Place is quite, the rooms are spacey and clean. However, the rooms are not tidied up. Basic furniture without any decoration. Quite far away from downtown. Wireless internet against payment.
The place could be very nice with another owner/manager aka more hospitality. Don't let yourself charm by Ranjit's polite e-mails. When you first arrive, your money is the only thing that interests him.

Running a hotel or bed and breakfast is a great deal of work and very long hours. We know because we owned and operated a bed and breakfast. Cleanliness is the top priority for the guests. If the owner feels grumpy etc. he should change and by all means always be pleasant to the errant customer. He is the one who will ultimately paly the bill. We kept a record of the customers we did not wish to return - yes, there were a few. But, on the whole the guests were wonderful and we enjoyed having them stay with us emensely. We always had fantastic comments on our bed and breakfast, especially the house favorite - Blueberry pancakes. We did not charge extra for services as we charged one flat rate. We had several guests return time and again and not one complaint against us. On the whole we had a wonderful eperience doing this for several years and became the place to stay during a visit to our village. Above all cleanliness and a pleasant attitude are the two most important things to have in order to run an establishment of this importance. Truthful advertising is a must. Customers who are duped are not happy customers. We sold our business 5 years ago because of our age and dearly miss the comraderie of the guests. Some of the guests have come to our new residence to say hello and to enjoy a cup of tea. All I can say is a clean place and a friendly attitude will make your business succeed.

I don't care how late it is, and you don't have accommodations... Sleep in the airport. Sleep in the street... do not stay here. The owner is incredibly rude, only concerned about money, and not interested in helping you as his guest in anyway. Check out time is at 10:00am, and he will not take care of your things if for some reason you need to leave your luggage for a bit. The rooms are dirty. There is no wi-fi. It's a lovely neighborhood, but far from everything. BAD ENERGY. AGAIN. DON'T STAY HERE.

Serendipity brought me to Ranjit's Ambalama, but the friendliness and helpfulness of Ranjit and the staff, the excellent and healthful cuisine (and the chance to watch it being made, and even participate), the central yet peaceful and secluded location, and the affordable rates led me to stay (far longer than I originally thought I would). There are cheaper places, but you'll pay for it with either poorer quality sleep or higher transportation costs.
Ranjit's is tucked away down a small lane in the embassy district a bit south of central Colombo. It's surrounded by tree-lined streets, stately homes, and embassies, and is just a 5-10 minute walk from several nice restaurants, Colombo University, and the National Museum. There was one evening (in the week I spent there) when the neighbors' daughter had a house party which lasted until about 21:00, but other than that it was very quiet and relaxing both day and night.
As a foodie, I especially appreciated the opportunity to learn how to make several Sri Lankan delights during my stay there. The food is mostly vegetarian and not cheap (though not expensive either), so if you're on a very tight budget or you're a pure carnivore you may want to eat elsewhere.
Ranjit himself is an excellent conversationalist and a fountain of information of interest to the traveller. Even if you have the rest of your trip planned, it's well worth talking with him in order to get a deeper understanding of the places you'll be visiting, or simply to chat about Sri Lanka, Buddhism, politics, or history.
In short, if you're going to be spending a night or a month in Colombo, I highly recommend Ranjit's Ambalama - in fact, I already have, to a British friend who lives and works several hours north of Colombo. He stayed there last month while passing through the city, and he agrees - it's quite a find.