I've stayed here a couple times and enjoyed each of the stays. Make sure you get a lake/pool facing room. I have a personal favorite: room 437 which has an enormous balcony full of plants facing the lake and pool. Room service brings me ice and tonic, duty free supplies the gin and cigars -- priceless. The restaurants in the hotel are very good and I can be picky. Breakfast is wonderful with an omlet bar, Sri Lankan dishes like String Hoppers and spicy daal, plus fantastic local fruits and fruit juices. May favorite weird juice: Wood Apple. Hard to describe but addictive. There is a sandwich/salad/coffee/dessert shop in the basement that is a good and cheap place to snack. The more formal restaurants in the hotel are also very good. Excellent service abounds.

Pool area is good -- I spent an entire day reading poolside.

It is walking distance to some things like the old town area near the Grand Oriental Hotel and a bit of a trek to the seashore if you know what you are doing.

If you are lucky enough to be there during the Sri Lankan new year in April, they hold the ceremonies with dancers and a smoky fire followed by sweets in the lobby.

Hotel is adjacent to the lake and is also not very far from the sea, Although we had booked in advance for a room with lake view we did get one during our 2 days stay. The hotel is conveniently located close to Casino, Beach and shopping attractions, The hotel has all modern facilities like swimming pool, spa. gym, business centre, several restaurants serving International and local food as well as several lounge bars. It has many shops at the basement. Staff were very friendly and helpful. During peak hours allow about 2 hours to reach the airport.

I stayed here on two separate occasions on my recent trip to Sri Lanka.

The good:
1. Rooms are well designed & modern
2. Generous array of vanity items in bathroom
3. Facilities (restaurants, pool, spa, etc.) are top notch
4. Brunch and lunch food selection in main dining room was fantastic (and delicious)
5. On-site spa! I had the most amazing 90-minute spa pedicure at the spa on-site. The treatment was flawlessly executed--professional, clean, relaxing, courteous, etc. Highly recommended!

The not so good:
1. Check in and check out. They really need to figure out how to expedite this process. It was almost absurd how long it took.
2. Internet cost. ~$15 USD for a 24 hour period. This was the highest rate I've paid in a long time.
3. Nickel & diming. The spa had written up my service charges in USD, although they were advertised in Sri Lanka Rupee. The problem came when I checked out and the hotel converted the charges back to Rupees at a very unfavorable rate. The result? I paid $15 more for the treatment than it would have cost if the spa had written up the bill in Rupees.

I would definitely stay at this hotel again, but now I know what to look out for.

Liked the view from the room.only let down was the food.could have been better for the three day stay.heard the spa was good though couldn't try. Good shopping options fifteen minutes by walk closeto Hilton I guess