We stayed at Homestay 24/1 for three nights in February.
Diloshi and Prosad have been really great hosts. We stayed at one of the rooms on the second floor with a garden view and a balcony. It`s small, but neat and cozy with AC and fan, so you can use whatever you prefer. Bed is rather big with clean sheets and comfy matrass. Hot water is available at all times and in sufficient amount. Toilet paper is provided, no soap though.
Hair Drier, sunscreen, hair spray etc you can find on the table in the hallway. Surprisingly no insects in the room, no lizards or other animals who would try to invade. The biggest creature I saw was a chipmunk, there are a lot of them in the neighborhood.
Breakfasts are very good and nutritious (pictures are attached). We were having papaya and bananas every day, fresh juices, toasts, butter and jam, dal and special bread, coconut sambal (not sure about the name), omelet, tea/coffee. Every time we were asked if it`s enough of food and hosts were serving the table themselves. Dining tables are facing the terrace so you can have your meals, enjoy beautiful garden view and listen to the birds. Prosad has his own restaurant Lambada that is in 10 minutes walking distance. You can go there or order dinner at the property from the restaurant menu (ask Diloshi). We had lunch and dinner at Lambada, pretty good food for reasonable prices.
As it`s a homestay we tried to follow local life style and the latest time we came back to the property was 10.15pm. Hosts were waiting for us to lock the door afterwards.
The nearest bounty beach is Pitiwella, we went there by tuk tuk as it was too hot outside to walk and also the roads are not equipped for pedestrians, roadsides are way too narrow.
We rented tuk tuk for a day for 2 500 LKR, walking is not a good idea during. The driver`s name is Haji, he`s actually a really good guy, who`s gonna show you around. You can tell him where you wanna go and he`s gonna take you. Otherwise Haji has his own program. He took us to Dutch Fort and showed the most interesting spots, some museums (free entry), gold factory, turtle factory (entry 1000 LKR per person), Auverdic Village Garden (pretty interesting tour, you can get back and neck massage for 1000 LKR, but don`t go to the shop, prices are insane!!! there are no price tags on the items and at the cash desk you gonna be terrified with the total amount), took to the souvenirs shop, Unawatuna and Jungle Beaches. It was very exciting and fruitful one day tour. You can ask Prosad or Diloshi for haji`s contacts.
There are a lot of great places to eat on the territory of the Dutch Fort (best kottu roti is in the Blockhouse!).
We booked a transfer from Colombo airport to the property from Homestay 24/1 (50 EUR), driver`s name is Chaminda. Later when we needed a lift from Galle to Nuwara Elia he helped us out as well. It was a long drive on the mountain roads and Chaminda kept telling us stories about cities, mountains, beaches etc we saw on our way. Also, he stopped near the Ella fall and whenever we asked him. The car is clean and comfy, AC is working properly and the price for the trip is reasonable (115 USD). For Chaminda contacts you can ask Prosad or Diloshi.
All in all, we really enjoyed staying at Homestay 24/1 and would recommend for people who are seeking for peaceful relaxing holiday.