CMB: High Hotel room rates - low tourist arrivals
Jan 4, 2022, 6:29 am
#16
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Join Date: Oct 2009
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Recently stayed in the Shangri La (150 usd approx), the room was nice (received an upgrade to a 1bd suite). The room service lunch we ordered wasn’t great. For a short stay I would stay there again. Hilton in the city center looks quite dated which was the reason we skipped it.
The Hilton was definitively dated from my last stay there, but i think they've been renovating in stages & should be done by now.
Jan 9, 2022, 2:54 am
#18
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It was the Intercontinental earlier on. They have heavily refurbished it and I always felt it was value for money. Plus being on the beach side it was very pleasant.
Jan 10, 2022, 6:49 am
#19
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Sadly i think over the coming years, they'd lose their beach front view to some extent with the Port city reclamation project that's mushrooming literally right in front of the hotel.
Jan 10, 2022, 7:42 am
#20
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Yes true. They would lose a lot of it. It is one hotel I always enjoy staying as it was value for money. Before Covid they had a live band playing a lot of nights too. Hilton with their new design has lost its appeal and I always felt that Shangri La was over priced.
Jan 10, 2022, 9:35 am
#22
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Jan 10, 2022, 10:35 am
#24
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Yes they completely changed the whole thing. Obviously InterCon was the first five star hotel in CMB I think and was there even in 1977.
Jan 10, 2022, 10:58 pm
#25
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Jan 11, 2022, 1:00 am
#26
Join Date: Jun 2005
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Yes I forgot about Galle Face and Mount Lavinia. But then since Inter Con opened they never really looked at Galle Face as a five star hotel. I know it is the old Colonial look and that sort of thing and I have stayed there a couple of times but never enjoyed it. But you are right it was probably the first major hotel in CMB.
Jan 11, 2022, 7:01 pm
#27
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Yes I forgot about Galle Face and Mount Lavinia. But then since Inter Con opened they never really looked at Galle Face as a five star hotel. I know it is the old Colonial look and that sort of thing and I have stayed there a couple of times but never enjoyed it. But you are right it was probably the first major hotel in CMB.
Jan 15, 2022, 9:05 am
#28
formerly known as Tad's Broiled Steaks
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 6,412
Curious to know what the renovations changed, as that visit was in 2008 (stayed at the Taj Samudra). In 2011, I was at a less interesting hotel somewhere nearby, but I'd like to revisit Serendib for its food scene, and to check out Sigiriya.
Jan 17, 2022, 12:39 am
#29
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I have fond memories of the Verandah at the Galle Face hotel...met a nice Swiss woman who had also just come back from Kandy. We sipped some Ceylon tea, which enjoying a sunset view of the ocean. Afterwards, we walked next door to the Galle Face Green to have some delicious seafood fritters.
Curious to know what the renovations changed, as that visit was in 2008 (stayed at the Taj Samudra). In 2011, I was at a less interesting hotel somewhere nearby, but I'd like to revisit Serendib for its food scene, and to check out Sigiriya.
Curious to know what the renovations changed, as that visit was in 2008 (stayed at the Taj Samudra). In 2011, I was at a less interesting hotel somewhere nearby, but I'd like to revisit Serendib for its food scene, and to check out Sigiriya.
Jan 20, 2022, 10:49 pm
#30
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I think being an old structure it was more a case of an intensive renovation. Thankfully they didn't try and integrate or add on any new structures. I hadn't been to the hotel prior to the renovation and so wouldn't be the right one to comment on the before and after prognosis. But from my brief stay there, it definitely looked good, with the old school feel to it tastefully refurbished & maintained.