The Manor House in Kandy sells itself as a boutique hotel and certainly charges boutique hotel prices but despite the beautiful exterior of this old colonial house that is where the similarities end, the place is a disaster.
We were shown to our room which was on 2 levels with a VERY steep staircase connecting them. The bathroom was what you would expect to see in a 1* hotel in Paris- an out of date shower, stringy old towels and worst of all a smell of drains coming from the loo that kept us awake all night!
The bedroom was no better, out of date furniture and a wardrobe you could not even hang a shirt in,ants all over the floor and in a position that meant you could hear the traffic starting up along a busy road from about 5am.
However, the best or rather worst aspect of the hotel was the food and the staff. On our first night we were solved cold mash potato with cold fish cakes and rice in the garden. The power kept failing (hence the cold food) so every 15 minutes a generator would kick into action deafening everyone.
The staff did not seem to have a clue what they were doing, hovering around tables when they were not wanted and then nowhere in sight when they were needed. At one point my husband asked for an adaptor plug and one of the members of staff just looked at him blankly and walked off!
The hotel is also a good 15-20 min journey from Kandy centre so unless you have a driver it means a very unpleasant and dirty tuk tuk drive to get anywhere and as it is so far out none of the drivers know where it is.
On this trip we also stayed in The Fortress which is amazing, The Galle Face which is a beautiful historic hotel and very good value and when we finally managed to move out of The Manor House, The Earls Regency which was well run and had large rooms with great views and a beautiful pool. It is also much nearer the centre of Kandy and Tuk Tuk drivers know exactly where it is!!
- Manor Hotel Kandy
