Hilton Colombo — Hotel in Colombo

What makes a great hotel outstanding is it’s attention to detail and it’s staff who are committed to 5* customer service. This is such a hotel.||Genuine similes and faultless service throughout. Attached is a selection of the fabulous staff that await to greet you at this gem of a hotel.||The journey out||After a pleasant  enough trip over the ocean from the UK to CMB via Abu Dhabi, we were eager to hop into our Uber ride over to the Hilton Colombo.||Top tip||Get your currency at the ATMs or foreign exchanges booths immediately after passport control.||In order to keep in contact  or to simply navigate your way around Sri Lanka either purchase an Esim before you leave the UK or get a tourist Sim card from the Dialog mobile phone desk located in the arrivals area.||Transportation||Uber works well here and they are safe and reliable (the taxi pickup point is via the S2 doorway exit – it’s well signposted). If using a local taxi, try to get a metered one and/or agree the price first. The journey from the airport to central Colombo was around 45 mins.||Arrival & Check-in||On arrival at the Hilton, we were met by Lakshitha the smilingly bellman, who quickly whisked our bags away. It was a great first impression of things to during our extended stay.||The building from the outside is pretty impressive with well manicured lawns, but as you enter the central atrium, there is a wow factor due to the sheer amount of space, it’s airy and well decorated with a modern contemporary finish and was always spotlessly clean during our stay.||Big bright spaces tastefully designed with areas to sit and work or to relax in. We were impressed by the clever lighting and lovely tones of dark in the recessed ceiling. The fresh daily flower displays throughout the hotel were also a nice touch.||Check-in was smooth and welcoming with many staff members on hand to help. Naleesha and her team members explained where everything was and how everything worked. They were both professional and personable, offering a welcome drink to guests which I thought was a great touch.   ||To our surprise, they also upgraded us to an executive room to use during our stay which was very welcomed and unexpected.  This was lovely and personal touch that made us feel genuinely valued as HH diamond members and excited about our stay.||The exec room blended modern luxury and classic elegance. The room had a lovely ambient and comforting decor. It felt light and spacious. The room also had a super quite noise free air conditioning system, ideal for getting a great night’s sleep. The bed was super comfortable with a choice of pillows and high-quality white linen – just what was needed after a long  journey.  The view from the room of the sunset over the Galle Face Beach was wonderful to watch each evening.||The hotel has just completed a major refurbishment where they renovated all rooms and it shows. There were lots of sockets with USB ports, as well as UK type 3 pin ones by the bed which were handy for multiple device charging.||A top tip for this hotel is to request to be on the seaview side (as these have the best views).||The hotels location works perfectly for us as its a great place from which to explore Colombo. It is also easy to access most other areas of the city including Galle Face Beach and the Lotus Tower. If you are a walker, you’ll be fine without taxis/ tuk-tuks for the most part. ||There are plenty of restaurants and bars in the surrounding areas as well as boutique shops and markets particularly at the nearby Galle Face Mall. It’s a very safe city to explore, locals are only to pleased to help and English is widely spoken.||Tip ||In addition to the high end shops located at Galle Mall, on the lower floor there is a variety of eateries and it’s also the nearest branch of Keells supermarket if you need to purchase any snacks or last minute toiletries.||Another one of the big pluses for staying at this hotel is its very close to Colombo Fort railway station for those who wish extend their stay by travelling inland to the likes of Kandy, Ella or beyond. ||Tip ||Book your train tickets online via Sri Lanka railways website and save the e-ticket to your phone, it’s more convenient that queuing in person at the railway booking office.  