Galle Face Hotel    

Very Friendly staff. Food was good.

Service quality should be improved. Training of staff a must.

Seashore

Halal not available

The location is outstanding. Right on the sea. The old world charm - big verandahs, high ceilings, good air conditioning, graceous spaces, high ceilings, romantic setting with tables on the lawn over-looking the sea. Staff were very pleasant.

Wi-fi should be free if you want to attract the business clientelle - I paid a lot extra to use the wi-fi for working in the evenings. The wi-fi is also charged in blocks of time and not by actual usage. Also they charged my credit card without my permission before I checked out so I ended up travelling home with a lot of extra local currency (that I had planned to use to pay the hotel). The airport in Geneva will not take Sri Lankan rupees so I'm stuck with the currency until I go back to Sri Lanka. The hotel should inform you ahead of time that they are going to charge your credit card (if you book with booking.com) before they do it. Also travellers should beware of men lurking outside the hotel. They walk along side you, tell you they work in the hotel, then they convince you that there is a gem sale on (last day!) or a special temple is only open one day a year. They take you off to tourist traps, including where gem dealers try to sell you stones at outrageous prices. The men that take you to the dealers have a kick-back arrangement with the gem traders and in addition they want their "tourist guide" tip as well. They will ask you for large sums like $20 for one hour of guide time. Then the tuk-tuk driver will demand $10 or more. It's pretty upleasant. Try to avoid going anywhere with a guide or in a tuk-tuk unless you negotiate the price before hand. And be really careful of buying gem stones. Make sure that you get the stones tested for authenticity and quality by the National Gem and Jewellery Authority (which will do it for free) and this Authority is located on the same street as the Galle Face Hotel. Sri Lanka is a really charming and beautiful country but like everywhere in the world there are opportunistic people who take advantage of unsuspecting tourists.

Loved the Galle Face! Brilliant location with spectacular views. Our room was large, clean, comfortable and had an amazing view. The breakfast buffet was superb and great value if included in the room price. The pool was great and the bar facilities fantastic! Would definitely recommend a stay at the Galle Face!

Great location and ambience

Not impressed when staying a high end hotel such as this you have to pay for a Wifi connection.

Good location.

Breakfast menu never change & quality is not up to expectation. For this price, Galle Face should provide better range or at least must match other hotels like Cinnamon Grand or Cinnamon Lakeside. If have to make comparison, only 50% compare to its competitors.

overall very good

Location was great. There is a great sense of heritage for this hotel, it has a great story to tell. It SHOULD be one of the great Grande Dame hotels of the world, like Raffles in Singapore or the Oriental in Bangkok.

The food was terrible. The infrastructure needs some serious reinvestment. The outside needs a fresh coat of paint. Some of the staff border on pure rudeness (some were also very helpful). And why so many crows?

If you are staying in Colombo this is the place to be if you don't want the generic hotel that's in every city. It is still the best location even though there is a refurbished hotel at the other end of Galle face Green with nice rooms but not not the same quality or class by a million miles. Make sure you are in the new wing as the old wing is now very tired although it was the best a few years back. I think it is being refurbished and then it will be the better wing as the rooms are huge.

Nothing in the new wing at all. I actually love the old wing but the rooms need some attention now although the charm is still there. Of course they would be fantastic again with just a little attention which I think is happening.

That everyone tries making you a fool everyone would make it out that you are a tourist and for them tourist is like a bank. Money eaters I would say.. Not only the hotel but even the tourism company called europcar too. Very dissapointed with there services very very dissapointed. And there was nothing to like there I regret going there and hopefully I wont ever. Now im wishing I spent 9000dhs in sri-lanka but instead I could have had the best staying here in uae.

We stayed just one night ( because of cost) to experience the ambience of this famous old hotel. The best thing of course is the loaction - overlooking the ocean and the although an old hotel the room we had had been refurbished with modern amenities.

Our stay was good but probably would not stay for more than 1 day because of cost and because we are not fans of large hotels.

the only place in colombo that have a "Customer Value" and really good one, this is my 2nd visit to the hotel and dentally my 3rd visit i will check in again.

the internet fees is a little high and not all the area's are covered .

we stayed in the older classic wing...great room with character overlooking the green. great pool and delightful garden terrace overlooking ocean.

as with all hotels we visited in sri lanka there was no info about hotel facilities in the room....strnage.....

Great pool and sea views. Nice for afternoon tea / cocktails.

we found a cockroach in the buffett veg dish! The rooms were incredibly run down and the bathroom was not clean.

location

living on past glories Very poor and outdated. Check in 'out too long

Location, swimming pool, food, Regency Wing.

Old part of the Galle Face Hotel hasn't been revamped since the first World War at least and it shows - we moved to the regency wing. Staff is borderline rude (being addressed as "Yes?! With a glare" when entering the dining room is just not on) ; we had to ask 4 times to have our room done and had to wait - we did so in their tea room where the four idle members of staff ignored us - as a joke we timed our wait and gave up after 20 mintes of being invisible to them; one of them actually climbed up the stairs towards our table and then turned back! Go figure. When we called the butler service (we were in a suite and this comes with it apparently) to ask to bring the towels that were forgotten by housekeeping (having waited) they told us they would forward our call to the housekeeping staff! We asked them to handle it themselves. Meals are delicious but requests have to be made multiple times, plates don't get cleared unless you ask (we stacked them in a small pile that was still pointedly ignored) and we had to budget an extra 10 minutes every meal to get the bill. Ultimately this is a lovely place but you expect a 5 star level of service for a 5 star price and label - but the hotel seems to be resting on its laurels and the list of famous people who stayed there. However, they should bear in mind that your last guest's approval is the most important and with competition of the Cinnamon Grand and probably the Shangri-la and others, this is not the time to be smug but on the contrary improve service significantly. Staff needs proper management to straighten them out.

