A stay at Ramada Colombo
To be on the safe side (and not to irk my work colleagues with my usual bartering cheapie self), I went to the taxi service booth at the arrivals area. No bargaining with the price of 3,000LKR, we were on a hurry coz we arrived at the Bandaranaike International Airport at around 11:30am and we have a software training session at 2pm. That’s cutting it short but the ride to the city is normally just under an hour so I was thinking we have enough time to check in at our hotel and have lunch.
Unbelievable! We were given a driver who doesn’t know his way around Colombo City! Give me a week or two maybe, and I’ll probably be better than him! My first stop was at the lawyer’s office in Colombo 05 (it took him a long time to find the place!) and it was a nightmare getting from there to our hotel at Galle Face Green! To think that it’s a popular landmark!
He is probably the only Srilankan who doesn’t know where Galle Face Green is!
We were soooo late! I had to call and ask our trainors to wait for us for at least an hour. Lesson for the day: its better to have your hotel arrange for your airport transfers!
Staying at Ramada Colombo
The hotel used to be the Holiday Inn Colombo, I have not stayed there when it was still a Holiday Inn so I cannot make comparisons from its before-and-after condition. However, with a 10usd difference with Cinnamon Lakeside and Hilton it is way overpriced!
I was really expecting something else, similar to the other Ramada hotels that I’ve seen in other places. This hotel is a bit rundown and with very limited facilities. The breakfast buffet ( I normally check this coz I’m often booked on BB basis) was really bland and boring --- no pork bacon! Maybe it’s now catering to halal customers coz there were no pork dishes at all! Such a no-no for a pork eater like me! Hehe
There is no wow effect. The room was okay and I was pleasantly surprised with the chocolate gift box (nice touch!) but the bed linen was definitely old-fashioned. There was a bath tub but no bath salts included in the box of amenities --- ano kaya yun? Paano ko yan gamitin? One thing I noticed here in Sri Lanka, the hotel amenities are not of good quality even the five-star hotels…..I mean, the shampoo doesn’t have suds, the conditioner doesn’t make your hair soft, etc…..
It is also a favorite hotel venue for weddings. I love Srilankan weddings! It’s so colorful and so traditional. This is a wedding party accompanying the married couple, complete with dancers and drummers!
But their front office team is great! Faces wreath in warm and cordial smiles, they were always helpful.
Galle Face Green
The most popular landmark in Colombo (except for our cab driver, that is!) and is where all the hotels seem to converge or pass by, Galle Face Hotel is fronting it, our hotel is just on the roundabout, Taj Samudra is just close to it, and on your way to Cinnamon Lakeside or Colombo Hilton you will pass it by.
I wanted to see it at night, and so on this trip I went and ventured out. Galle Face Green certainly comes alive at night, with families playing in the grass and eateries (or “turo-turo) springing up on the sidewalks with the crashing waves serving as a background to the bustle around. One thing I noticed though as a huge difference between the Pinoy version (ala Baywalk!) is the absence of groups of men doing the “tagayan” or singing their lungs out in the videokes! Hahaha
I was debating on whether to have dinner at Galle Face Hotel (I really want to stay in this hotel as in promise next time I visit na wala akong ibang kasama I will really stay here --- ayaw ni boss kasi may ipis daw! Haaaayyyy) but KFC won out…..iba talaga ang sarap ng KFC! Lol
And now off to my date with the TV and my Robert Ludlum novel (I’m reading The Cry of the Halidon --- the only novel of RL that I have not read!).
I can’t wait for the next day --- I’m off to Negombo!
Unbelievable! We were given a driver who doesn’t know his way around Colombo City! Give me a week or two maybe, and I’ll probably be better than him! My first stop was at the lawyer’s office in Colombo 05 (it took him a long time to find the place!) and it was a nightmare getting from there to our hotel at Galle Face Green! To think that it’s a popular landmark!
He is probably the only Srilankan who doesn’t know where Galle Face Green is!
We were soooo late! I had to call and ask our trainors to wait for us for at least an hour. Lesson for the day: its better to have your hotel arrange for your airport transfers!
Staying at Ramada Colombo
The hotel used to be the Holiday Inn Colombo, I have not stayed there when it was still a Holiday Inn so I cannot make comparisons from its before-and-after condition. However, with a 10usd difference with Cinnamon Lakeside and Hilton it is way overpriced!
I was really expecting something else, similar to the other Ramada hotels that I’ve seen in other places. This hotel is a bit rundown and with very limited facilities. The breakfast buffet ( I normally check this coz I’m often booked on BB basis) was really bland and boring --- no pork bacon! Maybe it’s now catering to halal customers coz there were no pork dishes at all! Such a no-no for a pork eater like me! Hehe
There is no wow effect. The room was okay and I was pleasantly surprised with the chocolate gift box (nice touch!) but the bed linen was definitely old-fashioned. There was a bath tub but no bath salts included in the box of amenities --- ano kaya yun? Paano ko yan gamitin? One thing I noticed here in Sri Lanka, the hotel amenities are not of good quality even the five-star hotels…..I mean, the shampoo doesn’t have suds, the conditioner doesn’t make your hair soft, etc…..
It is also a favorite hotel venue for weddings. I love Srilankan weddings! It’s so colorful and so traditional. This is a wedding party accompanying the married couple, complete with dancers and drummers!
But their front office team is great! Faces wreath in warm and cordial smiles, they were always helpful.
Galle Face Green
The most popular landmark in Colombo (except for our cab driver, that is!) and is where all the hotels seem to converge or pass by, Galle Face Hotel is fronting it, our hotel is just on the roundabout, Taj Samudra is just close to it, and on your way to Cinnamon Lakeside or Colombo Hilton you will pass it by.
I wanted to see it at night, and so on this trip I went and ventured out. Galle Face Green certainly comes alive at night, with families playing in the grass and eateries (or “turo-turo) springing up on the sidewalks with the crashing waves serving as a background to the bustle around. One thing I noticed though as a huge difference between the Pinoy version (ala Baywalk!) is the absence of groups of men doing the “tagayan” or singing their lungs out in the videokes! Hahaha
I was debating on whether to have dinner at Galle Face Hotel (I really want to stay in this hotel as in promise next time I visit na wala akong ibang kasama I will really stay here --- ayaw ni boss kasi may ipis daw! Haaaayyyy) but KFC won out…..iba talaga ang sarap ng KFC! Lol
And now off to my date with the TV and my Robert Ludlum novel (I’m reading The Cry of the Halidon --- the only novel of RL that I have not read!).
I can’t wait for the next day --- I’m off to Negombo!
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