Fabulous attention from Megan and Nicholas, in fact whoever I spoke to was very helpful. This level of service is hard to find nowadays. Well done team you’re doing a fantastic job !
Stan Castle has been excellent and I will be booking again with him for our next trip very soon!
BA outbound flights were not up to standard, inbound much better
Easy to contact.
My travel went very smoothly, couldn’t have asked for more.
We couldn't have wished for a better service. We were looked after incredibly well every step of the way by Daniel Webb. Our resort was beautiful, the transfers were managed well and we couldn't have wished for a better holiday. As regular customers of DialAFlight, we know we can always rely on you to provide a great service and lots of helpful advice.
Hassle free
Once again, perfect service.
Seymourwas always there to help us and give us information and peace of mind
Thank you Claire and your team for helping us find an amazing holiday in Mauritius especially with all the last minute tweaks and changes we threw at you! DialAFlight made the experience smooth and stress free from beginning to end. Looking forward to our next adventure
Zoe was awesome. And anyone I have dealt with in the past has also been awesome. Always attentive and great at answering any questions. Unbeatable on price. I have already recommended to friends who are now your clients.
Nothing less than perfect from start to finish. As usual, Craig Paul ensured we had the best service. Would never use anyone else and most certainly recommend regularly.
Rupert and team were phenomenal. Thanks so much
Service has been impeccable - my go to person is Ryan who takes all the pressure off me.
Thank you Jason!
Justin was fabulous- personal touch, great communication - absolutely brilliant service
My experiences with DialAFlight are excellent - reliable and always prompt to receive a quick response from Bill Gardner and other staff.
We had an amazing holiday. Everything was as promised and you took away so much of the stress in planning and organising. Will definitely be coming back to you in future
Easiest holiday ever booked. Timings, flights, transfers and accommodation brilliant!
Will definitely use DialAFlight again. Great service
Seamless booking organisation by Alex Gache and great rep (Sarah) in resort. Will highly recommend DialAFlight!
Really helpful staff especially Jordan. Accommodated a last minute change in dates smoothly and quickly. Great service
Thank you Ivor Savage for all you help! We had a fantastic holiday and everything ran smoothly.
Everything went to plan - flights, hotel and transfers and the local tour agent was excellent.
We are so happy with excellent service from Liam Rush. He is so helpful. We had a great holiday and definitely recommend to our friends.
Great service from start to finish. Very helpful, efficient and professional. All details regarding the trip were emailed in a very easy to read format and any requests and updates were dealt with promptly. I would definitely recommend them.
We have already recommended you to our friends and will use DialAFlight again. Brodie Letchfield was most helpful and an excellent asset to your company.
The best and only travel agent I use. Always a great deal, great service and very competitive. My agent is the best !
Perfect handling of my holiday from start to finish. Thanks again Ross for all you do.
We are always happy with the service that we receive from DialAFlight
A BIT OF HISTORY
In his 1891 book Palms And Pearls: Or Scenes In Ceylon, Alan Walters highlights a 14th century Icelandic work which names Paradise as an island off India 'studded with flowers', which he believes to be Ceylon, renamed Sri Lanka in 1972.
And French author Hugo Victor is believed to be referring to Sri Lanka when he writes: 'Paradise is a spot in the Orient productive of all kinds of woods and pomiferous trees: it contains the Tree of Life; there is neither cold nor heat but perpetual equable temperature.'
Arrival in Sri Lanka, with the chaos of Colombo airport and the surrounding roads, seemed some way from that early notion of Paradise.
But once you reach the areas of natural beauty, you'll see why the Paradise description is so apt. There are 26 national parks in Sri Lanka, each one teeming with wildlife. I stayed at the Uga Escapes resort of Chena Huts, in Yala National Park.
Cape Weligama beach sunset
A PLACE TO RELAX
The hotel is intimate, with just 14 luxury suites, and they're spread out to ensure maximum privacy.
A sign on the path to the hotel declared that an elephant had last been sighted here just three days before.
One lunchtime, we were enjoying a watermelon martini at the bar when four monkeys sat down just yards away. And on another occasion, we wandered down to the sandbanks below the resort and heard a huge crash. Turning around slowly, we came face to face with an elephant. He was unfazed, but we were overcome with emotion. It was one of the best moments of my life.
You might think that the staff would become blasé about living so close to wildlife, but they delighted in showing us photos of leopards, crocodiles, wild boars and elephants which had all meandered into the hotel grounds. The private suites at Chena Huts are similar to safari lodges: vintage camping lamps, a freestanding bath, a huge bed, colonial style rugs and - a safari essential - Nespresso machine.
There's a plunge pool in the garden of each suite, too - as well as an enormous, lagoon-like pool moments away.
Meals and alcohol are inclusive and you can turn up to eat at any time. And once you've tasted the Sri Lankan fish curry, you'll want to sign up for the cookery classes offered by the head chef.
At 6.30am every day you can set off on a safari tour of the park (or at 3.30pm, though morning gives you a better chance of leopard sightings). Driving through the park, you'll suddenly come to a clearing which looks as if you've been transported to Africa, with huge lakes covered with water hyacinths, and mountains looming in the background.
We saw toucans, elephants, leopards, monkeys and water buffalo - a fabulous experience.
Following our stay at Chena, we set off on a three-hour drive to Weligama, a popular surfing beach on the south coast. Here we stayed at Cape Weligama resort, perched on a clifftop.
The resort has an activities centre where you can take out surfboards, snorkels and paddleboards. There are also scuba-diving courses. I was happier sitting by the Moon Pool - an infinity pool fringed with palm trees where you can watch the surfers bobbing like buoys, waiting for the next big wave.
Rent a bike and start your day with some cycling at Cape Weligama
A VISIT TO GALLE
The nearby town of Galle is one of the most distinctive on the island. It features a 16th century fort built by the Portuguese. We had tea at the Galle Fort Hotel, the most chic destination on the coast.
Back in Colombo,Residence, another Uga Escapes hotel, is the
perfect sanctuary. It's a ten-minute walk from the Town Hall and near the
Gangaramaya Temple, so ideal for sightseeing. We sat by the hotel pool sipping
a gin and tonic and plotted how to return to Paradise as soon as
possible.
First published in the Mail Online - September 2018
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