The Residence by Uga

Not good at all. You can find many good other hotels in colombo. Not maintained well and old. Bad service and no standards

When I booked this boutique hotel, it was under the name Uga Residence. Shortly before my trip, I realised it had been rebranded to Residence on Park. I should have cancelled my booking then!

Aesthetically it looks beautiful from afar but on closer look it is extremely tired, rundown and old. It feels like they’ve made a decision to run it into the ground. Details aren’t cared for or maintained. For example, all the hanging pictures were not straight, furniture stained, lights didn’t work, tiles in the shower were loose and slippery.

The check in was bizarre. The first lady who I found on site asked for my passport then disappeared for 10 mins. I didn’t know what to do so sat in the lounge wondering what was happening. Then another staff member arrived with a drink but didn’t explain what it was, so I asked and he couldn’t understand me.

I already knew it was a quiet boutique hotel but I was the only one at breakfast and each time I left the hotel it was a ghost town, including locating any staff onsite.

The rooms are enormous and this is the best thing about the hotel and so much appreciated when you are travelling, especially when you are packing and unpacking. But, there was a lack of hanging hooks, racks in the bathroom, the shower area was so large but offered nowhere to place your soap, shampoo etc unless you walked across the slippery loose tiles.

There is so much repair work that needs to happen. I had 2 x lights out in my room and loose, slippery tiles in my shower, not to mention the bugs and creepy crawlers.

Breakfast was an experience. The first thing someone wants when they sit down is their coffee/ tea order taken. I was given a menu then left alone for 10 mins. The staff take one order item at a time so when I finally ordered my coffee, the staff member disappeared for another 10 mins then appeared with my coffee. I had to ask again if I could order my breakfast. The menu is divided into a western or Sri Lankan breakfast and they don’t really understand the concept of flexibility. For example, the western breakfast came with a juice, bread basket, choice of eggs, then bacon, sausage, mushrooms, tomato etc. I only wanted an omelette and was told everything will come out. I explained I did not want everything and it would be a waste of food. Eventually, the request was understood.

When you do locate any staff, they are always chatting and standing around.

I now understand why Uga left this place!

I booked our one night stay at this property when it was Uga Residence due to the high standards and excellent service of Uga Escapes properties. Unfortunately before our stay Uga Escapes pulled out of managing this property and I immediately had concerns about our upcoming stay (but was unable to cancel as it was non-cancelable booking).

My contact with the hotel prior to our stay was poor, requiring many emails and messages from a third party booking platform to be sent before a single reply was received.

We arrived at the property it was strange that they insisted on payment as part of check in (normally done at checkout) and they refused to honour the rate in $USD that I booked with, insisting on a conversion to Sri Lankan rupees and applying an appallingly low exchange rate so the room cost approximately an additional $20 USD for the one night stay.

It became clear that despite replying and acknowledging our request for a room that opened out to the pool, they had allocated a dark room at one end of the building that was away from the pool and had no useable courtyard. We were not happy with this, and they moved us to another room however the air conditioning did not work. We requested a refund and asked to leave to find accommodation elsewhere.

The General Manager intervened as the only available room was one at the other end of the building, again away from the pool and had air conditioning compressors blowing hot air on the front door and entrance. The General Manager requested that we stay, and offered dinner in the restaurant as an apology.

We stayed, and the food quality in the restaurant was excellent. Our meals were of a high quality, very tasty and quite substantial. We had excellent service from Shamal during dinner and again at breakfast the next morning.

The suites are very large and comfortable and the bed and bedding was extremely comfortable. We had a great nights sleep as the air conditioning worked in the third suite we were moved to.

Unfortunately the suites and the property have water ingress issues in a number of locations, and the building needs some significant maintenance and upgrading. The furniture is worn and had stains in a number of places. The room amenities were basic and not consistent with a luxury hotel. Even the pool which is a great size and very nice is missing tiles in a number of places, and discarded tiles that had fallen off were just left lying near the pool for the two days we were there.

It’s such a shame, as it is an amazing and stunningly beautiful old property, which looks incredible dimly lit at night. It’s in a great location with good bars and restaurants close by at Park Mews.

The staff were friendly, professional and tried very hard, however the service was consistent with the state of the building and requires a bit of work.

We appreciate the kind gesture of the General Manager in relation to dinner in the hotel’s restaurant, and wish he and his team the best of luck with Residence on Park.