My tryst with luxury…

 Believe it or not I have not visited Heritance Kandalama ever!  Even though it has been around for a long, long time. In the good old days I could not afford it. When I had the money it really did not interest me.

Oh the food!

Oh the view!

Oh the environment!

You have to see it to believe it!

These were some of the statements which followed the horrified look I get when I tell them that I was an oddity that has never stepped into Heritance Kandalama or even its vicinity.

But they kept going on and on and on. Waxing eloquent about the virtues of Kandalama that finally my wall of resistance broke down and me and the brood decided to head that way making use of a substantial discount which was offered by HSBC.

I am a firm believer of under promising and over delivering.

And in this case – due to no fault of the hotel – my levels of anticipation has been built up to fever pitch with all the talk I have been exposed to.

And of course as one would expect it did not live up to my expectations.

Don’t get me wrong. Not that it was bad in any manner if was like heaven compared to some of the hellish places I have stayed in. But guess I had been made to believe that this was the closest thing to heaven one would find. And it was most certainly far from it.

The view? Well I guess for someone who has been stuck in the city it would be wonderful but not for me. I have seen far better and more breathtaking views in my journeys.

The food? Yes the variety was wide. No it was amazing. But all the western cuisine was bland and lacked flavor as I believe it was cooked to cater to the more delicate palates of the foreign guests.

And guess the food which chef Roy does for us on our excursions is far superior in flavor as even the western food is made to suit our taste.

The Service was good but it was nothing outstanding.  The poor people who are employed their would die of exhaustion if they had to deliver outstanding service because the property is so widespread and they have to do a helluva lot of walking every day.

But there is one thing about Heritance I can’t stop singing praises about.

That is the quality of our accommodation. Oh wow! Now that was heavenly.

Since we have grown up kids a conventional room is way too cramped and we end up climbing on each other’s heads and driving everyone mad. And the cost of getting the Royal Suite was marginally more expensive than getting two double rooms. So we decided to splurge the extra dough and lead a life of luxury. At least for the weekend.

Calling it living in the lap of luxury is an understatement. The suite came with one large living room with a dining table for ten – not that you would need it – and an absolutely lovely lounge area. With a wide screen TV and sofa’s you could sink into. On each side of the living room were dressing areas connecting to the toilets and the bed rooms. The toilets were absolutely out of this world each with its own Jacuzzi and rain shower and double wash basins. The Jacuzzi was situated adjacent to a large window with a beautiful view of the lake. And one of my greatest pleasures was to switch off all the lights except for the little light in the tub and admire the stars and the shadows over the lake while the water gently gushed over me. It was pure pleasure.

And to add to all this pampering the welcome fruit platter was also accompanied by some of the most delicious roast cashew nuts I have ever eaten. And the beds were so comfy one did not want to move out of them.

It was so heavenly that we rarely left our rooms during our entire stay. Instead all of us laid about in the room watching tv reading books and enjoying the creature comforts. The miracle was the accommodations were spacious enough to ensure that none of us stepped on each others toes and we each had our own space. How wonderful is that.

And the amazing thing is that this was great value for money specially when you compare it with our experience and the price we had to pay at Malu Malu.

The only down side to this whole experience I have been eating way too much even though I have been complaining about the food. Even though this is not the most complimentary post about this place I can’t wait to go again.