Kandy District hotels & places to stay

I’ve been unhappy with Kandy hotels so far until my stay at Ozo. It’s up the road from the lakefront, and has a lovely relaxed look and feel to it. I enjoyed both lunch and dinner there, and the buffet breakfast was generous and tasty. The staff are impeccably trained, and go out of their way to make you feel welcome. I hope this hotel keeps up its standards. For now it’s your best bet in Kandy.

We had wonderful time at Swiss Residence Kandy. Peaceful place and easy access to the hotel and very short distance to Kandy city. The parking is good and security guards are helpful to park vehicles. Welcoming is good with welcome drink. The room quality is excellent and way better than we expected. Doorbell and door access panel of hotel room is modern and love the way they arranged bathroom and toilet separately. Bathroom well cleaned, and quality bathware use. The hotel staff professional and helpful. The view we get from the hotel was excellent. Day time, and night time both were amazing. The room quality, bed, air conditioning unit all were perfect. We only had the breakfast from hotel and really enjoyed the meal, buffet included all craving food options including English breakfast and Sri Lanka meals. The hotel swimming pool is well maintained and clean, the place that pool located also great. At last this is underrated but one of the best hotels in Kandy to me. Only concern you should remember, there is sudden steep hill while accessing to the hotel and better you put sport mode/ power mode of your vehicle when you near hotel.

the hotel is a little distance from the centre of town, perhaps a ten minute journey by car or three-wheeler due to traffic, a twenty minute walk around the lake. this distance is rather a bonus for the hotel and provides a sense of calm and much needed peace and quiet after the bustle and noise of central kandy. the views over the lake from the majority of rooms are excellent and the pool and gardens benefit from the same magnificent views. the restaurant (open to the gardens - watch out for monkeys snagging your breakfast) provided an excellent breakfast buffet with good service. evening meals were less stellar and (we felt) not particularly good value for money given the wealth of excellent restaurants in kandy. rooms were large, airy and scrupulously clean (nicely decorated too) with large bathrooms and walk-in showers which seem to be something of a rarity in sri lankan hotels. staff were uniformly polite, smiling and extremely helpful.

Our first night in Sri Lanka was spent at this little hotel on the hill...a totally unassuming enterprise, until you wake up in the morning and hear the birds outside, open the balcony doors and you are struck by an awesome view of the Mahawali river meandering down below, against the green lush backdrop of the opposing forest. On the river, slowly moving fishing boats and the peaceful lull of soulful lonely flute playing. The view is peaceful and restful for the soul. The rooms were clean and well equipped - bar fridge, kettle, toiletries, clean towels and clean warm bedding and a super large comfortable bed. Air-conditioning that worked and above all a large shower with hot water. There are no decorations in the rooms but you definitely do not need it when you have an awesome view of the river! Staff were always available to assist and the front desk staff were pleasant and helpful. Special thanks to Dennis and his team for making our stay in Kandy such a pleasant and memorable one. Hotel is well located to Kandy central and temples. They even kept our luggage for free over three nights while we toured to Pinnawala and Sigiriya. Breakfast was excellent and restaurant staff were always willing to explain the different local dishes on the menu. Do not expect Italian coffees or any other coffee other than proudly produced Sri Lankan coffees - the Sri Lankans are proud of their home brews! A friendly bunch and in true spirit of Sri Lankan hospitality they ensure you experience Sri Lanka in its truest form...Thank you Emerald Hill Hotel for making our stay so memorable and for accommodating all our wishes and requirements, we wish you all the best and wish your hotel grows from strength to strength. Highly recommend Emerald Hill Hotel for your stay in Kandy! From Proudly South Africa!

Literally one of the best places we have ever stayed. The location is not in the town centre however it's only a short tuk-tuk ride away and the view you get of of the valley and the town from the hotel is incredible (far better than it would be in the town itself) as this place is basically up the hill overlooking kandy in all it's beauty. The room was beautiful and clean (again incredible views) the staff were outstanding, nothing was too much trouble. They even picked us up from Kandy train and took us on a tour to an elephant sanctuary at a far cheaper rate than any of the local tour operators. Can't think of any single bad thing about this place, a real gem, highly recommended.