FYI book early particularly for the train to Ella as it can get really busy especially at the weekends. Also at most stations, its cash only payment.||Restaurants and dining ||The hotel has a number of restaurants and bars with a variety of cuisines and styles including ‘Graze’, ‘LAB’,  ‘SunsetBlu’ and ‘Emperor’s Wok’ to name a few.|| Breakfast is served in ‘Graze’ which has a very comfortable seating area and a very extensive and impressive buffet selection spanning Vegan, Asian, European, Indian and local dishes plus cooked to order foods, such as poached eggs and omelettes or whatever took your fancy.||The breakfast was excellent, it was always very tasty, plentiful with warm and attentive service to boot (particularly shout out to the restaurant manager Ms Sajee, young Oshadha and Fonia who greeted us daily with big beaming smiles). It made a great start to each day.||Everything we ate was delicious, so much so we often had to resist temptation to have a second breakfast each.||If you want to maximise  your lazy time whilst having breakfast, lunch or dinner, ask to be seated in the outdoor area at Graze overlooking the lotus themed lake watching the koi carp and black swans, its a great setting to munch on a croissant and have a cup of tea or spot of afternoon brunch.||The hotel has a reputation for its food, and it could be for that reason that it was noticeably busier at the weekends. From looking at the LAB menu they have a lot of great looking choices including afternoon tea and extensive range of drinks at reasonable prices too.||Pool Area||Service and facilities at the pool area were consistently solid as you’d expect at a 5 star hotel, with comfy sun loungers, water and towels, plus a range of delicious food and snacks available at the  pool-side. Service was attentive and responsive with that same welcoming smile that greeted us upon arrival (talking about you Roshan, Haren and Lucky, thanks guys). The hotel also has a modern gym space with a plenty of cardio machines, enough to have a good workout if that’s your thing. The hotel also has a spa but we did not visit may be on our next visit.||Executive Lounge||This is one area that this  exemplified the very, very best of the Hilton brand. Yes some Hiltons have lounges, but this one puts most to shame (talking especially to you Hilton UK). The ambiance of the lounge is particularly top notch with a warm welcoming vibe. The team consisting of Sachite, Manisha, Dinujain, Sithusadi and Kawmini are fantastic, customer focused and great brand ambassadors for the hotel.||The lounge is expertly overseen by Kirishnantha the manager who ensures that everything is always on point. He has a great manner about him such as greeting each guest by name and ensuring their lounge experience is an outstanding one. ||The lounge is situated on the 2nd floor with great views of the garden and the lotus themed lake. It had a large dining area together with a range of cozy and comfy informal seating areas.||The lounge is open for breakfast, afternoon tea and evening drinks. In the day time it’s mainly tea, soft drinks and yummy cookies and cake; as well as providing a great space in which to unwind and watch the world go by.||Its in the evening where the lounge shines brightly with its complimentary buffet and drinks offer 18.00 - 20.00 hrs. This included a variety of tasty cold and hot snacks including meat, fish and pasta dishes, sandwiches, sushi, soups, salads, cheese and biscuits, fruit and desserts. The food offer changes on a daily basis reflecting different international cuisines.||The food is fresh, very scrumptious and more than enough for a substantial evening meal.||The lounge also had a good range of wines, spirits and beers, as well as fruit juices, tea and coffee.||Another area we liked in the lounge was the television corner which made a relaxing place to sit that felt a bit like someone’s living room. || |In summary, why choose this Hilton, well it’s in a great central location, excellent and well appointed bed rooms and hotel facilities; great food, backed up by outstanding customer service from every single team member we met. It made a perfect relaxing holiday, so much so that we have already booked our next extended stay at this fabulous gem...

