De Saram House by Geoffrey Bawa

Wonderful experience to staying in the important architecture. The site is originally owned the De Saram bros. and given to the Bawa trust then became an accommodation for public. The building is renovated by Geoffrey Bawa, so it’s must visit for architects and designers. The building is in good condition, it’s not for luxury but for indifferent experience. The master staff is really nice and knowledgeable, he kindly showed me other rooms! I had a pleasant and precious experience here. Note: wifi and hot water is really good. Breakfast is international style. (non Sri Lankan) The main entrance is really deep from the street, you just ring the bell of the huge black gate.

Originally, a private home designed by the famous Bawa, this is a delightful boutique hotel with only a limited number of rooms. The original art and the property offer many photo opportunities. The staff were amazing-- cheerful and extremely hospitable. Overall, a wonderful place to stay compared to other more conventional hotels in Colombo. Internet was a bit wonky during my stay, but resolved by the staff.

Our final night on our trip around the island. Anthony was very attentive, courteous, and helpful. We were in the studio room and it was fine for a couple, plenty of space with a large ensuite as well. Anthony helped us to organise a tuk to take us down to the coast area (Galle Face Green) where we had a lovely evening stroll and dinner at the old Dutch Hospital. The next morning we went for a walk around the local park after breakfast. The breakfast was Sri Lankan omelette with sausage and was well prepared and tasty. The house is delightful, as one might expect from the illustrious Geoffrey Bawa, intricate spaces that lead into each other, creating internal and external adjoining areas and interplay between rooms. It felt like a little oasis in the hectic centre of the city. Highly recommend this place for a quiet stay in the city.

If you are a lover of Architecture, History and the arts, this villa is a must visit to experience the legendary Geoffrey Bawa’s original restoration of Druvi De Saram’s previous residence. It is now managed by the Bawa trust and has four rooms with a gorgeous courtyard. Although in the heart of the city, the property is very quiet and a perfect place to stay and relax whilst reading, writing or even working. The property is looked after by two kind and courteous staff members, Sujeewa and Anthony who ensured we were comfortable during our stay. The rooms and bedding, washrooms are clean and comfortable. I was allocated the room overlooking the entrance Courtyard and I personally prefer it to all the other rooms. Room is equipped with tea, coffee and a hot water kettle plus extra pillows, blankets and a working desk. The washroom has ample towels in various sizes. This is a bed and breakfast property, so you will have to enjoy your other meals from out. However this is not a problem at all since the location is in the middle of where many restaurants, bars and coffee shops are located. The music room is their most prized possession and is filled with books, art and a grand piano. You can choose to relax in this room and take in its beauty during your stay. Thank you for a lovely stay and looking forward to returning soon!

The De Saram House ranks as one of the worst hotel experiences I have ever had, due exclusively to the awful hotel manager, Priyanka Tissev. Our family party of five had booked three rooms for one night ahead of a morning flight home and was sadly subjected to the most abhorrent customer service from the hotel manager Priyanka, who very sadly turned what is a truly special and beautiful Bawa home into an real nightmare and left our group with a scarred memory of what was otherwise a fantastic trip around the island. Having booked through ***********, we were unexpectedly informed at checkout that the hotel does not accept payment through the platform, as is typically done, nor via card payment, and would only accept cash payments. Needless to say if a hotel advertises rooms on ***********, it is unethical and inconvenient to then decline payment through the *********** website/app. The policy of cash-only payments is questionable at best, with a handwritten bill, and was not communicated by the hotel in advance. Even if this was made aware to us the evening of check-in we would have been able to take out cash to pay our bill. Due to daily international withdrawal limits, our party could not withdraw cash to pay at checkout. While we had provided full reassurance that our bill would be settled as soon as we returned home, even offering to deposit a gold bangle as a gesture of our commitment to cover the costs of the stay, Priyanka quickly escalated became nasty, offensive and condescending. A verbal altercation ensued, with downright insulting and sarcastic comments made by Priyanka. With a taxi waiting to take us to the airport, she then started to instruct the taxi driver in Sinhalese to leave the property, which would have rendered us helpless and almost certain to miss our international flight. Luckily the driver stayed out and we were able to leave the hotel having pacified Priyanka with repeated promises to pay the bill as soon as we could. Other issues included: - There is no wifi available in the upstairs rooms; wifi signal exists only in the common courtyard and downstairs accommodation. - Food (neither a restaurant, snack menu nor room service) is not available at the hotel (with the exception of a simple continental breakfast of fruits, fried eggs, toast and sausages, juice/tea/coffee. Guests are not provided any options in the breakfast menu. - The gate shuts around 11pm, and outside guests are not allowed into the property without hotel approval - Difficulty finding the hotel - there is zero signage on the street to indicate the location of the property - No fridge in the rooms to store/cool personal bottles etc - these have to be left in the kitchen refrigerator. - the property is best described as a Bed and Breakfast and not a hotel for the above reasons - the nightly rates as not cheap either - you can find a better hotel in the same area which offers much higher, refined guest hospitality at same or lower co