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.

This is a really beautiful hotel and is even better in reality than in the photos. From arrival, you are looked after so well by the friendly staff who cannot do enough for you. The reception area opens into the bar/lounge area which is open fronted overlooking the lovely pool and river....an amazing vista. The room was very comfortable and quiet with a nice private balcony and well equipped bathroom. The buffet breakfasts and dinners were really good and the presentation of food especially the cold starters, fruit and desserts was just perfection. We had breakfast included but paid extra for the dinners which were fantastic value. We took tuk tuk's from the hotel into kandy a few times which was a very interesting 15 minute trip. In fact the hotel location is great, away from the hustle and bustle of Kandy. Overall a fabulous hotel and from what we could see, the best hotel in Kandy!!

I visited Sri Lanka for a short period, after staying in Amaya for one day, decided to stay longer, seeing the excellent service they provided. Staff was very friendly, I felt like home. Food was exceptional with a variety of choices. Walking tracks around the mountain leading to the top of Hantana was an excellent experience with picturesque views. Inside the hotel with its grandiose ancient looks and spaciousness surrounded by lush green forest creating a calm peaceful environment for anyone who would know how to enjoy the beauty of nature. Best hotel in Kandy for Kandyan experience.

We thoroughly enjoyed 6 nights in Kandy and our choice of Hotel made our stay VERY special. The facilities, the ambiance, the quality of food, the friendly staff, and the views were SUPER. We also appreciated the Live Entertainment each evening. Being visitors from Australia we enjoyed seeing the Sri Lankan Weddings that were taking place in the Hotel. Our stay in this Hotel truly enhanced our Kandy stay, and we were treated as though we were special. (Which of course we are!) I need to mention that the gift shop in the foyer was really worth visiting as well. The towel animals on our bed are also worth mentioning.There were 4 of us in our group and we would all highly recommend this hotel to our friends.

I will eventually buy a house on the outskirts of Kandy in the hill country where it is even cooler, this is where I went to on this visit! I stayed in the Yala National Park at a fabulous hotel called the Yale Park Hotel. Absolutely amazing place with infinity pools outside all of the rooms. The rooms without exception were all massive and really well thought out. A Chinese guy called Wesley bought the place a few years ago and has invested a fortune in making the place awesome! There are even horses there as well as fish ponds and visits from the local monkeys, a white boar and a white buffalo. The views from every aspect of the hotel were awe-inspiring and memorising! So good to wake up and unpack the entrepreneurial stress with a long distance gaze into the far off mountains! Gods creation at its best and in full affect, you cannot help but to be moved by the view. I will look for an old colonial tea plantation house to renovate rather than a new build! I love the Sri Lankan colonial architecture as it is pretty much intact from the Victorian era from when it was built. Probably cost a small fortune but my philosophy and belief system will take care of the finances! I do believe that when you think of something, write it down, unpack it from though to words and then focus positive energy onto it, the subject matter in mind and on paper will begin to manifest itself into reality, you do have to feed the thought pattern with positive affirmations and a focused belief-energy – knowing it is already real and its only the time-line that has to be traveled to make the initial thought into absolute tangible reality. Please check out my Sri Lanka Blog post: http://www.brianroe.co.uk/sri-lanka/ for pictures of Yale Kandy Park.

Stayed at this Kandy City Hotel for 1 night during a recent holiday trip to Sri Lanka. It is a new hotel and has just been in operations for a few days when we stayed there. Everything is still new and even our room had a fresh smell of paint when we first entered it. Locationwise, it is located at the heart of Kandy City, so it offers close proximity to the lake, the Tooth Relic Temple, Kandy City Center mall, as well as restaurants and supermarkets. I think location is the best thing about this hotel. Breakfast was also very tasty and well prepared, for which we greatly appreciated. In general, accomodation in Sri Lanka is expensive if we compare it with the rest of Asian countries. So, at the rate we were given, I really have nothing serious to complain about this hotel. If I need to mention 1 flaw, I think the bathroom in the room is too small, while it is obvious that the room itself still has a lot of unused space. So, I was wondering why they didn't make the bathroom a little bit bigger than it is now. Also, the drain stinks badly so I think the hotel needs to do something about it immediately.

