The Residence Ella

Excellent room on 1st floor in a lovely garden setting with birds and (for a wildlife lover like me) a great bonus mongoose in residence! He strolled past in the morning! Hope they let him stay. Fantastic breakfast served by a lovely young chap on my own balcony. Loved the furniture, particularly the stool on the balcony and the chair on castors in the room. On the edge of town, but only five minutes walk out and, for me, centrally located, as from here I hiked over to the 9 Arch Bridge (easy short walk) and then up to Little Adams Pk and then back down into town for dinner all in about three hours: all these sights are on this side of town. A wonderful place to stay for my last night in the hills.

Small point for The Residence: strongly recommend you add screens to the window and doors as soon as funds permit: the day was very hot but I had to close up in the evening to keep mosquitoes out and then run the pedestal fan all night to keep at a bearable temperature so I could sleep. Cooled down of course by morning, but I can't help thinking how much faster and more pleasant it would be to have slept with windows and door open and screens in place.

The hotel is in an excellent location - central, yet quiet and peaceful. The room was spacious and clean, and the staff were very kind and helpful.

There is no air conditioning in the room, but fans are provided.

Great location, staff were amazing and breakfast was great.

The springs on the bed were digging in and the shower wasn’t great.

The staff were very friendly, welcoming and always smiling. The location is great, and despite everything, the accommodation itself is comfortable and I slept very well.

Unfortunately, I was quite disappointed with the overall experience, especially considering the price I paid. This is absolutely not a criticism of the staff, who were lovely, but rather of the communication with the owners. The staff specifically give you the owners’ WhatsApp number so that you can contact them directly if you need anything. However, I’m still waiting for a reply to my message asking if it was possible to order some food at the property, as it was pouring with rain and I couldn’t really go out. So unfortunately, when it comes to communication, I cannot recommend it. The accommodation itself is satisfactory, but several small things are missing that would make the stay much more comfortable: bedside lamps, light switches near the bed (you have to go all the way to the entrance to turn the lights off at night), and some storage space for clothes and belongings. I also think the cleanliness and finishing touches in the bathroom could be improved. Everything works, and I don’t want to be overly negative, but overall I was still disappointed with the experience considering the price. I stayed in other places in Sri Lanka for the same price — or even cheaper — where the experience was close to excellent. That being said, the location is great and I still slept very well.