De Saram House by Geoffrey Bawa

Wonderful experience to staying in the important architecture. The site is originally owned the De Saram bros. and given to the Bawa trust then became an accommodation for public. The building is renovated by Geoffrey Bawa, so it’s must visit for architects and designers. The building is in good condition, it’s not for luxury but for indifferent experience. The master staff is really nice and knowledgeable, he kindly showed me other rooms! I had a pleasant and precious experience here. Note: wifi and hot water is really good. Breakfast is international style. (non Sri Lankan) The main entrance is really deep from the street, you just ring the bell of the huge black gate.

We were hoping to have some experience of Bawa's amazing architecture, and this was a real treat! It is an intimate family home (the De Saram family still use it regularly) that is operating as a B&B with just 4 bedrooms. We took the smaller room, but really loved it - it has multiple windows for views out and breezes in, and just downstairs is a beautiful pavilion sitting area overlooking one of the courtyards. It's in a great part of Colombo (Cinnamon Gardens) where it is quite quiet and civilised to walk around, but close to many places of interest. And then there is Anthony - the host - who is a wealth of information, humour and kindness. It was towards the end of our trip, and we just spent a lot of our time hanging out in our room and the pavilion, and enjoyed every minute. Good points: A real treat to stay in such an amazing building, and decent value for the quality of accommodation. And the wonderful helpfulness of Anthony. Bad points: Not for you if you are looking for luxury. The vibe is understated elegance, with occasional hints of shabby. A bridal photoshoot that wafted through the spaces while we were breakfasting was a little disconcerting!

If you are a lover of Architecture, History and the arts, this villa is a must visit to experience the legendary Geoffrey Bawa’s original restoration of Druvi De Saram’s previous residence. It is now managed by the Bawa trust and has four rooms with a gorgeous courtyard. Although in the heart of the city, the property is very quiet and a perfect place to stay and relax whilst reading, writing or even working. The property is looked after by two kind and courteous staff members, Sujeewa and Anthony who ensured we were comfortable during our stay. The rooms and bedding, washrooms are clean and comfortable. I was allocated the room overlooking the entrance Courtyard and I personally prefer it to all the other rooms. Room is equipped with tea, coffee and a hot water kettle plus extra pillows, blankets and a working desk. The washroom has ample towels in various sizes. This is a bed and breakfast property, so you will have to enjoy your other meals from out. However this is not a problem at all since the location is in the middle of where many restaurants, bars and coffee shops are located. The music room is their most prized possession and is filled with books, art and a grand piano. You can choose to relax in this room and take in its beauty during your stay. Thank you for a lovely stay and looking forward to returning soon!

The De Saram House ranks as one of the worst hotel experiences I have ever had, due exclusively to the awful hotel manager, Priyanka Tissev. Our family party of five had booked three rooms for one night ahead of a morning flight home and was sadly subjected to the most abhorrent customer service from the hotel manager Priyanka, who very sadly turned what is a truly special and beautiful Bawa home into an real nightmare and left our group with a scarred memory of what was otherwise a fantastic trip around the island. Having booked through ***********, we were unexpectedly informed at checkout that the hotel does not accept payment through the platform, as is typically done, nor via card payment, and would only accept cash payments. Needless to say if a hotel advertises rooms on ***********, it is unethical and inconvenient to then decline payment through the *********** website/app. The policy of cash-only payments is questionable at best, with a handwritten bill, and was not communicated by the hotel in advance. Even if this was made aware to us the evening of check-in we would have been able to take out cash to pay our bill. Due to daily international withdrawal limits, our party could not withdraw cash to pay at checkout. While we had provided full reassurance that our bill would be settled as soon as we returned home, even offering to deposit a gold bangle as a gesture of our commitment to cover the costs of the stay, Priyanka quickly escalated became nasty, offensive and condescending. A verbal altercation ensued, with downright insulting and sarcastic comments made by Priyanka. With a taxi waiting to take us to the airport, she then started to instruct the taxi driver in Sinhalese to leave the property, which would have rendered us helpless and almost certain to miss our international flight. Luckily the driver stayed out and we were able to leave the hotel having pacified Priyanka with repeated promises to pay the bill as soon as we could. Other issues included: - There is no wifi available in the upstairs rooms; wifi signal exists only in the common courtyard and downstairs accommodation. - Food (neither a restaurant, snack menu nor room service) is not available at the hotel (with the exception of a simple continental breakfast of fruits, fried eggs, toast and sausages, juice/tea/coffee. Guests are not provided any options in the breakfast menu. - The gate shuts around 11pm, and outside guests are not allowed into the property without hotel approval - Difficulty finding the hotel - there is zero signage on the street to indicate the location of the property - No fridge in the rooms to store/cool personal bottles etc - these have to be left in the kitchen refrigerator. - the property is best described as a Bed and Breakfast and not a hotel for the above reasons - the nightly rates as not cheap either - you can find a better hotel in the same area which offers much higher, refined guest hospitality at same or lower co

A fantastic hotel with first-rate service and an ever-present warm and genuine smile from the staff. Thank Sujeewa, Suraj, and Tharka for room service. They shared with us information about the hotel and its architectural influences by the great Sri Lankan architect, Geoffrey Bawa.  We highly recommend this hotel to both foreigners and locals alike, and will definitely be back soon!

We checked in very late at 1:30am on a wet night, we were warmly greeted by Anthony it was no problem for him being so late, Anthony looked after us for 6 nights with his team. Our stay was one of the best experiences we have ever had we had beautiful and different breakfasts everyday. If you’re thinking about booking this style of accommodation just do it. A stay you will remember forever.

A fascinating place. The staff, however, were what made this a special stay in particular, Anthony. We were late arriving and had a very late departure for a 3 am flight and Anthony could not have been more accommodating and helpful. The room was large and comfortable. The breakfast of Sri Lankan omelette and sausage was very tasty.