A great location and a quirky family home run as a small budget hotel. And our stay here was nearly good, but lots of little things stopped it from being so...

Breakfast our Sri Lankan breakfast was ordered but forgotten the replacement was poor (we were blamed for giving our order to the waiter.!)
We got electric shccks from the fridge
The promised kettle in our room wasn't there - apparently it was the Chinese guests fault!
Lots of things needed attention; tired bedding, loose taps, poor shower, no hangers, chest of drawers
The beds weren't made up; it took three goes to ask for bedding; finally we were just given the bedding (it was clear we were expected to do this ourselves).

All this gave us quite a laugh; a sort of Sri Lankan Fawlty Towers and we did genuinely enjoy our time here...

Having just stayed there, I have just re read some of the reviews here on TA and now understand why some are some positive and others aren't. The reason being is that in this place, not all rooms are equal.

The room I stayed in (room 5) is fairly dire. Whereas, I looked in room 7 (the doors of the rooms are open when the room is vacant) was quite nice. It appears that they are renovating room by room. Room 6 appears to be quite dire too. And the reviews reflect this!!

Anyway my review:

The Positives
• The husband and wife that run the place are friendly. They gave me a lift to the railway station early one morning.
• The place is in easy walking distance of everywhere in Fort.
• The breakfast is very nice and very filling.

Need to Know
• You can ask for a Sri Lankan Breakfast BUT you have to ask for it in advance. Otherwise, you end up with fried eggs, toast and fruit. You can ask for an omelette etc, but you have to order the SL breakfast in advance. For some reason, the owners dont really tell you this.
• If you are over about 180cm, the door ways and stairwells are a hazard. Learn to duck everywhere here.
• Not all rooms are equal. I was in room 5 which is ‘basic’. Whereas I saw room 7 and that was reasonably OK. Same price though!!
• There is a mosque not far away, so you can hear Call to Prayer very early in the morning if you on the top floor like I was.
• They have a dog which yaps a fair bit. So if you’re not a dog person or dogs yapping at 6 in the morning not your thing, then be aware.
• The room is not cleaned while you are here.
• The owners English is not the best, so be aware of this when speaking to them. I heard from other guests that there were miscommunications.

The Negatives
• As I said, I was in room 5 and this is basic. It really needs to be renovated as it is very run down and tired. The lock on the door is virtually falling off, the bathroom is dire, the air con is old and struggles to work in the heat, the walls need painting, the curtain need replacing, the furniture is old etc. Whereas room 7 seemed relatively nice.
• The rooms are all the same price from what can see. The people in room 7 said that they paid US $50/night – the same as me, but that room has two double beds, better bathroom, TV, better air con, recently renovated etc.
• The WiFi is hit and miss. Mornings are good, but the afternoons are terrible. I assume that everyone is on it then.
• The sheets and towels are thin and old.
• The towels etc aren’t replaced. You need to air them on the balcony otherwise they get smelly due to the humidity.

I wouldn’t stay here again. Its OK but you must be able to get something better for the price. Plus when you pay the same as other people and get a crappy room, then its not ideal!

Simple family run guest house just round the corner from Pedlar St. Clean and comfortable bedroom, well furnished with fairly basic shower room. Good breakfast on street terrace -- a good place to watch wedding photo shoots! Mistress of the house pleasantly direct!!!