Yathra Houseboat

TLDR: From our experience and from reading other reviews, it is NOT a premium Jetwing experience. It is a boat run by a sexist and arrogant captain more suited for a large group and a party rather than a relaxing couple’s stay. The full review: We recently booked 1 night at Yathra for my birthday. We arrived at the property roughly 20min after the stated arrival time of 12pm. We took the early checkin option. We were not greeted by anyone and were made to sit for over an hour in a random house next to the boat we were supposed to be on. No greeting, no welcome, no manager or anyone to speak to. At some point we asked if we could at least have some water and were given two small plastic bottles of water before the staff member disappeared again. The manager (boat captain?) showed up around 40min after we arrived and casually strolled up to us with a huge grin. He then proceeded to say hello to my wife and I, then completely ignored her question and started questioning me about whether I’m Sri Lankan. Must be some macho thing because he refused to address her directly. Rather than apologizing for making us wait or offering to at least let us sit down somewhere on the boat with a refreshment, he just started getting very defensive about why we have to sit in this house in front of the boat. A few of the excuses that were given: - one of the ACs in one of the two rooms doesn’t work - everything is on the boat - the previous guests left late - one of the staff members is on leave today - we were not informed/aware that you requested an early checkin These were the reasons we had to sit in that house without refreshments, greetings or anything. These were the reasons we spent Rs. 37,000.00 (roughly $104 at the date of this review) to sit in a mosquito infested house and be ignored. On top of that, this incredibly rude captain/manager. He made us feel uncomfortable, unwelcome and like we were inconveniencing him. He was even giggling at our discomfort. I have nothing against Jetwing, we really enjoy Jetwing. But this was not the Jetwing experience. This is the backpacker experience where people pay much less per night. At 1:30pm (90min after the booking arrival time) we were informed that the room was ready and that we could get on the boat. We then informed the captain/manager and staff that we would be leaving as we did not feel comfortable with him or the service that would be offered. He insisted that we come on board saying “everything is on the boat”, “come come”. But after we insisted on leaving, he just said “ok”. We then left and waited on the road to try and find somebody that would take us to another hotel. The captain or staff did not offer to help us find any transport, provided no apology or help of any kind. They ignored our request to find help to get some sort of transport. We can’t comment on the actual boat experience as our Jetwing Yathra experience lasted roughly 2 hours. But we can comment on the attitude of

Outstanding! Beautiful boat. Everything you need, great food, very good air conditioning, spotlessly clean, attentive service and value for money it is excellent. And a trip up the mango river to top it all off. A brilliant experience not to be missed in bentota.