After 2 weeks in Sri Lanka and staying at a variety of guest houses, I then came to Boa Vista. The dead flowers on the Reception desk, the large broken wall clock and the aquarium which hadn't been cleaned for months should have been a clue!Good location right next to the lake but that's as good as it gets. Grubby room, dirty bathroom. Staff, when there were any, couldn't speak English although all the guests were Westerners. Inadequate breakfast and a complete feeling that the place was in rapid decline. Shame as it could be a great base while in Anuradhapura

OK. the bathrooms need redecorating, the rooms are large with a great view, breakfast was ok. What i appreciated is that Shani told us the cook was too tired after XMASS she had her assistant drive us to the beautiful
Tissawewa Resthouse where we had a great dinner, driver picked us up on the way back. She is also excellent in advising you about tours and prices.

We switched to Boa V ista after Grand Tourist hotel, which was really bad and dirty. The Boa Vista was clean, offered free wi-fi, and had friendly staff.
However, we had to pay very big extra for the air condition, did not get breakfast, and the whole place is very used - overall, not the best value for what they offer. The air condition works on some secretly known protocol, doors do not close properly, lock in the bathroom did not work at all (not that we need it urgently, but seeing rusty leftovers of previous mechanism somehow didn't make feel romantic). The owner's recommended guide for ancient city is completely useless, and we truly started to enjoy our walk only after we released the guide from his "duty".
Overall, we would not make our way back to this guesthouse, even if we have seen worse already on our trip.

Went to stay for 2 nights but left immediatly and went to a different place, They said i had no booking, tried to charge me double and showed me a basement room. the bed had stained sheets. the main entrance was beautiful but it ended there.