I can't say enough good things about Theva. Having lived in Kandy for 3 months several years ago, I can say confidently that this is the BEST hotel in Kandy town and great value for money. The staff is exceptional from Deeshana the owner, Russell the manager, all the way down to the hotel staff. They have built a family around this hotel and it shows in every employee. Even after I left their hotel, the owner contacted my next hotel to ask them to take good care of me and my wife...I think this speaks volumes about their integrity. The location is wonderful high in the hills above Kandy, although it still is a quick tuk tuk ride to the center of town. The rooms are immaculate with a sleek modern design. The kitchen serves up fantastic food and the chefs are willing to give excellent cooking classes which were appropriately priced. I give this hotel my highest recommendation, and I will never stay anywhere else on my future trips to Kandy.

It was through Agoda that we found Villa Shenandoah, and based on the previous reviews booked on the spot, as well as the incredible price that was on offer at the time of my booking we were fortunate to secure a nights accommodation. We are almost hesitant to share our experience for fear that we may not be able to secure a future booking when the word quickly spreads about this incredible place! A stunning family run villa, from the warm welcome with a cool refreshing drink (we arrived from a long and dusty 7 hour train trip from Ella to Kandy so that was a wonderful treat!), we were shown our private and beautifully appointed villa and asked if we would like to dine privately on our balcony at a time to suit us. How wonderful and special and very romantic for us, and the food was spectacular - we book chose Sri Lankan cuisine which is one of the highlights of our trip, but could have chosen a variety of other superb dishes such as seafood, or meats with an International flavour. Topped off with a bottle of Australian wine, we had a fantastic night and wished we could have stayed another night, however time did not allow for this. The following morning our charming host personally took us on a tour of Kandy and even indulged our desire to visit the local markets to purchase spices to take home. They organised a driver to take us to Colombo and our farewell from them was as warm as the welcome. We cannot wait to return to Sri Lanka and have more time in Kandy and Villa Shenandoah will be our frist choice.

Loved the staff who made our stay a very happy one. From Hiram the front office manager to Ruwan , the bell Boy and Anura my floor house keeping manager and staff were excellent. Hiram made me feel very safe by advising and making me feel very relaxed during the troubled time in Kandy. Please thank rest of the front office manager and rest of the staff. I will definitely stay at Oak Ray and will recommend to my family

This is the perfect place to stay in this World Heritage city - a heritage hotel with tons of 'colonial charm' and right on the Lake in the centre of Kandy. Easy walking along the lake to the centre of town or to the major historical features of the town. They have done a tasteful relatively recent renovation of the rooms with modern bathrooms. Very comfortable beds. The standard rooms a small-ish but it's what you expect and they are obviously at the back of the hotel without lake-views, but that was taken for granted when booking. The buffet dinners and lunches and breakfasts were outstanding. This historic hotel is the perfect accompaniment for your stay in Kandy.

Pro Good view of kandy Super climate and relaxing with a little cute garden Welcome was awesome with hot choc and warm towels in a rainy climate Enough spaced rooms well decorated Good breakfast for the price Friendly staff Cons Staff needs to be more trained to be professional even though they are friendly with good smile Door viewer is a must in room doors It is a must that The Bathroom needs to be more cleaner Only then the hotels standards could cope for years in future Doors need more sound proof but it's manageable if it could be done its much better Location is right in a hill so contact the hotel before u go Once u are there it's worth the climb Don't worry if u are going in dark at night The hotel area was safe but huge hill ride up is needed but nothing to worry just call the hotel that would be suffient Overall a plea sent stay !

We loved this hotel, right in central Kandy, can walk everywhere from it, the hotel has real character and is a period building, it was very clean staff couldn't do enough for you, they brought us a kettle and when it didn't work another, we had dinner in the bar, the food was good and average price, breakfast included in our stay, was cooked to order with fresh orange juice, the best we had on this trip. We had a standard room which was small but had everything. Beat to stay in the heart of Kandy as getting in and out is a traffic nightmare

My experience of this hotel and its staff has been the best. Pleasant hotel set in a quiet street away from the hustle and bustle of downtown Kandy, but still in walking distance to the shops and restaurants. The staff were absolutely phenomenal! Pleasant, always going out of their way to make our stay pleasurable. The tourguide attached to the hotel- Mr Laxman from Aliya tours took great care of us, taking us wherever we wanted to go and at a very very reasonable price. I would definitely recommend The Galaxy City hotel to anyone wanting to visit beautiful Kandy.

Booked this hotel based on the photos and information mentioned in Agoda and to see when we reached the hotel it was nothing as mentioned in Agoda. The Delux triple as mentioned in Agoda did not have one queen bed and a single bed. Neither was it close to the photos published in Agoda for Delux triple. However the staff were very friendly and helpful and managed to make our stay comfortable by arranging a chalet for us. Hotel location is beautiful. Food was not great. The Ayurveda spa was excellent.

