We needed somewhere to stay for our first night in Colombo and chose this place, as we were on a budget.

We were charged 3500 rupees plus 15% service charge. It is impossible to find, and none of the locals or rickshaw drivers knew where it was.

It is located in postcode Colombo 7, faraway from the centre of Colombo, the railway station, the Fort area and Galle Face Road.

We quickly learnt that it was way way more expensive than what we could get more centrally.

Breakfast there costs 750 rupees! That is just toast and jam. We paid 700 rupees for high tea in a 5* hotel, for a buffet!

If you want somewhere cheap to stay in the centre of Colombo, I would suggest the YMCA. It's no 5* hotel, but we paid 1150 rupees for a room with attached bathroom, and it's 5 minutes from the ocean and railway station. You can get a bus to almost anywhere for 10 rupees and 30 rupees to the beach, and 80 rupees to the airport.

Also, as the YMCA is so central, you can walk to alot of places.

In the ambalama they charged us an extra 15% for service we didn't receive. The maid is sweet and friendly although she did ask if we had brought anything 'extra'. Although, she used to run her own business, and didn't seem that poor to us.

If you want somewhere cheap and central, don't bother with this place.

Set in the heart of the Diplomatic community this Guest House is well located and an attractive place to stay. Like all the places we stayed in that price range the maintenance of the rooms and bathroom was poor. Broken furniture on the terrace etc. We were well welcomed and for a change were asked to register and to pay for our stay in advance. I would thoroughly recommend the Guest House and at the price was excellent value for a lovely part of Colombo. We did get involved in a kind of Tuk tuk war between rivals and had to stand our ground with who we chose to go with. The breakfast was unduly expensive and we ate in a local restaurant and had the usual short eats.

I was going to refute the previous reviews and say that Ranjit was actually quite friendly and his guest house reasonably comfortable (although very hot if you don't want to pay the extortionate extra amount for a/c), but then he charged us 100 rupees to make an approximately 5 second phone call to book a taxi. I know it's not a huge amount of money but I have never been charged anything in any hotel / guest house for a taxi booking and Ranjit's reaction when I pointed this out was defensive and rude. He should not be in the hospitality industry if he can't be hospitable. As previous reviews said, Ranjit is only after money and will squeeze every last rupee out of you. I think he's trying to put himself out of business, and rightly so!

The description of Ranjits Ambalama on Hostelworld or Lonely Planet is not quite accurate. There are no shops and "places of interest" nearby. In fact, R.A. is located in Colombo´s embassy district where you find only mansions, colleges, sports courts, police stations and a military base.

The area is also guarded day and night by the police and armed military.



It is a quiet place though, without any traffic. The guest house is in a reasonable condition, but the rooms are definitely not well furnished as it says in the description, but standard. Therefore, 3000 Rs per night is overpriced.



The meals are prepared by an extremely warm and cheerful young lady and are excellent. The price for breakfast or dinner (660 Rs) is appropriate. But if you order only a pot of tea, it will cost 250 Rs. That´s not plausible and too expensive, compared to other places in Colombo.



Ranjit, the manager is a friendly host, but you may find his business rules a little odd. For example he will present you the bill for your stay and collect it at the time you check in before you are even shown to your room. You pay your meals daily and not at the end of the stay, as usual elsewhere. Almost as if he distrusted the guests. At least that´s the impression you get…



On departure, Ranjit was not ready to call a taxi without charging extra fees for the local call. That was a strange behaviour and it does not fit the friendliness and helpfulness that you usually find in Sri Lanka. Any other guest house would call a taxi as part of the service!



Pros: quiet, peaceful, clean house with a dear little dog (Lucky!), tasty food, nice atmosphere

Cons: standard rooms, which are too expensive and you leave with mixed feelings about the management