Renuka City

Book this hotel if you LIKE: a. smell of mildew/mold as soon as you walk in the lobby and room (filters not replace in years??) b. rude, arrogant, and unprofessional reception staff employees c. a lame manager (male) d. doorman/bellhop that ask for a tip when they escort (so unnecessary!!! ) you to your room e. noise from a construction site across the street f. loud housekeeping staff in the hallways at 8 am g. noisy, clanging AC in room h. stained room furniture I. dirty carpet underneath/around bed ( long black hair all over it-I am bald-obviously not vacummed ) j. WANT TO BE MANAGERS at reception k. lame breakfast

Good- —Friendly Front Desk staff (plus the Bell staff). —Comfortable bed. —The room size was big. —The bathroom size was nice (and like the design too). The shower size was gigantic. — Breakfast was just OK. Made to order omelets (from the kitchen). Food is clearly oriented to an Eastern palette and not Western. —The infinity pool on the roof is very nice. —WiFi was only good (not great) - bandwidth issues I suspect. —Air conditioning was very good. Maybe too good. The thermostat was weird - sometimes you could control it, and other times not. —Water pressure was good (sometimes a bit uneven, though). —There is both a full supermarket right across the street plus a Burger King. Also, there’s a coffee / pastry shop just a few minutes walk away. —Everything in the hotel looked clean, but overall, you can tell things are outdated. —There’s a train station five-minute walk away. But for any long distance train (such as to Kandy or Galle), you need to go to the main train station (Fort Railway Station) downtown.

Bad- —The water temperature was uneven - it is only hot for the first couple of minutes, then turns down to warm. But it was warm enough to take a shower. Interestingly, there’s a hot water button near the door which needs to be kept on (maybe it controls an Instahot unit?) — Despite the hotel website showing two (disposable) plastic bottles of waters in the room, there were no bottles. Instead, there’s a metal thermos filled with water. One might assume it’s bottled water instead of tap water, but that’s a big assumption (and not worth willing to chance getting a 3-5 day case of stomach sickness). Also, I don’t trust that these bottles are properly sanitized.

Comments/Suggestions- —The hotel is split and is divided by a small ally/road. It is linked by an over-the-road covered hallway bridge. —The hotel wanted $42 USD for an airport pick (which I thought was very high). I took an Uber instead for about 1/3rd the cost. The hotel is about 30 minutes from CMB airport. —Not related to the hotel, but beware of prolific Tuk Tuk scams here in Colombo (Google for more info). Even an experienced traveler like myself (148 countries) got bamboozled into a quick trip.

Summary- I would stay here again.

The hotel's location is excellent, making it a convenient choice for travelers. However, the service experience is disappointing—staff constantly push for tips and become unpleasant if not tipped. The breakfast is overpriced for what it offers, which adds to the feeling of being overcharged. Not the most welcoming stay despite the great location.