We were a group of four girls staying in La Pentera for just one night, as we had a short time in Sri Lanka. Before travelling over, I had arranged with Francis, the manager, to have a driver collect us in Galle. The journey was long, maybe about 4 hours but the driver (Dimuthu) was brillinat! He stopped for toilet breaks and even bought us some sweetcorn during the journey. From the moment we arrived, we were treated exceptionally well. Francis got to know all our names in the short time we were there. The food was fresh and really tasty. Go for the parata!
I had a safari booked for the next day with a different company but cancelled it and booked one with La Pentera instead. We left at 6:00am, brought sandwiches and water with us. Francis and a guide came with us for the safari. It was great and they stopped to point out different animals and for photos to be taken. After the safari, we went to visit a lake which is a five minute walk from La Pentera. We then drove to a river nearby and had a swim. We left for Adam's Peak that afternoon and our driver, Dimuthu, drove us there. Again it was about 5 hours but we had some stops along the way. Dimuthu even climbed Adam's Peak with us at 2am (dedicated!) and drove us to Colombo that afternoon.
We had a wonderful stay at La Pentera and we were so impressed with the commitment of the staff to making our stay as enjoyable and as memorable as possible. Our only regret is that we couldn't;t have stayed longer.