The Elephant Stables is a beautiful boutique hotel, tucked away in the area surrounding Kandy - about 7km out of the main town. A small place with maybe 10 rooms, all tastefully decorated and comfortably homelike. Beautiful gardens and pool area. Limited menu choices - but don't let that put you off! The curry option for evening meal brings 10 sumptuous curries, generously portioned and each utterly delicious! washed down with an ice cold glass of Lion beer, sitting out in the garden - as close to perfect as you could hope for. A hotel not to be passed by - spoil yourself and stay more than one night ; ) the hotel management have a tuk tuk, a buggy and a vintage car - all of which can be used (for a price) to shuttle you too and from the various tourist sites in Kandy. Getting a pick up fro the train station is a blessing - the train station wasn't too chaotic - but it is always nice to not have to worry about finding your own way.

My wife and myself spent 2 nights (19 and 20 June 2015)at the Mahaweli Reach Hotel. From the time we step out of the vehicle we were greeted with a smiling and pleasant face with clasped hands og greeting. The check in was breeze and the officers manning the counter ever happy to assist. We were shown to our room within minutes by a trainee officer (I think her name was "Su") who was again pleasant and answered all our queries like a pro. The room was a clean and comfortable and made us feel"at home" immediately. The restaurant was another place of satisfaction. With array of choices it was enough to satisfy any palate,even the decerning one. The staff manning the restaurant were again so cheerful and helpful. This is one hotel I will always return to when I am in Kandy and recommend to anyone who wishes to spend time in Kandy.

Overall good experience. But not exceptional. Food was ok. No much selection even it's served as buffet. Stayed in standard room. They have no tooth brushes or toothpaste in bathroom. So do not forget to bring your own. Also they provide only 2 water bottles for 22 hours. Next day if you ask for water, you have to pay for that. That is frustrating for 4 star hotel. People are helpful. But i noticed there is lack of stewards at the restaurant. If you come by public transport, you can get into Wattegama-Kandy bus from kandy clock tower bus stand. From Wattegama, you have to get a tuk. For the price you pay, i think this hotel is not much worthy. Pros - location, staff and service Cons - Facilities, transport, food

Our stay at Elegant Hotel was wonderful. This small boutique hotel was a real gem. Overall, the best hotel we stayed at. Delightful staff front & back of house. The owner - manager, well trained and experienced in hospitality, was most hospitable. Aesthetically appealing with lovely interior design & infinity edge pool in garden overlooking hills of Kandy. Chef produced excellent Sri Lankan breakfasts & dinners which could be eaten on verandah with a view or candlelit in garden by the pool, overlooking Kandy hills. Any hint of something not on the menu appeared the next day. Our driver who hadn't been there before was very happy, rating it the best of his stays during our trip. Although it's a 30 minute drive from Kandy, a tuk-tuk is readily available if required & there's a short walk to an interesting temple nearby. Sunsets viewed from spacious verandah off the rooms are a bonus. Would definitely stay there again.

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.

This is by far the best hotel in kandy,western standerd rooms and service, hard to get at Sri Lanka in general, the manager bought us train tickets a month ahead of our visit, it was the last tickets at that date, as he spent 3000 from his own money to get us this tickets and without that our journey would fall apart as we were dreaming about this train ride, then upgraded our room for free once we have checked in, many thanks for making us feel like home

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.

My boyfriend and I stayed for two nights in August at the Earl's Regent (not to be confused with the Earl's Regency in Kandy) and had a lovely experience. The hotel is just a little out of Kandy (400RPS Tuktuk ride away) and situated on the side of a lovely hill. It gets a lovely sunset (much better then from the lake) and you also get to see (pretty close up) the millions of bats that fly over when the sun goes down...its awesome! The pool is lovely and the service was great. The buffet was really good. The hotel also organised an excursion to the Elephant Orphanage (1hr 30mins drive away) and our trip to the airport (same driver both trips) which where both was very prompt and our driver looked after us very well (even went to a herbal gardens, organised our entrance fees to the Orphanage and showed us around so we got the best experience). Overall very helpful staff, lovely new (6 months old) hotel, very good value! Thanks Earls Regent!

firstly a warning. this hotel is not in kandy, all drivers said that it wasn't even in the same area as kandy, making it (relatively) expensive and slow to get there. agoda should really check these details rather than relying on the hotels own descriptions which, if inaccurate, can put people in difficult situations. if you are not looking for a kandy hotel and want to stay in beautiful tea country, this is a great place to go. the views were amazing and the lodging was very comfortable and clean. worth staying more than a night if you are going to make the effort to go there.

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!

Really nice colonial style hotel in Kandy. Rooms are lovely and is is only 5 minutes away from he centre of Kandy.Food is good and there is a lovely bar which looks down the river. Make sure you visit the temple when you are in Kandy as it is the best temple we visited in Sri Lanka. You are also very close to the Tea Plantations which are really beautiful in stunning countryside. Lovely hotel, very classy.

