De Silva Wind Resort Kalpitiya - Kitesurfing School Sri Lanka

I wanted to write to you following our recent two week stay at De Silva Wind Resort Kalpitiya. We arrived very early in the morning and received a warm welcome from your staff. They had put out a lovely breakfast for us and we immediately felt at home. We settled in to one of the lovely bungalows and were very quickly known by name by your team. Nothing was too much trouble. The “beach” team spent time with us making sure we had the correct Wingfoil and Kite surf equipment, and even though I was just renting the equipment they could not have helped me more. Halfway through our stay, my wife suffered a nasty accident causing severe bruising to her face and left side of her body. This required a doctors visit and a subsequent Xray at the hospital. This is one of the worries for many people travelling to other countries, especially when they stay away from cities. Well they need not worry if they are staying with you! The entire team at De Silva looked after us so well. We did not feel isolated at all. We were driven to the doctors, medication was ordered and collected, ice packs were constantly provided and care and compassion was abundant. When it was clear that there was no lasting damage to my wife, she insisted that I continued with my sport. On my return from the beach I found that your staff had regularly checked on her, sitting and talking with her for long periods of time. She felt not only looked after but had a lovely time. Based on our first week, I would have put very positive reviews online praising your resort and staff. Due to the accident I felt it needed more as the care was excellent. I cannot thank you and your team enough, if it wasn’t for you, the trauma would have been too much and our holiday would have been spoiled. My wife is now recovering well and we are looking forward to our next trip to Sri Lanka. I wish you and all of your team well and thank you, thank you, thank you. Iain

It’s the first ‘premium’ accommodation option I have come across where the hot water cuts out unless there’s bright sunshine - not something, of course, that’s mentioned on their website. The rooms themselves are completely basic. A kettle, but no teabags. No fridge. Unpleasant drain smells coming from the bathroom, which didn’t drain properly. Air conditioning which has one setting - “Arctic Tundra” - which is an issue when you’re provided with barely any bedding. The WiFi is laughably unreliable. The bedside light had the wrong plug so was useless. If all of this makes you want to spend time outside the room, then why not hang out in one of the communal areas? Well, there is a bar, but there’s never anyone manning it, and apparently they don’t have a full licence to operate it (again, not something they mention on the website). There is of course the communal pool table, but in the evenings this is reliably occupied by one of the members of staff who can be found lounging across the sofas on apparently never ending video calls - not exactly a welcoming environment. As for the food, when we arrived we were told that there was basically none left and what they did have would take over an hour to prepare, so we may as well not bother. The breakfasts and dinners are overpriced and under-provisioned. Finally - the reason we’re all here - the activities on offer. There’s no discount on offer if you’re staying at the accommodation and the rates are pretty steep. We did windsurfing and had a really friendly, knowledgeable, and good-natured instructor. However, that’s about as far as it goes. There is no safety boat out on the water - when we got into trouble on a windy day we had to shout to the shore for assistance (which came in the form of said helpful instructor on a paddle board). This is just downright dangerous and irresponsible. I once asked if I could try wing-surfing as opposed to windsurfing, and was told with a nonchalant shrug that there was only one instructor and he was busy out with the kite surfers. All in all, a thoroughly disappointing experience which left us with the feeling of being utterly ripped off (with the exception being the windsurfing instructor Sam, who was great). We did complain to management at the end, so hopefully they take all of this on board.

Wir sind fünf Nächte zu Gast im De Silva Palm Resort und uns gefällt es sehr gut. Wir würden uns, trotz des kleinen Fußweges bis an die Lagune (150m, aber bei Regen etwas abenteuerlich) immer wieder für das Palm- und nicht das Windresort entscheiden (beide Einrichtungen gehören zusammen und das Abendessen gibt es im Windresort) Der wirklich sehr schön angelegte und großzügige Palmengarten gefällt uns dort super. Hier leisten die Gärtner tolle Arbeit. Die Landzunge zwischen Meer und Lagune, welche zweimal täglich kostenfrei mit dem Boot angefahren wird und die Kitesurfer dort hinbringt, ist wunderschön. Man kann super spazieren gehen, den Fischern zuschauen, oder auch jederzeit innerhalb von 45 Minuten zu Fuß zurück zum Palmresort laufen. Die Gäste bei De Silva sind überwiegen deutschsprachig und auch die Besitzer und einige Kitelehrer sprechen deutsch oder gut englisch. Zum Kitesurfen lernen ist es perfekt. Sich für Kinder. Das Kitecenter ist sehr professionell geführt. Die Atmosphäre ist entspannt. Was das Resort betrifft ist allerdings in einigen Bereichen noch Luft nach oben. Sehr zu empfehlen sind die Massagen bei Samantha im Palm Garten Ayurveda Spa. Ich wurde selten so gut massiert. Man sollte sich hier unbedingt eine oder mehrere Massagen gönnen.

Our stay at De Silva Palm Resort had its ups and downs. The resort is a tropical paradise, with lush surroundings and a peaceful atmosphere. The rooms were functional and met our basic needs, but it was the outstanding service that really stood out. The staff were warm and accommodating, and our Tuk Tuk driver, Shifan (+94 77 770 1751), was an absolute gem. He spoke perfect English, was always smiling, and went out of his way to make our trips around the area enjoyable and stress-free. That said, there are a few areas for improvement. The menu could use an update, as it lacks variety and doesn’t cater well to kids. Additionally, the internet is only available in the lounge area, which is tricky at night due to the constant attack of mosquitoes. With a few tweaks, this resort could truly shine, but the friendly service makes it worth considering

Ein wunderbares familiäres Resort, mit tollem Pool, liebevollen Angestellten, feinem Essen, sehr sauberen Zimmern und toller Kiteschule. Wir waren mit unseren drei Kindern dort. Die Jungs lernten Kitesurfen bei Yassine. Wir Eltern haben das Material gemietet. Die Lehrer hatten uns immer im Auge und waren sofort zur Stelle wenn wir sie brauchten. Wir wurden rundum verwöhnt und sind nur ungern wieder nach Hause. Danke für die einmalige Zeit im De Silva!

Breakfast is a delicious buffet selection of both sweet and savoury items plus omelettes on request. There is a nice swimming pool here, plus table tennis and a snooker table. De Silva kite surfing school is on site, by the beach area. The rooms are clean, comfortable and well maintained. The restaurant for dinner is just by the beach, which is where my boyfriend proposed to me. The staff were friendly and very helpful in making the proposal special. I honestly can't fault the place.