What makes a great hotel outstanding is it’s attention to detail and it’s staff who are committed to 5* customer service. This is such a hotel.

On arrival at the Hilton, we were met by Lakshitha the smilingly bellman, who quickly whisked our bags away. It was a great first impression of things to during our extended stay.

Check-in was smooth and welcoming with many staff members on hand to help. Naleesha and her team members explained where everything was and how everything worked. They were both professional and personable, offering a welcome drink to guests which I thought was a great touch.

We were upgraded us to an executive room, this was lovely and personal touch that made us feel genuinely valued as HH members and excited about our stay.

The exec room bed was super comfortable with a choice of pillows and high-quality white linen. Also thanks to Nilesh from housekeeping who made us smile with the range of animals he created each day from a bunch of towels.

The hotels location works perfectly for us as its a great place from which to explore Colombo. It is also easy to access most other areas of the city including Galle Face Beach and the Lotus Tower. Another one of the big pluses for staying at this hotel is its very close to Colombo Fort railway station for those who wish extend their stay by travelling inland to the likes of Kandy, Ella or beyond.

The hotel has a number of restaurants and bars with a variety of cuisines and styles including ‘Graze’, ‘LAB’, ‘SunsetBlu’ and ‘Emperor’s Wok’ to name a few.

Breakfast is served in ‘Graze’ which has a very comfortable seating area and a very extensive and impressive buffet selection spanning Vegan, Asian, European, Indian and local dishes plus cooked to order foods, such as poached eggs and omelettes or whatever took your fancy. The breakfast was always excellent, with warm and attentive service to boot (particularly shout out to the restaurant manager Ms Sajee, young Oshadha and Fonia who greeted us daily with big beaming smiles). It made a great start to each day.

Facilities at the pool area were consistently solid as you’d expect at a 5 star hotel, with comfy sun loungers, water and towels, plus a range of delicious food and snacks available at the pool-side. Service was attentive and responsive with that same welcoming smile that greeted us upon arrival (talking about you Roshan, Haren, Danuka and Lakshitha, thanks guys).

Executive Lounge This is one area that this exemplified the very, very best of the Hilton brand. The ambiance of the lounge is particularly top notch with a warm welcoming vibe. The team consisting of Sachite, Manisha, Dinujain, Neha, Sithusadi and Kawmini are fantastic, customer focused and great brand ambassadors for the hotel.

The lounge is expertly overseen by Kirishnantha the manager who ensures that everything is always on point. He has a great manner about him such as greeting each guest by name and ensuring their lounge experience is an outstanding one.

The lounge shines brightly with its complimentary buffet and drinks offer 18.00 - 20.00 hrs. This included a variety of tasty cold and hot snacks including meat, fish and pasta dishes, sandwiches, sushi, soups, salads, cheese and biscuits, fruit and desserts. The food offer changes on a daily basis reflecting different international cuisines. The lounge also had a good range of wines, spirits and beers, as well as fruit juices, tea and coffee.

In summary, why choose this Hilton, well it’s in a great central location, excellent and well appointed bed rooms and hotel facilities; great food, backed up by outstanding customer service from every single team member we met. It made a perfect relaxing holiday, so much so that we have already booked our next extended stay at this fabulous...

I would say our dining experience was a pleasant one and we enjoyed the food on the lunch buffet. As it was a combined lunch and high tea, the variety of food was not that great however the food was fresh and tasty. The staff who served us was also very helpful and punctual.

Apart from the dining experience,you may already know that my visit was not totally a pleasant one. I mistakenly left my wedding ring in a wash room near Ramani Fernando salon.This was because I removed it to wash my daughter who needed to use the toilet in the middle of our meal. After about 1 and half hours when I realized the loss and went to search for it, the ring had been taken away by someone. I submitted an incident report to the hotel admin and their response was this will need to investigated further and I will get a response within two days. They also did not recommend lodging a complaint with the police. I left the hotel and for the safe side, lodged a complaint with the Fort police station who in turn accompanied us to the hotel to look into this matter further. As nothing was further revealed during the visit, we had to leave again to the police station. Within minutes of the arrival, I got a phone call from the hotel security section (Madura Priyadharshana) saying the ring had been taken by one of the assistants of Ramani Fernando Salon and asked us to come again to the hotel to collect it. He also demanded that I withdraw the complaint lodged with the police.He did not have any right to say so also it was very rude of his behavior which we never expected from the hotel staff. Police officials insisted that the culprits to come to the police station to hand over the ring. Chanaka-the security manager also called me in a while saying that this is not the Hotel's responsibility and the respective persons of the salon have been informed to come and hand over the ring. We waited nearly 1 hour and as no one arrived at the police station, had to return back to the hotel to finally get the ring.

After all the hassle taken by myself, my husband and my two kids who had to run several trips to the hotel and back to the police station till I finally found the ring, Chanaka-the security manager called me to apologize saying that he had explained the situation to the GM who had offered us a complementary lunch. While we accepted that, what I want to emphasize here is that the responses and the support we received from the hotel staff in the hour of need was not up to the satisfaction.

I do hope this will receive your due attention to improve the security side of the hotel to give much better service to the customers facing similar issues in the hotel premises in future as...