Coral Sands Hotel, located in Hikkaduwa, has received a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence award. The prestigious award, which honours hospitality excellence, is given only to establishments that consistently achieve outstanding traveller reviews on TripAdvisor and is extended to qualifying businesses worldwide.

Siri Goonewardene, Managing Director of Coral Sands said, “The award is based on the extremely positive experiences that our guests have had in the past few seasons. Our hotel has strived to maintain an exceptional level of service for over three decades and we will continue to keep improving the guest experience at the hotel.”

“TripAdvisor is pleased to honour exceptional businesses for consistent excellence, as reviewed by travelers on the site,” said Christine Petersen, President, TripAdvisor for Business.

“The Certificate of Excellence Award gives highly rated establishments around the world the recognition they deserve. ”Chamindra Goonewardene, the hotels’ Marketing and Outreach Manager added, “Online reviews have become the new standard bearers for a testament on the quality of the hotel, and we are proud to be one of the few hotels in the South to achieve this honour. With the advent of online booking sites, we believe that this award will help position the hotel as a top beach hotel in the south, considering the variety of amenities that both the hotel and Hikkaduwa has to offer.”Sites such as tripadvisor.com, booking.com and agoda.com have come to the forefront of the tourism industry with an influx of FIT’s (free independent travelers) to the country.

Stella Koh, Account Manager of booking.com for Sri Lanka and the Maldives said, “Coral Sands has performed exceptionally well in the last season, and ranks #1 amongst the hotels in Hikkaduwa, and has attracted a large number of tourists through our booking engine.”