Galle Face Hotel

Charming vintage hotel with beautiful views of the ocean, tasty cocktails and lovely attentive service.

By a verified traveler on Feb 25, 2019

Very nice location on the beach. Great restaurant. Loved it.

By a verified traveler on Dec 24, 2018

By a verified traveler on Dec 24, 2018

By a verified traveler on Dec 22, 2018

The hotel it self is quite beautiful and the historic aspect is top notch. But we definitely had some issues. We arranged car service to the airport and the driver had to take nearly a 30 minute detour to stop for gas which you don’t expect ever let alone at a so called 5 star hotel. We bought drinks at the pool bar and they said they’d deliver them to our seats. After waiting around 20 minutes my husband went back to the bar to ask where they were and they had forgotten to make them. Mind you that there were less than 25 people at the pool/pool bar. Also per their website our room included access to the long room, and when we went to enjoy a cocktail they said it wasn’t. After having to go back to the front desk show them their website they then “allowed” us to have access. Overall glad we had the chance to stay at such a beautiful and iconic hotel, but would never stay there again.

By a verified traveler on Jan 9, 2018

1: room was said be an upgrade , room was in terrible shape and there were flies in room , the bed was in terrible condition 2: asked for a DVD player in my room and when I check in and left for dinner reminded them again , when I got to the room no DVD player , I had stayed there only a few nights before and asked them to please put one in 3: because I am visiting a few islands , Colombo is my hub for travel this trip , there is a popular restaurant called ministry of crab , I asked specially for the make a reservation upon this trip and if not able to book when I am back in the 7th . When I checked in no had any idea of this , the dinner place I selected happens to be next to that restaurant and when I asked them , no reservations were made for me on the 7th , there concierge is terrbiel 4: don't bother asking the concierge for anything because , one they are never there , 2 it is usually a bell boy who doesn't know anything 5: I had sent prior to my trip at least 5 emails asking for them to plan out a trip for 29th when I arrive , I have from 11-6 pm to do anything and wanted a private car and driver , not only was nothing planned and arranged , their travel agent in the hotel is a rip off and doesn't know anything , I ended up find another travel agent , brand new car and a driver that was a great tour guide for 50% cheaper than what the hotel charged , 6: rooms are in terrible conditions Will never be back , glad to see and Shangri-La opening in nov

By rob , from shanghai on Oct 1, 2017

When I arrived on Monday night , I requested in email a few things I wanted done , i.e.: I wanted a massage booked at Spa Ceylon for 9 pm that evening, local movie times and movies and A DVD player in my room , when I arrived nothing was done , I asked also for a few restaurant suggestions and for them to plan for me , again nothing was done , the couple of places that I wanted were fully booked for that night which really irked me, also they didn't book the spa as I requested and they too were also booked for the evening , I just got off a long flight to arrive in Colombo and this is not what I had expected , the concierge was lousy , tne rooms were old on not in good shape and I don't know where this refurbishment turned out .... will be staying at this hotel again ever , there is a new Shangri-La opening , my future trips will be there

By rob, from shanghai on Sep 30, 2017

The hotel has a great location - 2 min walk away from the #47 best restaurant in Asia (Nihonbashi) and a 10 min walk from the #25 (Ministry of Crab) and right on the ocean. The current is too strong though, so there is no ocean swimming. You should know that the hotel has a couple of sections - one is from the 1800's, and the other is much newer. I think all of the pictures on the site are from the new section. I ended up in the old section. So the rooms were small, and I could hear the people next door clearly when they were talking in normal voices. The drains in the bathroom drained slowly - the shower drain was so slow, the waterfall showerhead quickly overcame it and the water was pouring under the shower door like a river draining into the drain by the toilet. When I tried to adjust the showerhead, it pulled out of the wall and water was pouring straight out of the pipe. The AC didn't work well, and the power cut off on me the second day which necessitated service guys to come and take my power management switch apart to fix it. But, that part of the hotel I think is more than 100 years old, so it is what it is.

By Paul, from India on Sep 19, 2016

The hotel was beautiful and the service was excellent. We would definitely return.

By a verified traveler on Jun 22, 2016