It's an old colonial hotel with wonderful polished wooden floors and staircases and a great balcony on the 2nd floor. It has seen better times, though. The room was OK, with a fan, although tobacco smoke and noise percolated in from people sitting on the balcony just outside. The bathroom was ancient, and the shower barely worked - a cool... More

Old building with colonial atmosphere. My room was pretty cheap and nicely furnished - wooden floor and colonial furniture. I really enjoyed the balcony with great view and comfy armchairs, nice place to chill. Great location, next to the entrance to the Temple of the Tooth. And I didn't get any insect bites:) I would definitely stay there again.

I saw the reviews of bed bugs but booked anyway because my friend stayed here last month and recommended it. In 2 nights I had about 30 bites on me, I don't know if they were mosquito or bed bugs or both but for the rest of my 9 day trip I was in torture from all the bites (Still... More

Really enjoyed my stay here at this characterful old colonial-era hotel. Brilliant value considering its location and amenities. We stayed in a lakeside room upstairs with access to the verandah...a great place to chill with a nice cup of tea. Lovely period furniture and wooden flooring. The room was good sized and nicely furnished. Ceiling fan which is perfectly adequate... More

Beautifully ancient guesthouse that's been in the same family for more then 100 years. It's full of charm and atmosphere. Tea on the upstairs veranda facing the lake listening to the chants coming from the next door "Temple of the Tooth" was priceless. I had an upstairs frontside room with wooden floors and period furniture which was great. One of... More

Over 50 bites all over after just 2 nights. Found 2 bedbugs hiding in my backpack; one crawled out while I was waiting at the airport for check-in just after midnight! So lucky I spotted that. Found the other one after checking in a good hotel in Bangkok and used the bathroom as the quarantine area. Otherwise, a good base... More

Quirky old hotel bang in the centre of Kandy right next to the Tenple of the Tooth. Very clean room but very basic and definitely watch out for the 5am start of the chanting blasted out over the speakers in the street. Great free alarm if you're getting a 6am train as we were!

As the only budget place in the middle of town, it's worth calling or emailing ahead, otherwise it gets booked up quickly when all the busses and trains arrive early afternoon. It has the monopoly of the budget places, which means it feels pretty complacent in its basicness, but the room was fine, the shared bathroom could be smelt from... More

Olde Empire was one of the cheapest places we stayed, and it ticked the boxes. It's very central, very busy, the rooms are clean and it has a nice balcony. Our room wasn't en-suite, and the communal bathrooms seemed fine, though you could smell them all the way down the corridor – unpleasant at times. It was really noisy, too,... More