We arrived at this hotel after a 6 day tour of Sri Lanka staying in 5 different hotels all of which were of a very high standard yet only 3 or 4 star. For some reason the travel company (they will remain nameless for now) that booked our entire holiday who describe themselves as Travel agents for the discerning traveller let themselves down badly with the Club Palm Garden. This hotel is awful - possibly the worst I have ever stayed in.

After a longer than usual wait in reception we were taken to our family room right at the end of one wing of the hotel, on the third floor. Before we reached the room we couldn't help but notice the heavy amounts of construction work going on in the building next door which was no more than 8 metres away from the third floor. Clouds of dust and the noise of heavy machinery emanated from the building site.

Once in the "suite" which was divided by sliding doors that didn't slide, the overall condition was un-cared for and very dated. Tsunami damage was still evident 6 years on. Nothing worked properly. Both ceilings fans were dangerously wobbly and not properly attached to the ceiling. The air conditioners looked ancient and only had one setting - "on". The control switch for the air con in one room fell out of the console when used. The sliding doors out to the balcony were in a poor state with sharp screws sticking dangerously out of them and the balcony outside looked like it had had no attention at all with peeling paint on the tiles and balcony railing. Unfortunately the balcony on one side overlooked the beach bar from where a constant buzz of hideous Euro-pop music blared and on the other the Kitchen slop-room and communal toilets for the residents at the pool.

The bathroom was absolutely disgusting. The hand basin tap would not turn off , the once white bath mat was grey and dirty, the bath had been painted with emulsion and had peeled off in large patches and the plug hole was almost blocked with bits of peeled paint. If I had been stupid enough to get in the bath it would have been pointless as the old plastic plug had a hole in it the size of a 1p coin. The paint around the edge of the bath looked like it had been applied by a three year old who more than likely was asked to do the grouting as well.

We decided to leave any complaints until after we had had dinner. The food was mediocre and the service terrible. When finally approached for drink orders our waiter informed me that if I wanted a Vodka and tonic or any spirit drink I would have to leave my table (and my food) and go to the bar upstairs to get it! Eventually I managed to persuade the restaurant manager to arrange to have my tonic heavy V&T brought to the table.
On returning to our room to avoid the advertised "entertainment" the building work was still in full flow. We decided to try one of the games rooms to get away from the noise and dust of the building work - if there had been a TV in the room we probably wouldn't have heard it anyway. All the games equipment was so old it was falling apart and on retrieving a stray ping pong ball discovered a large cockroach under a table. We braved returning to our room and by 10.30pm we had had enough of the continuing building work next door. I picked up the phone to complain but it didn't work so I made my way to reception and demanded to see the duty manager. He eventually appeared and apologised for the noise of the building work and said he would see what he could do about it. I then asked if he had ever been in Room 332 and if he felt that it was in a fit state to put guests in. I invited him to have a look but he declined. After running through the long list of complaints he said that the hotel was fully booked and that he would not be able to move us to other rooms until the following evening. I told him that that was unacceptable and after considerable pressure he assured me that we would be moved after breakfast the next morning. I returned to the room and finally - at around 11pm - the building noise stopped.

At 4pm the next day we were finally given one of two adjoining rooms - the other would not be ready until 5.30pm - on the opposite side of the hotel despite hourly visits to reception to ask what had happened to the after breakfast deadline. The new rooms were a considerable improvement but still not worthy of a 3 star rating. Even the communal areas were in a state. Most of the sun loungers were broken, there were broken and missing tiles in and around the pool and a rather disgusting greasy rim mark all the way around the pool just above water level which I discovered when my back stuck to it. I could go on but I think I've gone on long enough.

It came as no surprise to learn that the hotel is closing down next month for a year long refurbishment. Unfortunately, even if it was upgraded to 4 or 5 star status I would never stay here again. It's only redeeming feature is it's proximity to the beach. The whole place should be knocked down and rebuilt and given a new name. It's a shame as it ruined what had been a fantastic holiday until we checked into the Club Palm Garden Hotel - a hotel that lets Sri Lanka down badly.