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Colin S.
Families with young children
Australia,
December 30, 2012
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A good basic place to stay
8.3
This hotel is located somewhat south of Colombo city but is well known. The hotel is showing it's age a bit but the staff cannot be faulted. The rooms are spacious and well air conditioned. There is a room safe. The pool is great and well maintained and cleaned. There is a fridge and coffee making facilities. The buffet breakfast is very good. The front doorman is a fantastic asset to the hotel and knows everything whilst being extremely courteous.
This hotel is a great escape from the hectic life of Colombo but has a lot of shops around it. If you walk down to the beach and get to Wellawatta train station the ride to Mount Lavinia is only $US0.07. There you can walk through the historic hotel and have a swim at a good beach. There are slums to see on the way which made us pretty sad.
Altogether, Hotel Sapphire is a very good value hotel without the over-the-top prices of some of the others.
Shopping Tip:
Majestic shopping centre 200 rupee tutuk ride.
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Sharon R.
Groups
United States of America,
December 26, 2012
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we needed a larger room, and the family room at this hotel was perfect. recommended for any short stay in coombo.
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Syed A.
Couples
Pakistan,
December 22, 2012
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There are 2 good rooms here - Find them & survive
5
Undoubtedly, One of the WORST rooms that I have ever stayed in (w/out breakfast). Heres the thing about this hotel which I have observed. I believe they have got only 2-3 good rooms and rest are bad, worse and worst. Those 2-3 rooms are given on special requests either on a booking way in advance, or if you are a return customers after a prior bad experience and write to them. In a peak season it is unlikely that you will be given a good room on a short notice and almost never through the likes of Agoda. By reading the earlier reviews on TA i can say that one of the good rooms is 309 (though we did not get it).
From the bad reviews on TA, I was very scared about their standard rooms and specifically booked a deluxe double room. It was a last minute booking and what we got was clearly sub - standard. The room 308 has a smell of a damp carpet, their were twin beds which were joined together in front of us to make a double bed (moving the entire furniture). This is the last thing that you want when you check in at 8 pm after a 6 hour drive. Anyway badly furnished, worn out washroom, carpet with iron patches ,sub standard curtains is all that I can say.
Paid for a breakfast where there was not much to choose from. Location is bad on a noisy road and you will get the noise nevertheless.
We just had to spend a night in Colombo so it still served the purpose, however I would never come back to the same room again. Go somewhere else is what I can recommend. Colombo is generally expensive in terms of hotel so if you have to spend more than 8 hours in a hotel, go somewhere else!
On check out when I filled the comments card honestly, the manager gave me a card asking me to write to them before booking next time and they will make up for the bad experience faced this time. I assume they plan to put me in one of the good rooms if I come back!
Hotel Feature Tip:
Avoid 308 - a better room could be 309
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Whetu S.
Couples
New Zealand,
December 16, 2012
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Friendly
They gave us our room early
5
The hotels dated with strange decor and the rooms were indeed very basic for the price you paid, US per night. As I've traveled around Sotuh East Asia for more than three years, I found this fact to be expensive especially in comparing the qualities of hotels I've stayed in cost far less, for a very plush accommodation. Needless to say, I was rather disappointed, but maybe this is the standard in Sri Lanka. Now, as always, pictures can say one thing and real another. They excluded to say the huge amount of crows flying above the pool. This did not entice me in for a swim under any circumstances. However, the breakfast, although not included in the price had a reasonable variety.
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Rajendra G.
Solo travelers
Australia,
December 10, 2012
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grand old hotel
great bar area looking out into the sea
7
I started here for one night.
Rooms are very dated and have a "colonial" feel. Bathroom was clean except for the paint strains in the bathtub.
Breakfast for vegetarians is quite poor.
Overall a good experience.
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Hassan S.
Couples
Maldives,
November 17, 2012
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Great Location, Friendly and helpful staff.
8.3
Close to Major Shopping Centres, and attractions in City Center.
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Ahmed F.
Solo travelers
Maldives,
November 17, 2012
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nice place and good sevices with smile
8.3
good location, nice hotel, clean and good services with smile, i book for Standard Room but they gave me Superior Room. only food is not good for me and little expensive then other place. i will come back and stay this hotel again.
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Hank R.
Solo travelers
United States of America,
October 31, 2012
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A hotel worth it's price
convenient location and friendly staff
8.7
The hotel Sapphire is a clean, reasonably-priced hotel in a very convenient location. The staff are friendly and helpful and the breakfast (be careful, not always included in the price)was good but a bit overpriced. They were very gracious to allow me a late checkout and the swimming pool was very pleasant. Th outside of the hotel looks better at night than in the daytime.
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Ed R.
Families with older children
Malaysia,
October 29, 2012
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Charming small hotel
Close to city centre and shops
6.7
We arrived at 9 pm and were due to,check out early the next day. Staff were friendly and offered welcome drink. Family room was spacious but basic. Staff were friendly.
Travel tip:
Hotel located in city close to shops
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Jessie N.
Business travelers
Malaysia,
October 10, 2012
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good dining, room, strategic location
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