We stayed at this quiet, family-run holiday bungalow - located in Hakgala, which is about a 15 minute drive from the Nuwara Eliya town - for 2 nights in Feb 2011.

In order to confirm our reservation, we were cordially requested to make full payment to their bank account. We were able to check in as late as 11pm and even though we did not require it, they were accommodating to prepare a late dinner for us.

We were informed that the room they had allocated for us has a plumbing issue and we were instead given a room in which the bed linen wasn’t changed since its last occupants, despite the bed being made, and where the skylight had a broken glass pane. Our room had a TV with a limited selection of local and cable TV channels but had no in-room heating.

We moved into our originally-reserved room once the plumbing issue was allegedly rectified however, the moment I turned on the hot water in the shower, the exposed hot water pipe running along the wall of the bathroom burst, filling the room and bathroom with steam and nearly burning me. The staff efficiently transferred our belongings back to our old room (where thankfully the bed linen had been changed to freshly laundered ones) and they were followed by the proprietor who personally apologise d to us for the mishap.

From previous visitors, we had heard of the quality and variety of the meals and had opted to stay on b & b basis, and were provided with an average Sri Lankan breakfast.

I had booked a room at Humbugs on the strength of some of the Trip Advisor reviews and pictures and arrived in the pouring rain along the terrible road (its being upgraded) from Nuwara Eliya. We were not impressed. The interior of the bungalow was dark and damp and the room even worse. The bedsheets seemed mouldy, the bathroom extremely poor and the fittings outdated and ancient. It looked like the perfect place to catch bed bugs. If you're really looking to save money then risk it (but its not very easy to get to if you're on public transport), but if you've got even just a little more money to spare then stay in one of the better places in Nuwara Eliya itself. It's worth it.

I was in Sri Lanka in Dec 09 and visited this bungalow in Nuwara Eliya Hakgala. Humbugs is a homely, cosy place with a beautiful view. The food was fantastic and what made it worth going was the staff, who were very obliging!I would highly recommend this place to anyone.

We staid at this hotel for several nights and we therefore can say that we got a realistic image of it. After having booked a double room, we arrived in the evening. Only after being brought to the rooms (quite a long way from the restaurant), we were told that we cannot stay in a double room because we arrived together with our children. We must take a family room, which is a lot more expensive.

Ok, even if I think that it is my own problem if I sleep in the same bed as my children, they have the right to decide. We offered them to stay for 5 nights if we get the price of one double, and they agreed. The only problem was the way we were spoken to. It sounded really aggressive and we felt absolutely not welcome.

The next thing was that they asked us to pay the whole rate in advance. Apparently they didn’t trust us.

The next days, I tried everything to show them that I wanted to be their friend anyway. Always smiling, a lot of tip at the restaurant, and so on. However, without success.

I don’t know why, but they didn’t want us to eat at the restaurant. Instead, we had to eat at the dining room of our bungalow. When we once went to the restaurant, we were served a cold meal. The next days, we were even served cold meals when we ate at the dining room. Once I asked if they could warm it up. I had the impression that they were not amused.

It ended up in a disaster. My brother came to visit us. Having booked the family (40 m2 large) room anyway, I thought that it must be possible to let him sleep in our room. Of course, it was not. Although they knew that he was there (certainly he had asked them if he may), they only came at 9 p.m. to tell him that he must leave. We were about to go to bed and offered them to pay 600 Rs. more for that night if they let him stay. In a scary way, the owner shouted to my brother and threw him out of the hotel.

We really were scared of this place and its staff and there was no way that we would stay any longer. So the next morning, we wanted to leave the hotel not using our last night, which was already paid. The staff controlled our room for more than 15 minutes. We expected this kind of problems, so we had left the room in an even better condition than we had found it. Probably to be sure, the man wanted to have my full name and address.

I had enough reasons not to give any tip so I let the man return me the change. Obviously he had no coins, so he gave me back the banknote of 10 Rs., I had given him before – after having burned a hole into it with his cigarette.

We were so happy to sit in the bus riding away from this place. We do not recommend anyone to stay in this hotel, nor to eat at the restaurant. If you have any doubt about the authenticity of my review, please read my other reviews and see that I am just a normal traveller like all the others, loving most of the places I go to. If you want to visit the botanical garden, you need not stay there. You can do this from Nuwara Eliya. There are a lot of busses to the botanical garden for about 40 Rs.

I also must mention that the rooms are very nice and clean, the view is great, the hotel is well situated not far from the entrance to the botanical garden of Hakgala. But the main thing for me, simply is to feel welcome, which was not the case at all.