, Royal Oceanic hotel underwent a total renovation to
convert what was a 4 star into a 5 star luxury hotel. What was a basic
main building has now undergone a facelift with a considerable degree of
success. As a starting point, The Beach inherited the large rooms of the
Royal Oceanic which were some of the largest on the Sri Lanka coast as
well as the pools and, unfortunately, the Sands dining area.
The Beach is now a member of the small luxury hotels of
the world, as is its sister hotel on the South Coast; Lighthouse Hotel
Spa. We last visited Royal Oceanic in 2002 before the renovation,
returning to its reincarnation as Jetwing Beach in January 2010 after a gap of nearly 8 years.
Not surprisingly both Jetwing Beach and
Lighthouse Hotel were designed by Geoffrey Bawa, the legendary Sri Lankan architect whose Bawa touch is
unique.Although not of the
same pedigree, as the Lighthouse was “born” five star, Jetwings Beach,
formerly Royal Oceanic now aspires to the same grade. We review how far
this is the case. In its suites Beach even surpasses Lighthouse, only the dining area and the creaking doors on the 2nd floor standard rooms lets its down.
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SETTING: Royal Oceanic is set around 3 inter
connecting pools.
Walk past the reception and you look down onto an
unusual semi covered shallow pool with islands in the middle that runs
down the length of the main block. Plants on the square islands impart
further character to the pool. This adjoins the second pool outside the
garden rooms. The main long but narrow pool is further down and closer
to the beach. It has been terraced with steps from the edge leading
into the middle.
ACCOMMODATION
SUITES: The Suites, all located, on the top 4th floor with the best
sea views, offer lap of luxury accommodation. They create a stunning
first impression on entry. The suites are much larger than the deluxe
rooms; the open air bathroom itself is nearly the size of the deluxe
room. The suites include a bed area, lounge, study and open air bathroom
as well as a terrace with magnificent Indian Ocean views all in one open
area plan. The large open air bathroom area consists of large bathtub on a
wooden deck, twin basin wash deck, shielded toilet area and open air
shower with a bench. It gives the immediate impression of lap of luxury which
could only be enhanced by a small private plunge pool.
DELUXE STANDARD ROOMS: In contrast the deluxe
rooms like Room 308 in which we stayed offer minimal furnishings. The
rooms are spacious. On entry the open bathroom with windows looking into
the room, impart a first impression of restrained luxury. One can, of
course, lower blinds for privacy to hide the bathroom area with large
bathtub, and single basin deck, rain shower etc from the rest of the
room. The glazed cement floors are effective in imparting class to the
rooms. Here again, the terraces of the deluxe standard rooms on the 2nd
and 3rd floors look out into the magnificent stretch of golden sandy
beach. Deluxe rooms on the ground floor have the advantage that one can
step from one’s room into one of the smaller pool areas or reach the
beach in a few strides.
The wooden doors of the deluxe Room 308 both those
leading to the balcony as well as to the bathroom had warped and thus
emit an annoying rasping scraping noise whenever opened or closed.
As this happens often, with similar sounds coming from other rooms on
the floor, we have to conclude that this warping afflicts rooms generally. Maintenance parties are at work all the time,
which is a plus point, as it is neither easy nor cheap to keep such a
large hotel exposed to the salt air spick and span all the time, but
they do need to close the doors more quietly. The hotel maintains a sailing boat outside the hotel
as it imparts character.
DINING Sands is the general coffee shop of
Jetwings Beach. It is embodies a semi covered area with ceiling fans and
an open area under the stars. This is convenient when barbeques and
grills are held close to the beach. The pleasant aspect of being on the
beach is reduced if it rains. There is the added nuisance of mosquitoes; those in Negombo are larger than their
South coast counterparts. In our opinion a 5
star beach hotel should also offer the choice of an air conditioned
dining area. The a la carte restaurant one level higher is fully airconditioned
but results in additional cost being incurred for full board and half
board guests, although a nominal 25% discount is offered. The General
Manager; Hyacinth Gunawardena pays a courtesy visit to all diners in the
evening or at breakfast; a pleasant and personal touch found at five
star Sri Lanka hotels. At dinner, we were asked no less than three times
whether we wanted wine with our dinner; a not too subtle form of gentle
sales pressure that lead to an equally gentle determination to stick to
"normal water".
Private beach dining with a table in a netted tent by
the waters and flame lighting is available and is taken up mainly by
wedding couples. In fact, for wedding couples whose special day is to be
graced by the presence of friends and family, The Beach so close to the
international airport is an ideal location. So too is the Beach’s siting
on the magnificent Negombo beach, one of the widest beaches in Asia. The
beach is superior to some of the less up market hotels also sharing the same
stretch of beach (On one side Blue Oceanic, a 3 star also owned by Jetwing Hotels and by the 2 star budget Goldisands) and whose loud disco
music on Saturday nights somewhat spoils the upmarket ambience of The
Beach. Hotels in Negombo are also within easy reach of Kandy,
the hill capital in the island interior. See our sister site
www.srilankaweddings.co.uk
CHECKOUT: We were booked in half board by Jetwing
Hotels central reservations. On check out I was
surprised to see that my basis was shown on the bill as Bed & Breakfast
only so that I had been charged not only for the dinner that was to have been
included but for coffee as well. My
check out was delayed by upwards of 20 minutes whilst these errors were
corrected.
In
summary, a beach wedding hotel of great character close to the airport,
ideal if many friends and family members are also flying in for your
wedding. Some minor deficiencies that can for the most part easily be
corrected, except for the open air Sands area part of which should be
enclosed. Consider a beach dinner on your wedding night. |
