Having phoned a reservation the night before, we were a bit fazed on arrival to find it could not be found; after a long wait, a room was found; the first night had to be paid for upfront - did we look that disreputable?

The room was a spacious double, well equipped, but like most rooms here, facing a main road. 5.30am, tape recording of chants from the temple opposite, followed by the awakening of thousands of crows which had roosted in the trees lining the avenue.

But, these points aside, the hotel is superb. Excellent location, overlooking the lake, in the heart of the city, with shopping and tourist venues at hand; superb building - lobby (with evening pianist), wide mahogony staircases, lift, polite room service. And what a breakfast! Superb choice of omelette bar, Western, Sri Lankan, fresh fruit, bread goods.

Pool, bar, shopping facilities.

Just a pity that the administration left something to be desired!

I wanted to treat my wife to an unusual birthday night, so we went to Kandy in July for the Perahera. Since almost all accomodations were already booked, we e-mailed the hotel directly and through a third party were able to get a room along with reserved seats to the Perahera. Since we were driving in that day and only had one night in town, we were willing to pay a little more to eliminate the hassle and I think it was worth it.

The hotel looks and feels like it is stuck in 1920, but neither of us thought that was a bad thing. It was clean and well kept, our room was huge - I am not sure why because there wasn't much furniture in it -- and very quaint. We felt like this was a nice safe, place.

The lobby and service had an old world formality to it which was pleasant. Service was polite and efficient.

The seats for Perahera were really good -- right at the turn across from the Temple at the beginning of the procession, and we were able to see quite well.

The location of the hotel is ideal for visiting the temple during the day and has a nice view of the lake (from our room anyway.) The area behind the hotel is very retail and commercial. With the street below our room was noisy but that seemed to fit.

It was great to be able to walk across to the temple during the day and see the elephants and elephant handlers in the courtyard. The Perahera itself was very different than anything I had seen -- lots of fire, exotic smells and noises, and passionate participants. But at the same time, very subdued.

Meals at the main restaurant were included in our package so we ate there for dinner and breakfast. It was great to get to try all of the dishes although as you might expect from a buffet service, decent but not great.

My wfe is more choosy than I am about hotels and she gave the Queen's a "thumbs up."

We stayed in Kandy for 3 nights. We originally booked somewhere else, but in the end decided on here because of the location bang in the centre of the city. I'd read some negative reviews and was concerned it might be a little tired and run down, but I was pleasantly surprised. Although there is a feeling that it has seen better days, its a kind of nostalgic feeling of faded grandeur rather than a feeling of it being uncared for. I personally loved the sweeping staircase, the wooden floors and the large airy rooms. It was one of the better hotels we stayed in during our trip round Sri Lanka.

Staff were very helpful, the bar inside the hotel makes for a pleasant stop off [even if you're not stopping at the hotel] and the pool area is a welcome retreat. Buffet breakfast was ok, pretty standard - but plenty of choice compared to others we've stayed at. My only complaint was the noise of not outside but our neighbours! Our room had a connecting door with the next room [which was locked] but the occupants were rather loud. Our room overlooked the pool on the second floor and noise that others have referred to from the street was not an issue for us.

All in all I would recommend this as a great base for Kandy, its a nice hotel right by the Temple of the Tooth.