SanDiego1K

The Colombo Hilton is moving from a level 1 property to a level 2. This means it will jump from 10,000 points for a one night free stay to 20,000 points. Reservations can be made at the 10,000 point rate until June 1, and will be honored at that rate.

gaelflyer

Having spent a week in the CMB Hilton in March, I would add a few comments.

The airport is now quite nice following a recent expansion which added a large wing with airbridges etc.

I think there is less traffic noise evident in the rooms on the "pool" side of the Hilton, rather than the front side.

There is now free wi-fi access in the lobby.

yosithezet

Thanks for your updated info. I'll be staying there Sunday night.

UTA_flyinghigh

Hello all,

Just got back from a 10-day stay at the Colombo Hilton and it was a great experience.

We arrived at the middle of the night and were put in a normal room at the 10th floor as the system had not taken into account my HH #.

However the HHonors check-in desk moved us to the Executive Floor Plus for the remainder of the stay (meaning access to the Executive Floor Plus lounge).

Our room, although not quite as spacious as I had thought, had a very nice view of the Indian Ocean and the Parliament and room service paid a twice-a-day visit to clean things up and replenish the water bottles (very useful )

Wake-up calls were on time as were the taxi requests.

In all I highly recommend this property to anyone envisioning a CMB stay.

One word of advice though : Taking a rickshaw from/to the Hilton suddenly increase the prices tenfold so make sure you pick one up/are dropped off around the WTC.

UTA

SanDiego1K

For a one day stay in Colombo, how much local currency am I likely to need? I am completely blanking on when I used local currency and when I used dollars last year.

cranford

first time i stayed there on an award they were ........rdly... charged the tax but it was insignificant so i didnt argue...didnt offer free breakky for golds so i did argue and they gave in gracefully... second visit paying (not a lot) and staying for 3 nights was quite special... exec lounge was packed and buzzing..some potentate in dubai had died and so there was official ten days mourning and so the place was full of expats who jumped on a plane and went there..only 4 hours and many flights...i realised how great that hotel can be...first the exec lounge was the jolliest i have been in, and then downstairs for the live music...some retired german jazz musos...great great great... and then i finally found the really really cheap internet cafe about 10 mins walk from hotel...it's next to the Y downstairs...be brave and brazen and you will really enjoy the experience...

cranford

cant remember either but have a bunch of them...not much..

SanDiego1K

The Colombo Hilton treated me very well on this visit. If you read older posts from me in this thread, you'll see that I was denied breakfast on my last stay. I was told they either gave a room upgrade or breakfast but not both.

This time, I was given a suite on the Executive Floor, making me 5 for 5 for suites at this hotel. Since I was on the Executive Floor, I got the free breakfast that is served there, plus the evening snacks and drinks. My suite was set up for me when I arrived, with 3 apples on a tray, a small box of chocolates, and an elephant made by Barefoot, using its characteristic vibrant fabric. Last year I was told that the elephant is given from your 4th stay. Who knows, but it is a cute little thing, and I was happy to tuck it in my suitcase.

I ended up converting no dollars to rupees. I used my credit card at shops and restaurants. I used the hotel car for my day of errands, and charged it to the room. I assume I would have needed rupees for smaller purchases or museum admissions. Also, if I had taken a taxi from the street or a tuk tuk driver, I would have needed to pay in rupees.

The options for going to the airport are:

1. Hotel car - $40, can be charged to room
2. Outside car,$25, can be paid in dollars
3. Taxi that runs on meters; fare ranges from 1800 to 2200 rupees ($18-$22)

For convenience, I took the outside car at $25.

I had a meal at Spoons at the Hilton, and found it very good. It is international cuisine; prepared simply and well. I had local lobster that was delicious.

My favorite new shop is Elephant Walk. It has great, sophisticated housewares. If you want to shop in Sri Lanka, you should go with a list of stores as you will waste a lot of time on dross otherwise. The government souvenir shops are particularly dire.

