Hideout Lounge — Restaurant in Central Province

Well.. As we are guests, we all are supposed receive a nice welcome. As soon as I entered HIDEOUT LOUNGE one staff member wanted me to stay downstairs, he said "we have music down there". I did not find weird at the first but I felt like he was trying to control me, I said I would prefer upstairs and I went. Then these 2 gentlemen from the staff did welcome me and brought me to a table where I need to be seated. Btw there was music in the upstairs. Then one staff member started questioning me like where are you from, what you do for living. It was weird and I found it very unprofessional and uncomfortable. I didn't feel it was a friendly conversation. Later I asked that person why you questioned me like that. He answered that some Sri Lankans cannot afford this place. For an example he gave me this water bottle example. They have two types of water bottles. One is cost like 800 lkr and they decide the water bottles to be offered based on the nationality. Come on..800 lkr? I was like..you know this person mind set is like that. This is what he thinks. And he thinks it's polite to ask like that. He controversially got into my head and said I asked you politely right? Well..He almost spoiled my dinner. He didn't know what is tourism even. Well then this is the 2 nd incident . First they wanted to stop me from going the upstairs. Upstairs was so beautiful but 1st person wanted me to stop going there. This is where I felt like were they instructed to do that?

After 2nd incident I went through their reviews ohh yeah here we go. This type of staff members or the same person may have treated other clients same way. I found those clients have experienced the same bad and unpleasant experience. What my point is HIDEOUT LOUNGE must avoid treating their customers like this. Teach the staff how to treat their customers without considering the nationality. If they face nationality issues from customer end, please handle them case by case. If HIDEOUT LOUNGE taught the staff to question Sri Lankans whether they can afford a water bottle at HIDEOUT LOUNGE then only they can enter HIDEOUT LOUNGE, well I don't think top management is that bad. Find how many of your staff behave like this and teach them how to treat HIDEOUT LOUNGE customers without considering the nationality even you see some behavioral issues through the nationalities.

Dear customers..you will definitely feel like you are not welcome to HIDEOUT LOUNGE as soon as you entered this place. The manager was truly nice and I think he recently joined, but some staff members has unpleasant behaviors and it is coming from where they grew up maybe. It is not manager's or owner's fault I think. But they have to aware that such things are happening in HIDEOUT LOUNG. If the HIDEOUT LOUNGE is only for foreigners, better you mention it and market HIDEOUT LOUNGE only for the foreigners.

Dear HIDEOUT LOUNGE management, I am requesting as to avoid these unpleasant behavioral issues and personality issues by giving them a proper training. Later I spoke to the relevant staff member and showed him where it went wrong. It's good he was fine to listen to me later. He accepted and apologized. But, I see he needs a good practical training because that behavior comes within him. I understand that being ourselves is not wrong but if you work for tourism industry you have to change yourself if you need to pursue your career. I explained the whole incident to manager, Ruzaie as well. He was like to offer me anything to turn out my bad experience to a good one. That's nice of him.

Apart from this bad side at HIDEOUT LOUNGE, I enjoyed the music, the vibe there was amazing I loved it. Food is ok. Other staff members had such nice behaviors. They were nice fellows actually. We travel for peace and entertain the moments. We pay for what we get and we deserve the best. This place must turn out to be a pleasant hangout place. I wish...

I recently visited the Hideout Lounge in Kandy to pick up a friend and was taken aback by what I saw while waiting outside. The experience left me feeling concerned and compelled to share what I witnessed, not just for the safety of future visitors, but for the reputation of our country. The venue is popular with foreign guests, which is wonderful to see. However, when these guests try to leave using a ride-hailing app like Uber or PickMe, they encounter a serious problem. A group of aggressive local tuk-tuk drivers stations themselves at the entrance, intentionally blocking app-based drivers from picking up passengers. The behavior I observed was deeply troubling — these tuk-tuk drivers were not just unprofessional, they were openly hostile, using verbal abuse and even threatening the app-based drivers with physical harm. What was more shocking was the apparent inaction of the Hideout Lounge's security staff. Instead of stepping in to maintain order or ensure guests could get home safely, they seemed to support the behavior of the tuk-tuk drivers. They actively prevented legitimate ride-hailing drivers from parking nearby, effectively siding with the harassing group.

This situation paints a disturbing picture of the management's priorities. It suggests a complete disregard for guest safety and the freedom to choose one's own mode of transport. This is particularly concerning for tourists who may not understand the local context or feel comfortable speaking up. Unfortunately, such behavior creates a negative impression not just of the venue, but of Sri Lanka as a whole.

Advice: If you're a tourist planning to visit this place, please be aware of the situation outside. I highly recommend arranging your transport in advance and avoiding standing alone outside, especially late at night. The management must urgently address this issue. Guest safety and the freedom to choose transport should never be compromised. A few short-sighted individuals and poor management decisions should not be allowed to damage the reputation of a business or a country. Sri Lanka is known for its hospitality — let's not allow this to change.

Update

Just to be clear, my review was based on what I personally witnessed right at the entrance — including the involvement of the venue’s own security staff. I didn’t directly interact or confront anyone, and I have no personal agenda here. If this had happened to me directly, I would have taken appropriate action.

My only intention was to inform future guests and raise awareness. The owner's response, in my opinion, speaks for itself — and readers can judge the professionalism...

Well worth hunting down this hidden gem in Kandy. It's a bar, cafe / restaurant and backpackers hostel all rolled into one. The vibe here is very relaxed and chilled. Great background music playing and a cheerful, colourful place to hang out. The food here is really good and the prices are very fair. You can see into the kitchen area and it looked very clean. The food is always really well presented and it's clear that the people making the food do really care. There's a decent selection of drinks on offer too! We were really happy to see that coconut milk is available here, meaning that those who don't drink dairy can still enjoy delicious shakes and smoothies! We ended up visiting several times in the mornings and afternoons while we were in Kandy. It was always quiet and chilled. But it sounds like things get more lively in the evenings with bands, DJ's and good nightlife. We didn't actually stay here overnight, but we did see inside some of the rooms. They were all clean and various options were in offer. You can choose a room that best suits your needs. Single rooms, twin rooms, double bed rooms, 4 person rooms and mega cheap dormitories. This is definitely a good place to meet other travelers and socialise a bit. A large outdoor area with seating is good for food and drink. Theres also a pool table room and a nice tree house style area where you can do yoga (they often have classes), stretches, meditation etc. Or just hang out up there on the bean bags and relax... It's worth mentioning that all the staff here are really, really friendly! We felt a really good energy from everyone, unlike some chill out bars in Sri Lanka where the staff have been a bit unfriendly and sleazy towards females. Not all, just a few... But definitely not here. It was always very friendly and felt very safe. Definitely recommended as a place to come for breakfast, lunch or dinner, chill out, have food and drinks, meet people etc... We can't really recommend the accommodation as we didn't actually sleep here. But the rooms we saw looked clean, spacious and nice enough. Definitely looks like a cool place to stay if you like the backpacker vibe. This place also gets bonus points for using paper straws instead of plastic ones and for having recycling bins!!! Something we sadly haven't seen very often in Sri Lanka... Good...