I stayed there 4 nights (only planned for one). Although all of Galle Fort is easy walking distance, the fact this is directly across the street from great ocean side bars and restaurants makes it the best place to stay in the fort. The owner/operators are nice and I loved their dog (although she does bark a lot).
Agoda
Expedia.com
Taking safety measuresExpedia.com
We stayed for one night but was pleasant. The room was cute with an old fashioned 4 poster bed with mozzie net and good air con. The breakfast was very good with eggs, toast and fruit and is served on the terrace. The owner and her staff were also very helpful and the guest house is in a great location for Galle fort as it is right near the lighthouse. Tuk tuk from the train station was about 200RS
I booked Thenu Rest Guest House for two nights via Booking.com but the same unpleasant thing as other reviewers reported in 2013 happened to me, unfortunately.
Upon arrival at Thenu Rest Guest House, I was surprisingly told to stay at another place for the first night since they had been fully occupied on that night. As I was planning to stay in Galle for two nights only, I told them I did not want to change a hotel every night and requested them to find a place where I could stay for consecutive two nights at least under the same price and conditions as Thenu Rest Guest House offered. However, they seemed to be facing a difficulty in finding such a hotel since it was already after 18:00. Then they started complaining to me that I should have checked the status of my reservation at regular basis before my arrival ! In addition, they started excusing themselves that they had no way to reach me since they did not have my contact details despite of the fact that I input my mobile phone number when I made a reservation. When I told them that I did input my mobile phone number in the website of Booking.com, they once again started excusing themselves that they failed to reach me even though they tried to call my mobile several times. Needless to say, there was no sign at all on my mobile that I received any calls from them on that day.
According to information I got while I was staying in Galle, Thenu Rest Guest House is basically a “walk-in” type accommodation and you can not be relieved even if you receive a booking confirmation from a booking agent.
This was my introduction to Sri Lanka and it was quite depressing.
Cons:
*The room was not adequate for the price. We paid $48 for one night and there were mosquitos everywhere as well as some big bugs and spiders.
*Service was cold and unwelcoming. We wonder if it is because my friend is Asian as the European reviewers seem to have had a good experience. They never actually greeted us or really said anything except to demand money.
*No complementary water, they charged us even though we didn't even ask for the included breakfast
*We couldn't sleep!! There was so much noise, I don't know where it was coming from. It might have been someone watching TV all night.
Pros:
*The location was useful.
*They let us stay 30minutes after check-in (after arguing a bit)
*Wi-fi connection was just OK
*On the plus side, because it was so depressing we left at 6AM to explore the city and had a lovely time seeing the sunrise, eating breakfast etc outside of the guest house.
Honestly we are quite puzzled with our experience as other reviewers seem to have really enjoyed it but it was NOT pleasant and we would NOT go back! Our driver got a bad vibe from them as well and didn't even want us to spend the night. AVOID!!
$ days at Thenu, first floor front, lovely room, and easy access to the balcony. ( Bit of a shock, however, first thing in the morning when the cleaning lady started laying linen out to air on the table on the balcony right outside the window whilst we were still in sleep mode). Great breakfast choice of "English" ( two fried eggs, crusty bread toast, butter and marmalade, tea/coffee pot and a fruit lassi) or Sri Lanka ( hoppers etc). Unfortunately we didn't know that Sri Lankan breakfast was an option until our last morning ( and, that day, apparently the hopper shop had had a fire - so we got English again anyway !
We also booked our return to Colombo car through another guest-house because we didn't realise that Thenu could have arranged it for us. (Perhaps they could improve their communications a little).
Room was very comfortable, although the wardrobe door was locked shut. The bathroom is a "wet room" with a nice hot shower, but naturally the tiled floor became very slippery, and the lip at the doorway needs a bit of caution to avoid tripping over in the middle of the night ( leave the light on !).
Great location on Hospital street right opposite the tap bar and restaurants. Some noise from the Tap House until about 9: 30 a couple of nights, but also a great place to watch the wedding parties in all their finery as this is one of THE locations for the photos.
Pros: In a great spot opposite the old Dutch hospital, walking distance to entire fort, great breakfast, comfortable bed, warm showers
Cons: very loud if you're facing the street + noise from the bars at Dutch hospital, linen kinda smelled like petrol....