I intended to go to the Dutch Museum in Pettah, as I am interested in the European history of Sri Lanka. After a harrowing drive down the narrow lanes of the market, it turned out to be closed on Sunday and Monday. I don't recommend the adventure of getting there; I'll turn my sights to the National Museum on my next visit.

brahms77

Perhaps this can be best answered by SanDiego1K, but I would appreciate if anyone can provide some information. I am currently in discussion with another FTer on CC about exchanging his/her HH points for my SWU/CR1. I am planning to stay in Colombo Sri Lanka for three nights and would like to use this FTer's HH points for my stay at the Hilton property(s) in Colombo.

Having read some trip reports to Colombo and Hilton, I found out that an award stay in Sri Lanka with HH points require the person traveling to carry a confirmation letter or print out of such award stay. I would like to verify that such is true and would like to know if such requirement may become an obstacle in this FTer redeeming his/her HH points for my stay.

I would also like to know if it would cost this FTer more to redeem suite accomodation in Hilton properties in Colombo and if so, I would like to know by how much more HH points to reserve a suite. This will certainly help with my negotiations with this FTer.

I thank you all for your advice!

Bondiboy

With regard to that portion of your post extracted above, Hilton Points cannot be redreemed for a suite - just standard rooms only. Gold and Silver members sometimes get upgraded to a suite but there is no way to guarantee one when using points.

The cost of both of the Hiltons in Colombo is about $90-110 (depending if you have a corporate rate). Both hotels also require 20,000 Hilton Honors points per night. In my view this is NOT agood ude of Honors points and I would urge you to consider.

brahms77

I can see why it's not a good use of the points. But since I am doing this via CC and I don't have HH points, as long as the trader agrees to it, I think it's a good deal - I have offerred to trade his/her HH points for UA SWU and CR1. The current $ I save on this trip certainly is worth regardless of the poor point to dollar redemption ratio. But thanks for your comment.

Meanwhile, Hilton Residences have three room suite for redemption and from the pictures on line, it seems to be very spacious and nice. Anyone have any experiences from Hilton Residences in Colombo?

SanDiego1K

You will find reports on both Colombo Hiltons in this thread.

I'm a little confused by your question re using someone else's points. Let me describe the process; if you are the one then confused, let's continue the conversation.

If someone were to give me 3 20K awards, they should call Hilton and ask for those 20K awards to be issued in my name. Hilton issues those electronically, and emails them to the person whose account it is. This person then emails them to me.

I then call Hilton, tell them I want an award reservation, and that I have the award certificates already issued. I give Hilton the certificate number on each certificate. Hilton then emails me a copy of my reservation.

When I arrive at the hotel, I give them a printed copy of the award certificate I received by email.

I've done this a number of times. It is very simple. I'm a great fan of the Hilton system.

I prefer to get the awards issued as one night stays. If my plans change, I can then use the awards in any combination - 1 night, 2 nights, 3 nights. The awards expire 12 months after being issued, so I need to be sure that I will use the nights within that window of time.

I am a Hilton diamond, and the Colombo Hilton is very good about upgrading me to a suite on an award stay. I don't know of any way to get a suite on an award, other than with status.

brahms77

Thanks SanDiego1K, your post has the exact information that I wanted to know with redeeming award for other than the account holder. I will reference this post to the FTer whom I am hoping to trade with.

Meanwhile, do you know anything about Hilton Residences? It seems like the only option for me to get a suite accomodation using HH points.

SanDiego1K

I haven't stayed at Hilton Resdences, but Savage25 gave his report on this property in the thread I referenced above.

Always Flyin

Midnight is probably the busiest period of the day at the Colombo airport for incoming and departing flights.

I will be arriving at midnight and departing at 01:00 25-hours later.

That would usually be two nights in the hotel, but it will really be about 22 hours in the hotel.

Does anyone know if the Colombo Hilton recognizes this and allows a single 24-hour stay period?