I don't understand all the negative reviews. Yes, the Grand Oriental Hotel has seen better days and everything is quite aged and out of date. It needs a little love and lots of renovations. But given the price you pay to stay in this historical colonial building, I'd say it's very good value. You can't expect Hilton standards for 33$ a night. I stayed in room 306, which is truly more of a suite when you consider its size. Yes, the furniture is old and the bathroom is straight out of the 80s, but there is a lot of charm and history here. AC was a little loud, though. Bed was comfortable and the wifi worked well throughout the hotel. The staff was always nice and polite. The restaurant on the 4th floor was good value, especially the buffet breakfast. The hotel is a 10-minute walk or a short tuktuk ride from the train station. Glad I stayed here.

The location was great. The port view from the restaurant was nice. The breakfast buffet was tasty. The building is massive and really cool, especially if you like old colonial architecture. Value for money was right on. I got exactly what I expected from reading the description here and reviews from other guests.

Like all the other reviews have said, the building and rooms are outdated and in desperate need of updating/renovation. The main entry smelled weird and so did the bathroom in our room.

Very good bar food, friendly waitresses and fabulous interior. Well air-condiotioned, high ceilings.

A request for a simple item took an hour to bear fruit, but this wasn't much of a problem.

Wonderful atmospheric heritage hotel. This building is almost 200 years old and feels like stepping back in time, with a lovely entrance way and reception, beautiful woodwork and heritage features. We got Room 301 which is huge with great views across the working port. Staff were exceptional, friendly and helpful. Chased me when I forgot an item in our wardrobe after checkout. Fantastic breakfast in the top floor dining room. The GOH was a highlight of our time in Colombo.

There is some noise from construction and activities in the port but this is outweighed by the opportunity to watch a working port in action.

Lovely old colonial hotel full of character big rooms clean and comfortable. Lovely staff.

Blast from the past, like staying in museum. I was just lucky there were no neighbours, my quiet night experience would probably not happened, seeing the other guests at lobby…Massive room, all working well, good bed, clean linen. Bathroom 70’ style, but clean. Cleanliness everywhere ok.

Massive hotel, rundown passages, looks seriously understaffed. Once the area gets upgrade, and this hotel upgrades, it would be monumental.

Spacious room. Staff had provided close to the lift for the first 2 days. On our 2nd visit, there was a wedding, but inspite of our booking and earlier stay - we were given a nasty room. On the 2nd day, on my request, they moved us to a better room

The restaurant served only buffet meals.

The location, the staff, the breakfast, the music system in our huge room (deluxe double room), the bathtub, value for money. Old classic beautiful colonial building.

The building needs a renovation, some mould in some corners, no pool but many many other facilities! A 8.5/10 review for this beautiful experience 😀

I like the house keeping staff. The hotel is old but I can tell that the room is clean because I didn't have allergy attacks during my stay. The vintage vibe

The hotel has potential to return to its former glory, considering its almost 200-year old history. Upgrades on the furniture and more renovations to be done in the interiors will help a lot.

If you're into history, then this hotel is for you. This is one of the oldest hostels in Sri Lanka; in its heyday, it was the top luxury hotel on the island where numerous famous guests used to stay.

The hotel needs some investment and renovation. The facilities at the hotel are quite dated, some things can be traced to the 1890s (which is very cool), but unfortunately, the majority of things are from the 1990s (less cool).