You pay three star prices and you get a good three star hotel - it is NOT a five star hotel by any international standard as it seems to advertise on websites such as expedia. If you hold that thought in your head you will probably not be disappointed. If you are expecting to get a five star hotel on the cheap I think you will be - bear in mind rooms are from £40 a night not £200+.

The review "Faded Colonial Splendeur" is quite accurate in my view. The room we had was spacious and well decorated overlooking a pleasant courtyard. The bathroom was also spacious and in it's time it would have been five star, but it is now dated, although everything worked well and it was clean.

Buffet in the evening has huge choice and isn't bad but again wouldn't be five star. The staff all wear colonial style uniforms and are very helpful in a formal way. A good choice if you are touring around but I wouldn't book a two week holiday here. I think they should think about what level they market themselve at.

Kandy the 2nd capital is far more attractive than Columbo, highlights were the botannical gardens and the Temple of the tooth.

We stayed here as part of a tour of Sri Lanka. The hotel is very pleasant, and nicely positioned on the river. I feel that the hotel trades on its former splendeur, and has not quite kept up. There was a very large wedding taking place when we were there, very noisy, very colourful, and I am sure very expenisve!

The buffet was meadeocre, but adequate.

Our room was lovely, right on the river.

This hotel is definitely a shadow of its former glory, and trades on its past.

Stayed at Mahaweli Reach as one of five hotels on a tour/beach holiday. Rooms were hugh, a/c plus ceiling fan were effective but the electrics in the room needed to be treated with care regarding badly wired and loose plugs/sockets. Our bathroom can only be described as poor, no pressure in the shower, the bath had a number of large chips in the enamel and part of the light of the mirror didn't work.
The staff were very good and a reasonable selection of eastern and western food, although as another reviewer said ''its a pity they didn't remove the clingfilm from the puddings'' We ate dinner on the terrace overlooking the pool which was pleasant- the live singer was then just a background sound.
For a couple of days this is an ok hotel, a bit of a trek by tuk tuk/taxi into Kandy but slightly more pluses than minuses.

I had agonised over a choice of hotel after reading all the TripAdvisor reports on hotels in Kandy. The Mahaweli Reach seemed to be by a narrow margin the better choice. I understand why - the hotel is of a reasonable standard, although the rooms are just about ready for a remodel. The rooms were large, the bathrooms showed their age - grouting in a poor state - mainly clean but not spotless. The food at dinner fair, breakfast was better. The service inconsistent. The grounds were pleasant overlooking the river. We were given an early morning wake-up call by the troup of monkeys raiding the bouganvilla flowers on the balcony - glad the door was closed.

Overall, one of those experinces that you can't say was great - nor was it bad. A pass - an ok experience.