Detailed review by koshkha
koshkha
Northampton, United Kingdom98%
When the Tsunami of Boxing Day 2004 shocked the world with its ferocity I was stunned not only by the scale of the damage but by the fact that only a week before I'd been in Sri Lanka on a business trip. Whenever I think of the tsunami my thoughts go to that trip and to how close we were to being caught up in it. I spent at least the next week or two waiting for confirmation that nobody from our local factory had been killed and whilst the good news was that everyone was still alive, many had lost friends and family and some had lost their homes. Perhaps one of the reasons I felt so strongly about the local team was because we'd all had such a nice evening together at the Hilton in Colombo on the night before I and the people I was travelling had left to go back to India and eventually home for Christmas.
I was fortunate when working for that employer that their travel agent had a good 'deal' with Hilton so we often got to stay in their hotels. Of these, the Hilton in Colombo was one that I really warmed to. It's not the fanciest of their hotels but it's a place with real 'heart'. Arriving in the run up to Christmas, there was a lovely buzz about the place, with richly decorated Christmas trees and mock gingerbread houses and lots of decorations everywhere. The lobby with its high ceilings and fancy chandelier would look good at any time of year but was particularly special at that time of year. I tend not to notice the approach of Christmas but this place really got me in the mood. Despite being a capital city hotel, there's quite a holiday feel about the place and you can actually see the sea from several sides of the hotel, including my room.
The Hilton Colombo has one of the few gyms that stuck in my mind. I'm generally pretty lazy but this was near the end of a 3 week trip round the Far East and was getting to be a real lard-arse after too much good food and drink. To get to the gym you have to pass through the gardens and across an over-pass over the street then down to the gym. It was really well equipped with plenty of cross-trainers and treadmills and staff lingering around to make sure you didn't accidentally kill, maim or make a total fool of yourself.
A sweaty version of me in baggy gym gear walked back to the hotel after 45 minutes or so and found 20+ local colleagues sitting in the bar waiting for us. Talk about not dressed for the occasion. There had been a bit of a mix up on the communication and they'd all come too early and the restaurant wasn't booked until late. I rushed off to my room to change and about 90 minutes later after rather a lot of beer we headed out to eat in the garden restaurant called the Curry Leaf.
The hotel has a total of 10 different restaurants but we used the outdoor hot-buffet which did an excellent deal which (from memory) was about £15 per head and had a splendid selection of food. My boss liked fancy wine and ordered a few bottles of a mid-range wine only to get offered a much better and much more expensive wine because the one he'd chosen was out of stock. I ended up picking up the bill and was shocked at how reasonable it had been both for the food and the wine.
I'm normally absolutely paranoid about eating outdoors after dusk in tropical countries for fear of getting malaria or other bug-borne diseases so I wasn't entirely at ease to be outside. However, I think the Hilton probably had security staff turning away any inappropriately dressed mosquitoes and we didn't get attacked. We must have been eating for nearly 3 hours in total and one of the funniest dishes was a strange mix of chopped bread and scrambled eggs which was made to order. My boss stood watching the chef construct it and then made the mistake of wandering off and not coming back to the table until it had all been eaten. He sent one of the local colleagues to get some more and the poor chef, not realising it was for the big fat white guy, cooked it to local chilli strength and nearly took his poor head off. I have to say we all laughed like drains at the look on his face.
Rooms at the Hilton were large, beautifully decorated and well-equipped. Large picture windows went the width of the room and gave fantastic views of the sea. I really could have just sat in my armchair and watched all day. Bathrooms were spotless with lots of granite tiling and nice toiletries. Bathrobes and slippers were supplied along with daily newspapers. The details fade with time but not the sense of well-being that I got from a really pleasant hotel where the staff seemed to care about doing a really good job.
Hilton Colombo9
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