Overall Ratings & Reviews Shalimar Hotel

Does not reflect what is advertised. Poor lighting. TV channels had to be paid to get activated. AC was a disaster. The sheets and mattresses not satisfactory. Definitely not a 3 star hotel. More like a travel lodge.

Good size room, clean, comfortable bed, excellent air conditioning Downsides - shower cold despite own boiler, thin curtains so woken by sunrise

Spacious rooms, friendly staff, restaurant in the hotel, it's about 30 min walk to Colombo fort

The place was very nice, comfortable with friendly and helpful staff. Highly recommended.

After 3 weeks thrvarious places i Sri Lanka, i stayes here for 3 nights when I needed to return to Colombo. Waje, the manager, was the nicest, most aurhentic, flexible and helpful person I had encountered so far in tne hotel industry here, and maybe beyond. I had to check out before anyone normally comes on duty, and he had the kitchen make me a sack breakfast to go the night before. And when i came downstairs, he was up and waiting anyway. He sent out for English newspapers for me, at their expense, and immediately offered to change my room when the TV stopped working. He gave me sughestions on what and where to avoid. I felt like he cared. It is a 2 *, and generally caters to the local population. If you are good with that, you will be very safe and comfortable here. ( that said, it was much more expensive to book on booking.com, so book.here instead)

It was in a great location for catching early train from Marada Station to Galle

A traditional style hotel next to Maradana railway station. The rooms are quite big, and spacious. The AC worked fine, although the WiFi struggled occasionally. The staff seemed very friendly and helpful,and assisted as required. There is a restaurant on the ground floor open until 22.00, serving a mix of Indian and Chinese dishes, there is also a bar area. I will stay here again, as it suits my needs, although the local area is not central for many people.

Good value traditional hotel near Maradana railway station. The rooms are very good sized and clean. The bathrooms have individual hot water boilers so always available should you wish. AC in the room was ok and the wifi worked although the signal wasn't the best at times. Friendly and helpful staff who remembered me from previous visits. Laundry took just over a day, but was well done and cheap. They also arranged a car to the airport at a competitive rate. The restaurant was open until 22.00 which is handy as the choices around the area are limited. Beware that rooms at the front will be subject to the associated noise you find here.

This hotel was a 5 minutes walk from the train station. The hotel bedroom is very big and spacious with a huge comfortable bed and very clean. The staff were fabulous and would help with their knowledge and always with a big smile. The food in the restaurant was fabulous and plenty of it and they would even get you a beer from down the road. Would definitely recommend this place.

Staff very friendly. Rooms clean. Front room facing the road was very noisy. Changed to quite back room.

A very good budget hotel in Colombo. The service was very good.The local area is nothing special with lots of shops selling car parts. My bathroom was clean, but the bathroom tap only emitted a trickle. For what I paid (30 pounds per night) it represented good value

Good for one night, near train station! Food at then restaurant was good.

We were instantly upgraded to a suite room at Shalimar, which was a two storey bedroom with living space, king bed and beautiful slate tiled bathroom. The staff were really helpful and helped us to get the cheapest travel to our early morning flight. The hotel is really clean and nicely furnished and I would definitely stay here again considering the price was so reasonable.

Mosquitoes in the room, no bed nets. Stupid lazy desk staff, no bottled water, shampoo. Very noisy with the train at 5am. Try to find a better hotel but the standards are low in Sri Lanka.

the Shalimar has seen better days but is quite quiet and comfortable in general. i liked the weird design of my room which was like a sunken garden you went down steps to. (perhaps, however, not everyone's cup of tea). not much happening in da hood, especially after 6pm.

The hotel is not within easy walking distance to attractions in the city. The hotel is badly maintained. Remote controls for the airconditioning and TV did not work well. Shower didn't have enough pressure. Staff however were polite and tried to help as much as possible.

The hotel is promoted as having old world character. It does, lots of wood paneling which is rare these days. But the carpet must be to one orginally layed when it was openned. It's red (or was) and clearly very worn, bald and shiny in places. Not sure having a car repair place in the central courtyard is very attractive and the are as a whole is very run down and dirty. The night porter has a natress on the floor in the dinning room which allows him to see the front door, but this feels a little weird when you have to come down early to meet a bus. Not sure about the porter lurking around each floor and corner where ever I seemed to be.

Very friendly reception- smiles across all members of staff. Large comfortable bed, hot water, air conditioning- really fantastic watermelon fresh fruit juice with breakfast, lovely evening meal. A perfect stay.

It was ok the food selection after hours for room service sucked. Wifi was spotty and I hate having to re log in all the time

Suitable for a quick stay transiting from the airport to the next morning train. Nothing special, but decent for the price.