The Elephant Stables

This was our favorite hotel in all of Sri Lanka!! The staff was sooo nice, the food was out of this world - specifically the Sri Lankan breakfast and the 10 curry dinner!! The grounds are beautiful, rooms are top notch, views for days. You can't miss the Elephant Stables hotel!!

Hilltop Colonial Charmer The Elephant Stables is a beautiful colonial-period bungalow on a hill overlooking the city of Kandy, offering splendid views of the Knuckles Mountains range in the distance. Steeped in history, it was formerly the home of Ceylonese nobleman Adigar Sir Cuda Ratwatte, the first person from Kandy to be awarded a Knighthood from the British. Once called the gardens of his old plantation home, which is how the property came to be known as The Elephant Stables. Since then the property has been lovingly restored with a combination of original mid-century planter’s furniture and chic interiors. A fabulous retreat in this fabulous town. The reason I am giving this place a 4-star and not a 5-star is because of 2 big issues. One is having Very poor internet connectivity (which is fine and acceptable if you are here on an R&R trip). But the other one is a big problem - exorbitant prices for Food served on site! The prices were so ridiculously high I could have an entire week’s worth of meals in town for what I would need to shell out for a single meal at this place. Being captive thanks to the secluded (and lovely) location, this kind of pricing was a bit unfair and unacceptable. Something the management should look into. LOCATION: Just 10 10-minute drive away from Kandy Lake and the city center, but it feels like a nature’s paradise up on a tiny hill. DINE + DRINK: They have a wonderfully decorated restaurant next to the lobby, and also tables set up outside on the lawn terrace that come up spectacular views of the hills and the town. Great place to enjoy a drink or have a romantic dinner. While Chef INDIKA was whipping up wonderful food, the prices on the set menu and A la carte menu were over the roof and almost unaffordable! ROOM: We stayed in the LEMONGRASS Room, so this review is based on that. The room was very tastefully decorated with locally designed furniture; SIZE: Spacious enough for 2 adults and simple baggage; VIEW: Beautiful views of the hills and town from the cute Balcony attached to the room; AIR-CON: Perfectly functioning cooler that helped in setting the perfect room temperature; BED: Beautiful four poster bed that played the expected part of putting me to sleep; BATHROOM: Huge bathroom with a nice Stand-in shower; TOILETRIES: Good spa quality Toiletries FACILITIES: No Gym on site. And while the outdoor pool is quite gorgeous and comes packed with lovely views you cannot swim as the water is cold most of the time SERVICE: Friendly staff that took care of all our needs with a smile and made us feel pampered and well taken care of. Special Shout out to Chef INDIKA for indulging us with delicious food, JOEL (the manager) for hosting us like family, and JAGAT from the restaurant for pampering us like royalty! HOW WIRED YOU WILL BE: Free Wifi available, but the connection speed is VERY SLOW and almost unusable. A big letdown.. Big Plasma TV screen dishing out a wide variety of channels spanning sports, news, music, movies, and entertainment in multiple languages