Mount Lavinia Hotel

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Sri Lanka – a Wealth of Beauty
Background to the trip:
Over the past 10 months, Sri Lanka has suffered the aftermath of the devastating Tsunami disaster. My wife and I have been planning to travel to Sri Lanka for a number of years, and in September 2005, finally made the trip. The overriding reason for choosing 2005 was that we felt that in a small way, we could help to support the one thing that is vital to the Sri Lankan economy, and that is Tourism.
We are submitting this article for two reasons. To inform travellers who are planning to visit Sri Lanka and to encourage others to experience this beautiful and diverse Island. It is a diary of events, reflecting on the sights, the people, the hotels and way of life in Sri Lanka but in an unbiased way. We merely deliver the facts and leave it to the reader to draw their own conclusions.
Travelling to the Island
We travelled With Kuoni from Manchester in the UK, economy class by Emirates airlines, a carrier that we would both recommend. The service and food on board was excellent. The flight took us to Dubai for our connecting flight to Colombo in Sri Lanka.
Although we only had 2 hours in Dubai airport, it was sufficient to be impressed with both the building and it’s duty free facility. Although Dubai is renowned for its inexpensive gold jewellery and electrical goods, perfume, spirits and cigarettes are particularly cheap. A litre bottle of Gordon’s Gin converted to approximately £6 sterling.
We travelled, again on a connecting flight by Emirates to Colombo. On arrival, we were met by a Kuoni representative who escorted us from the airport building to a waiting car. The experience on that short walk deserves mention. Once out of the building we were surrounded by porters wishing to take our bags to the car. I agreed for one porter to take our luggage, and as you cannot obtain any Sri Lankan Rupees outside of Sri Lanka, I would suggest that a small amount is changed at one of the many banks in the airport building. I didn’t and had to pay the inevitable tip in sterling, which cost two pounds. Tipping is expected in Sri Lanka for most service, but for small tasks such as luggage, a more normal tip would be 50-100 Sri Lankan Rupees, which is approximately 25-50 pence sterling.
Travelling to the Hotel
My wife and I have travelled extensively all over the world, but have rarely come across the traffic volume and shear mayhem that exists on the roads in Sri Lanka. Once you adjust to it, you soon realise that actually there is a semblance of order prevailing. Trust is the key. Although there is much horn blowing, overtaking and braking, everybody seems to know their place. Horn blowing is used, not as an aggressive gesture as in most countries but as an acknowledgement of intention. The horn is blown to advise vehicles that you are there, about to overtake, a request to move over and a thank you. It’s a little like a ‘white knuckle ride’ at first, but once you get used to the system, it’s quite exciting and safe.

The Hotel Mount Lavinia
We stayed at the Mount Lavinia Hotel, which is an old colonial style hotel, established in 1806, and was the home of the governor of Sri Lanka previously. Further information about the hotel can be found on their web site www.mountlaviniahotel.com
We arrived to be greeted by two doormen, dressed in white uniforms and pith helmets who proceeded to take our luggage into the reception. We were then escorted to a seated area where we were served with refreshments while we completed the registration procedure. Once complete, we were taken to our room. We had been upgraded to a deluxe room in the Bay wing of the hotel. It was wonderful; the room had a dual aspect and overlooked the Indian Ocean and the beach and Colombo City in the distance. It was large with very efficient air conditioning, which was welcome. It also had a terrace on two sides, which we spent many evenings watching the local people on the public beach and looking out to sea. The sea was only about 50 feet away, which sounds wonderful, but we found it difficult to sleep for the first two nights due to the noise of crashing waves on the rocks below. However, we soon adjusted to it.
Over the next two weeks we were to discover other notable things at the Mount Lavinia. The service generally in the hotel was immaculate, we were greeted with a smile at every opportunity and nothing was too much trouble. The hotel has a training school for its staff and chefs, and it showed. The laundry service is excellent and with a bill of £3 sterling for a pair of trousers and two shirts, we would certainly need to take fewer clothes on any return visit. There are a number of weddings held at the hotel each week, as the Mount Lavinia is considered one of the most picturesque on the island. As they were all traditional Sri Lankan weddings or homecomings, we found them to be a delightful spectacle to witness.
Eating at the Mount Lavinia
The food in the restaurants was excellent. Breakfast is served in the Governor’s restaurant and is buffet style although there are always chefs on hand to cook fried eggs and omelettes. The service is excellent, the staff always showing a genuine interested in you and your needs.
Lunch is also served in the governor’s restaurant, which usually provided a buffet of soups, salads and desserts, which cost £2 sterling. You can always order food from the snacks menu anywhere in the hotel, which consist of sandwiches both hot, and cold. They would normally cost the same, which makes the buffet lunch particularly good value.
For dinner, there is a Seafood restaurant on the private beech where you choose from the fresh range of seafood and the chefs will cook it as you wish, and is served with rice or French fries and vegetables. The seafood soups are particularly delicious. The cost is based upon the weight of fish and on average with a starter and drinks worked out at around £10 sterling each. The Governor’s is a more formal restaurant situated on the pool terrace level of the hotel and offers themed buffet style food each night in addition to a range of traditional Sri Lankan dishes. They also have an A la Carte menu, which for two courses is often the cheaper option and is always beautifully presented. A meal here with drinks will cost approximately £8 sterling per head.
Travelling within Sri Lanka
For reasons mentioned earlier in this article, it is not advisable to hire a self-drive car in Sri Lanka. We found hiring a car and driver is an excellent way to get around. For short journeys to Colombo, which is approximately 30 minutes drive (depending upon the time of day) would cost approximately £14 sterling, but for that you will have a car and driver for around three hours and he will take you wherever you wish and wait for you.
During our stay, we made three sightseeing trips, arranging two through our Kuoni representative, who organised everything including wake up calls, as most trips require an early start. We arranged two tours, which were both exceptional, one to Kandy and Sigiriya, the other to Nuwara Eliya. The other trip was arranged with a driver who was contracted to the hotel and was a day trip to Galle.
Review Continued: http://www.holidaywatchdog.com/17160-Kandy-Earls_Regency_Hotel-Holiday-Review.html