Overview

Among the handful of Sri Lanka’s surviving hotels from the colonial period, the Queen’s in Kandy has to be one of the finest.  The interior, largely unchanged from the colonial era, transports guests back in time. Moreover, its ideal location near the town’s lake and the Temple of the Tooth, not forgetting the superb vantage it provides to view the Esala Perahera, have always been in its favour.
 
Established as a hotel in 1895, the building has a distinct heritage and has been developed over a long period of time, being used by the Army, by planters, and then finally by the tourist industry.
 
As you stroll the long corridors with their towering wooden doors and parquet flooring you are joining a select group of patrons. Graced by royalty, professionals, academics, travel writers, authors and poets, the Queen’s boasts clientele such as Mark Twain, D. H. Lawrence, Margaret Thatcher, Queen Elizabeth II, and Lord Mountbatten – the latter was often seen frequenting the hotel barbers for a snip.
 
Rooms
The rooms are a pleasure, with their sturdy colonial furniture and floor-to-ceiling curtains reminiscent of grand country houses in the southern counties of England. The morning sunlight streames into the room as you sit in the ornate armchair with the luxurious curtains framing you. Outside the window, the white Buddha statue of Kandy shines luminously in the morning sun, like a silent sentinel dominating the hilly landscape. A perfect morning makes even better by the memory of a steaming shower, easily adjustable air-conditioning and other totally un-colonial facilities. With so many hotels relying on design and style, but having facilities that tend to break down or play up, it was refreshing to be treated to utterly reliable facilities with no pretension about them at all.
 
Dining
Apart from the inviting pool complete with sun-loungers for basking, one of the few contemporary touches is the renaming of the main dining room as the Queen of Hearts Restaurant after the late Princess Diana. The food is simple and features local rice and curry as well as British fare. It’s nothing to shout about, but it is served individually by friendly and gracious waiters, rather than the impersonal buffet arrangement of many hotels these days. The bar of the hotel is one of the oldest in the country, with ornate wood carvings and a marble table top.
 
(Content Source : Travel Sri Lanka Magazine)