This is a perfect, central base to explore Kandy. The hotel is perfectly located around 5 mins from the temple of the tooth and the heart of Kandy. The hotel overlooks the lake and is set in a prime location. It is directly on a road but you soon get over that very quickly. There were also some roadworks right outside but this is Kandy and is he really very busy and hectic. To stay so central you can accept theses negatives. The staff were friendly. Both reception staff and restaurant waiting staff. We were on honeymoon and were upgraded to a suite overlooking the lake. This was a great surprise. The room was super clean, spacious, with a huge bed and great, clean bathroom. Toiletries and towels were also great. Whether you are staying in Kandy on a whistle stop tour or for a few days this hotel really is worth considering.

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.

The Mountbatten was the first hotel on our journey in Sri Lanka, and the perfect place to be for exploring the temples of Kandy and also finding time to chill by the pool with the incredible views of the hills. The staff were by far our favorite of all that we met in Sri Lanka, and were super helpful when sourcing our train tickets to Ella, as well as helping us with a driver to be our tour guide! The food was amazing, from Delicious breakfast served in the stunning gardens at sunrise, to curries in the evening in the restaurant. We stayed in one of the cabins, which i would highly reccomend over the main house rooms- they were very high spec, and clean and right in the jungle with all the noises and trees looming over us! we totally loved it and will be going back!

We staid here for 2nights, we changed dates because of all the rain in December. When we arrived we got a complimentairy upgrade to the Textile room, with outdoor bathroom (including an antique bath tub!), which was amazing. We were the only guest at the hotel and we were treated like royalty. The food is really good, the staff as well. It's about 45 min from Kandy itself, but who needs kany if you have the Samadhi center? There are little relax places to relax; by the river for example. You can also do yoga or have some (ayurvedic) treatments, which are amazing. THe dogs are really nice to (Hanna!). Overall this was the best place to end our 3,5 weeks Sri Lanka trip. Thanks Jack for taking good care of us.

I stayed at the Queen's hotel in Kandy in July 2012 before the Perahela Festival. The hotel is an old colonial heritage, with quite charming old-school decorations. Rooms are old but very clean and carefully tended. The service is friendly. The restaurant provides local as well as international cuisine at a value price. The location is very convenient for Kandy tour, just in the north western end of the Kandy lake. Besides there is also a shop providing high quality Sri Lankan souvenirs and tea (you have to get out of the gate and turn right, 50m). One of the drawbacks is guests might be waken up by the 6am temple chanting by the loudspeaker on the road around the lake.

The hotel stuff are friendly. The boss is friendly and helpful too. He helped me to amend my bookings accordingly as i had booked more days than i required initially. He also revised my booking cost accordingly. The breakfast provided by the hotel is very generous, based on the amount we paid for. It is really value for money. The hotel has lift which is ideal for elderly who has problem climbing stairs. The location of the hotel is good too as it is near Kandy city area.

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.

From our arrival to our departure, we stayed for four nights, I have nothing but praise for this hotel. Positioned high in the hills a few kilometres outside of Kandy means you have uninterrupted views for miles. Our arrival experience was unhurried, we were given a cold glass of fresh juice on arrival before being taken to our room. A large spacious room which smelt of clean linen, so fresh. Our four poster bed was really comfortable and large bathroom with bath and over bath shower was hot and had good pressure. We stayed in room 5. When the hotel is busy they operate a Sri Lankan buffet dinner which was good quality and had lots of choice, priced at 1200 rupees £6.00 a head it was amazing value. Breakfast was also buffet a mix of Western and Sri Lankan dishes plus yoghurts and plenty of fresh fruit. The manager was a great help to us in suggesting things to do and we found all the staff to be friendly and attentive. On our last night we were going to be the only residents and so we were kindly offered to upgrade for the night into the suite at no extra charge - it was such a lovely gesture, but as we had quite a packed travel itinerary staying in lots of different places we chose to stay put as our room was very comfortable. That evening they set us up a table for dinner at the very top floor of the hotel on a large balcony terrace, such a lovely thought, the view over the low lying towns and across to the hills was just stunning. The journey into Kandy takes around 15mins. If you walk along the short lane from the hotel to the main road you will easily pick up a tuk tuk for around 300 rupees into Kandy. It'll cost you more like 4-500 to return as the hill is very long and steep - it's still a bargain for £2.50. It's a very steep climb from the hotel car park into the hotel, but well worth the effort. A lovely hotel that we hope to return to.