We recently stayed here twice, before and after a tour around Sri Lanka. The hotel is comprised of a few rooms in a luxurious penthouse right next to the Dehiwala railway station. The view is wonderful, the rooms are beautiful and the breakfast is excellent. The owners are a Sri Lankan couple who have lived around the world, and who divide their time between Australia and Sri Lanka. They are sophisticated, eclectic, polite and hospitable. We decided to take a short tour around Sri Lanka and the owners kindly offered to arrange a taxi for us, saying that they get a corporate discount and would "be happy to give" us their "price for a package". The driver and car were through Kangaroo Cabs, which is indeed a reputable company in SL, and the experience was good. However, shortly after starting the trip, we saw the meter in the upper corner of the driver's seat, in plain view. When I asked him what it was, he told me that based on company policy, the cost of the tour (fixed price) must be visible to the customer, for reasons of transparency. As it turns out, we had in fact paid the hotel owners 29% more than the actual price. I was able to verify with Kangaroo Cabs, that the price in the taxi was the correct price for the tour. Therefore, it would appear that a difference of LKR 12, 400 had been charged by the owners... a rather high "booking fee" of 29% on their part. After returning from the tour, I gently enquired about this and showed the owner a photograph of the fixed meter. He very politely said he did not know what had happened because his wife had arranged it, called it a "miscommunication of some sort", took a copy of the photograph and said he would look into it and email me back. We left early the next morning and I never heard back. The overcharge was never returned. The owners pride themselves on offering a personal and sincere experience and clearly led us to believe that they wouldn't charge any commission for making a helpful phone call and booking a taxi service for us. In fact they even suggested it would be at a discounted price. Unfortunately that was not the case at all. We also found out that they offer tours to their customers regularly. They are probably marking them all up. Their hidden fee of 29% is too high in my opinion, particularly since they do not disclose this information to their customers. Therefore, I would suggest that people could perhaps safely stay at this hotel, but I would advise caution, particularly in using their assistance for anything, as their approach appeared rather disingenuous to us. If booking a tour, please just phone the taxi service yourself, rather than asking them for assistance. At this taxi company, they speak English well (including the driver). Regrettably, this episode did indeed diminish an otherwise excellent trip. For this reason, I would, sadly, not be able to stay here again or recommend it to my friends and family.