Me and my Sister stayed here in June for 4 nights. When we arrived we discovered we were the only occupants in the hotel due to the recent events in Sri Lanka. The staff made us feel incredibly welcome right from the beginning and could not do enough for us. The room was absolutely beautiful, very clean and stunning views. We did write the names down of the two members of staff but seem to have lost them on our travels .we were two sisters staying here and hired our own tuk-tuk to drive. The chef was absolutely amazing and cooked the best meals we ate all through Sri Lanka. We even ended up booking one more night because we loved it there so much and we really felt at home, despite being the only guests we were always made to feel welcome. Thank you so much for a wonderful stay and we would highly recommend anybody going to Kandy to stay here. Gemma and kelly x

Not having been to Kandy before we discovered that the Resort was 28km outside. The view and the chalet were perfect for a quiet stay.It took 45 minutes by tuk tuk to get in to Kandy. The restaurant and food were really good, the staff attentative but always with a smile.Kandy is really busy with traffic so it was great to return to the peace & quiet of the resort.The only thing we could pick was the lack of a fridge in the room.

Sweet Cinnamon Guest House is a hidden oasis a few miles outside of the bustle of Kandy center. The rooms are elegant and inviting. We stayed the first 5 nights in one of their “simpler” rooms, which we thought was lovely. Upon returning to Kandy and again booking with them, we stayed in a room that blew the first away. The custom bathroom had huge windows that looked out into the jungle. Bird watching from the bath was a rare treat. All rooms have both air-conditioning and ceiling fans. The grounds have tall trees, tropical flowers, herbs and spices that find their way into the delicious meals prepared for breakfast and dinner. Both the patio and library are great places to lounge with a book as you enjoy the sounds of the jungle. Breakfasts are multicourse affairs with tropical fruit, eggs, either pancakes or waffles, fresh squeezed OJ, and either potatoes or sometimes fried onion rings. Dinners (upon request) are traditional Sri Lankan dishes – the best we had during our visit. Both Chalani (owner) and Lawrence are skilled chefs. They cook beautifully presented curries that have layers of flavor and texture. When Lawrence discovered that we were curious about jack fruit , he prepared a special jack fruit curry for us that night. He did the same when we asked about where to find good kottu - sure enough there was what seemed like an endless bowl of hand-cut kottu ready for us the next dinner. We definitely left there a few pounds heavier! I cannot say enough good things about the owners, Chalani and Priyan, and their staff. They are warm, helpful, knowledgeable, available when you want to chat, but also very respectful of your space. Chalani and Priyan have lived many places, so have a keen understanding of both western and Asian cultures. They helped us navigate Sri Lankan cultur

We stayed in Ashburnham in August for two nights and came away feeling we had a healthy dose of the tea plantation life for not too expensive. Our room, the family suite, was huge, with a separate living room and large bathroom. Furnishings were nice enough, and the staff keep things clean and tidy, though there was a somewhat worn feel, most notably the swimming pool, which could use a redo. The views from the front porch where meals are served is stunning. When we were there, a refreshing breeze was blowing most of the time, a terrific antidote to the heat elsewhere in Sri Lanka. The food is decent, but it's all a bit catch as catch can, you never quite know what's going to be served, which is fine, but a bit more communication from the staff would be good. We sat for breakfast and were served beautiful bread for toasting and jams and coffee and then were asked if we would like anything else. Well, sure, but what do you have? Eggs, was basically the answer. Then we found out you could order Sri Lankan breakfast if you alert the staff the day before. I highly recommend this, because this is where the chef shined, serving the tastiest dal and coconut roti i've had. But given the price, a few more simple breakfast options (pancakes, french toast) would be nice. The place has a very relaxed atmosphere, maybe even too relaxed at times from a service perspective. The estate is very isolated. 13 km up a very windy road, so recommend coming for at least a couple of nights and exploring the estate, including the waterfall and the tea plantation tour, where you meet the tea pickers. For a small fee, you can get a tour of the tea processing factory down the road, which is worth doing to see how a cup of tea all comes together. We also had a fun hour walking through the nearby village of Elkaduwa and talking to the interesting brothers who run the main shop by the Buddha statue. Overall, a solid choice to experience the cool breezes of tea plantation life.