Hotel 2-Star di Central Province, Sri Lanka

The owners and employees at this hotel are so, so lovely. Unfortunately their hotel is not. I almost feel catfished as many of the photos highlighted the bar and pool party atmosphere. This was not the case - the pool was a decent size but in the shade and I actually didn’t see anyone in it. The pool party drinking shots I highly suspect were perhaps not a genuine source. The same goes for the bar which is massive and attended to by several lovely young, bored gentlemen as both times I popped up (once for dinner) I was the only patron. Again no party atmosphere or even people - which is a shame as it is a big venue. Fortunately next door was another venue for some decent cocktails and music which saved the boredom somewhat. The bedroom was a decent size with a small fridge (but didn’t work), the bathroom was small, felt dirty, no hand soap or soap for the shower (apart from leftover previous occupants - and that was gross). The pressure was poor making showering difficult and there was plaster on the floor from some damage - not cleaned up. The bed was massive and comfortable with air conditioning and a fan so sleep was good. Finally, and to repeat, the staff were lovely. Very hospitable and the location is about a ten minute walk to the Sacred Tooth Temple and Kandy Lake. So great location. Would I stay there again - no. Would I pop in to say hello to the owners and next door for a cocktails - possibly!

My wife and I stayed here during our trip to Sri Lanka, choosing it because of the great ratings on Google. The location is a little outside of town, so you’ll need to take a tuktuk to get there. It costs less than USD3, and honestly, riding through Nuwara Eliya on a tuktuk was part of the fun. The guesthouse itself feels like a large bungalow with several rooms, designed with a classic British-style interior. Our room was one floor up, not very big but cozy and just right for our stay. The highlight was the balcony that faced the lake, where we could watch the sunrise in the morning. At night, the temperature dropped to around 13°C, so we didn’t even need air conditioning. The water heater worked well, and the bathroom was spacious and comfortable. One thing I wished for was indoor slippers. The floor got very cold at night, so I had to wear socks, which was manageable but slippers would have been nicer. The caretaker was warm and welcoming. He greeted us with hot tea on arrival, which felt amazing in the chilly weather. Breakfast was simple but good. Since we checked out early, he prepared an American-style breakfast for us. Overall, it was a pleasant stay with beautiful views, kind hospitality, and a peaceful atmosphere.

Check-in is too troublesome! After arriving at the hotel, I will automatically provide passports and orders to the elderly in the store. Look left and right. Call me to wait for 30 minutes. I didn’t see him. I saw him go to dinner and asked him if he could stay. Is there any problem? He said wait and sit in the lobby and watch A4 paper without talking. I don’t know if he thinks about it. What is it that I don’t check in and finally find his subordinates to agree to stay. It takes 2 hours. It’s really hard. Is it so difficult to stay? The hotel does not have an elevator. It is very inconvenient.

=====2025-11-10~11===== The Carnation Rest, located in Nuwara Eliya, Central Province, is essentially a guesthouse or B/B. Situated on the outskirts of town, it's surrounded by other hotels and guesthouses, as well as supermarkets and shops, giving it a more vibrant and lively atmosphere. Our room was a suite on the second floor of a villa along the street, with one large (1.5 meters) bed and one small (1 meter) bed. The room was fairly well-equipped, without air conditioning (the temperature is only 10-20 degrees Celsius here due to the higher elevation, so it's unnecessary), but it had a water heater and a hairdryer. The suite's living room had tableware and a sofa. The room was a bit old, but the amenities seemed clean and hygienic. The bed was comfortable, and of course, there were no toiletries like toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, or slippers (which I'm quite used to). The guesthouse staff (who are also the owners) were several very nice and handsome young men, extremely friendly. We found no decent restaurants nearby, but there was a large supermarket, so we asked the handsome owner if we could use their kitchen for dinner. To our surprise, he readily agreed without hesitation, only requesting that we not cook pork. So we quickly went to the supermarket to buy meat, vegetables, coconut oil, and seasonings, and cooked a delicious meal. Afterwards, the owner even washed all the dishes for us. It was truly touching. The next morning's breakfast was largely the same as the previous days, except for yogurt and cake. When paying for the room, they didn't accept the USD deposit from Ctrip; we paid in cash on the spot. Looking back, the environment here was an improvement over the previous ones; at least we could take a walk outside in the evening. The owner was incredibly friendly; they didn't charge us extra for using the kitchen or cleaning up after us, leaving a very pleasant impression.

We enjoyed our stay at Hotel Ganthera and the staff were friendly however the room itself could have been improved. For example, there was distinct black marks on the walls and some mould in the bathroom but we understand the climate is humid (also some dead bugs). Bed area was clean and satisfactory and we slept well. The front door is locked at night so beware if needing to leave early - staff are not attentive to this. Whilst we did not use the pool area, the view was nice and pool looked good. Overall we enjoyed our stay but would probably not come back.

We had an amazing stay. The house is located at the very top of the hill, so we had the best view from our room. We would also like to thank the lady and Mr. Dinesh, our driver, from the bottom of our hearts, for their help and kindness. He even gave us a gift on our departure🥹 we can’t wait to visit Kandy again!

The price of the Youth Hostel, the service of the hotel. The location is a bit biased, but it takes ten minutes to walk to Kangping Lake and more than 20 minutes to the Buddha Tooth Temple. The facilities are very new and there is a balcony to see the scenery of Kangti. There seems to be a bar on the top floor, very lively, and the end of ten o'clock on time does not affect the rest. In short, it is very cost-effective and worth booking

Great place to stay if you want to explore the lions rock and the area around. Pidurangala rock is only 15min away by tuk tuk, the lions rock can be done by walk (~20min walk to entrance). But the best experience was the kindness of the hosts. The helped us in every way (explaining routes, advices on activities, organizing tuk tuk, etc.). The food was amazing and we had a lot of interesting conversations with the friendly stuff. Special thanks to Daushna, Larush & Nimal for making our stay remarkable.

We stayed one night here. Very friendly and nice staff. Mr. Bandara and his team welcomed us warmly. A lovely and quiet place and beautiful garden. We were served with very good breakfast, bread, butter , jam, sausages, omelette, coffee or tea, fruits, juice and 2 local dishes ( sambol and Dal curry with rice). We would like to say thank you. There is coffee , tea and kettle in the room and a bottle of water too.

Very nice and clean house. I recommend it 100%, I've never seen people so attentive and friendly, the dormitories, mattresses and sanitary facilities are in very good condition and clean. Thank you very much.