Loved the slightly shabby, faded colonial grandeur of the verandas. Rooms large and quite charming. Good size pool. Breakfast and dinner buffets are good. Highlight is definitely cocktails on the verandah.

Made a reservation at the Sea Spray restaurant (the most popular) and table unavailable when we arrived. Disappointing as it was then to late make reservation elsewhere. Dinner buffet was available and ok. In the middle of the night, a smoke alarm sounded in the unoccupied room opposite. We had to alert the staff who took some time to investigate. However we then were kept awake the whole night by the Colombo fire brigade and hotel staff chatting outside our room.

Staff friendly and welcoming. Good food choice. Lovely location by the sea.

I was put up in one of the old rooms. It was smelly and dirty with damp and a unacceptable bath shower arrangement. Fine if I was a backpacker but not good enough for a business trip where sleep and some comfort is important. The price for staying at the hotel was not reflected in the quality.

Quality and variety of food was excellent.

We were unfortuate enough to be staying in the part of the hotel which had not been renovated so the room we were in was very dilapidated with smelly drains. The decor was so poor that as we entered the room, a decorator was giving the room a once-over with a coat of paint. Staff tried to convince us we were staying in a deluxe room. True it was a very big room but that doesn't make it deluxe. In fact, we met up with friends who had provisionally booked a room there and they cancelled the booking once we told them our experiences. We found a very nice hotel in Negombo at a fraction of the price of the Galle Face.

The old charm of the hotel. The sunset view and drinks were fantastic as was the pool.

The hotel was in a very poor state and our room was really like something from the 40's but falling down around us. The bathroom was by far the worst and certainly was not that clean. I found some of the staff extremely unhelpful and rude which was a real shame, as some just could not do enough for you. Having arrived very late into Colombo I organised a transfer from the airport. At the time of booking it was not made at all clear I would have to pay the driver and not have it added to my final bill. So you can imagine my embarrassment at 2 am in the morning. I feel that the cost of staying at the Galle face is not at all reflected in the quality!

The location , The hotel is beautiful .

Where do I start ! The staff don't make eye contact.they then look through you .service was a joke " The staff would argue in front of you , (where was the customer care ) don't get me wrong but there was plenty staff but they went round like headless chickens, no direction , Breakfast was the worst , was sat at a dirty table ,no cups etc . Everything was finished at the buffet & there was still an hour to go , This was the first day of our holiday in Sri Lanka . If they want to see service (the staff from galle face ) need to go to ,, hunas fall in candy , & the mount Lavinia in Colombo , now that is service , I hope you put this review on your web page to tell the people out there about the galle face , if you just want a room then the galle face is beautiful , but forget about the rest ! Remember that travelling here isn't like the uk , you don't get nowhere fast allow plenty time for everything

Room service was excellent the best thing about the hotel. The room was spacious and had a good view. Helpful staff especially Mr Siddique lobby manager who was very good at solving problems. Chandimal the room boy was v good. Laundry was done and presented well

Cold water tap in bathroom faulty maybe general plumbing problem. I was very disappointed that on the night I had invited several friends for dinner buffet and hoppers ...I was informed with very little notice that hoppers were off the menu as there were only 2 cooks and they were both away giving me little time for alternative arrangements. Hard to believe that with over 100 staff in the kitchen there were only two hopper chefs! Breakfast a bit chaotic as the tables once chosen were given to other couples while we were serving ourselves. A reserved card on the table once it had been given would have been helpful

Location of the hotel is excellent. It is in the middle o.f business center and adjacent to sea which is big advantage.

Rooms in the old wing where I stayed requires renovation. The bathroom fittings are old and do not work properly. Rooms are very dull and not lit properly.

The hotel is perfectly located in Colombo, right on the ocean front. It was delightful to sit on the terrace with a beer and looking out over the beach with crashing waves into the sun setting over India. In contrast to most big city hotels, this place is oozing with history and charm; for the most part the original architecture has been retained. Although there was great a/c in the bedroom (essential for this climate), the plumbing etc are a bit tired. The swimming pool is great but you are not supposed to swim in the ocean (not sure why... Perhaps safety?)

The staff were very friendly and helpfull, but the management and organization of the staff were chaotic. It was hard work to get served with coffee in the breakfast, even though there seemed to be plenty of staff...even a man whose only job was to keep the ravens away from picking food off the tables!

Great location, and the gorgeous suite we were given AFTER complaining about the original room was beautiful with a fantastic view. The large salt water pool by the sea and garden area are a haven, and the old world ambience of the hotel compensates a bit for the fact that it's seen better days & is a bit shabby.

Arriving late at night, we were given a room at the back of the hotel with a view of the roof and chimneys which was truly gruesome. We complained the next morning and were given a much nicer room with a lovely view. The restaurant buffet has good food with a lot of choice but not enough for vegetarians.