Grand Hotel

I feel that I should be giving this hotel 5 stars but I can’t quite do it. A beautiful hotel, in beautiful grounds in an excellent location. We had a lovely room, the food was delicious and everything was done right. But it lacked the personality of other hotels we stayed at in Sri Lanka. Couldn’t fault the staff but I feel that they are so well trained that they loose their own human touch

Had a great High Tea at the Grand today - lots of yummy food and a large variety of Sri Lankian teas. Kumar and his team do a great job !

A wonderful hotel and looked after so well by all the staff, but especially Luwes on Reception and Kamal in the dining room.

Yasith service was first class. Overall a great experience

Lovely elegant hotel, in a beautiful setting.

The stay at this iconic heritage property was a great experience. The staff was excellent..special mention to Kamal at the restaurant and Anushka at the activities center. Highly recommend this hotel if you are staying in Nuwara Eliya!

Had an amazing experience at the Grand Hotel. The whole place has a really nice, relaxed vibe and just feels easy to enjoy.

The afternoon tea was a highlight—especially being able to have it outside in the garden. Great setting, good atmosphere, and well done overall.

The property itself is beautiful and very well kept. Overall, a great stay.

Very Nice hotel , restaurant and especially staff. Ms Yudhika was extremely humble

We only stayed at The Grand for one night but we had a wonderful experience. We ate at The Grand Indian restaurant where the food was very tasty and breakfast was probably one of the best we’ve ever had.
The hotel and gardens are beautiful and well kept, every member of staff was very friendly and welcoming. Particularly Yudhika, Kumar and Dilshani who were very helpful during check in and check out. Thank you for a great stay!

This place was fantastic and the staff were just amazing. So friendly and helpful. Yudika, Kumar and Dilshani went above and beyond to make us feel welcome.

The Grand Hotel at Nuwara Eliya stay is like stepping into another time. With it's Tudor style architecture, mesmerizing you at the first glance. But more than the views it is the people and staff who have our hearts. We were greeted like family by Mr Kumar as soon as we stepped into the premise. He is helpful and ever so ready to guide the experience. Miss Kalpana efficiently handled our stay, making sure all our requirements were met. Miss Yudhika is friendly and energetic, and a pleasure to talk to. I would specially like to thank Miss Kalhari for going out of her way and arranging for hot bottle and other comforts like a real close friend would. This was a stay I will remember. And i hope to see them all soon.

The Grand Hotel is an absolute delight! The hospitality and service is brilliant. So wonderful to experience traditional old world service. The concierges Kumar and Raja are fantastic!

Beautiful old world hotel with a staff that genuinely loves the property & its guests. From the moment we walked in we could feel the buildings deep history. It’s still an elegant property. The rooms are comfortable, the beds are cozy and the views are lovely. The grounds are impressive with beautifully laid out gardens. We met and spoke with one of the gardeners who beamed with pride, rightfully so, in what he does for the property. Similarly we met the billiards room manager, Nimal(?) who also beamed with pride with what he does & the care for the historical pieces he’s responsible for. The food & beverage staff, Manoj in particular & I forget the managers name but he was so friendly. He gave daily words to use in Sinhala. This was a great stay and there’s nowhere else I’d go when I come back.

Would highly recommend staying at The Grand in Nuwara Eliya, what a perfect place in the cool climbs of the Tea Country. From the welcome tea and biscuits, genuine smiles and gorgeous dining options, warm pool and well kept gardens. A special mention to Apsara who was always welcoming us every time we walked through the hotel with a lovely smile and time to talk .

I recently stayed at Grand Hotel Nuwara Eliya and unfortunately had a disappointing experience, particularly with some members of the reception staff.

A few of them displayed an unwelcoming “big boss” attitude — standing with their hands behind their backs and speaking in a manner that felt authoritative rather than hospitable. There was one particular staff member (fair in appearance) who stood out for all the wrong reasons: no smile, no warmth, and a tone that came across as arrogant, as if he knew everything. It made the interaction uncomfortable and far from the standard one would expect.

We are paying around Rs. 80,000 per night and naturally expect top-tier service. Experiences like this raise the question of what exactly we are paying for if basic courtesy and professionalism are lacking.

To be fair, the rest of the hotel staff were excellent. From the doorman and valet to the caddy and room service, everyone else was polite, welcoming, respectful, and genuinely helpful. Their service truly reflected the standard the hotel should uphold.

I also want to specifically mention Mr. Haroon, the Reception Supervisor, who was very polite, attentive, and professional. I raised this concern with him, and he assured me that immediate action would be taken. He is clearly doing a commendable job.

However, the reception is the first point of contact and sets the tone for the entire stay. While the rest of the hotel excels, the attitude of some reception staff undermines the overall experience. Some also seemed to adopt forced accents and unnatural speech, which came across as insincere rather than professional.

This incident negatively affected our stay and disrupted what was meant to be a peaceful visit, especially after traveling from London. It also impacted our perception of the hotel, which we previously held in high regard.

I sincerely hope the management addresses this issue and ensures that the reception team maintains the same high standards as the rest of the staff.

Very disappointed.

Beautiful grounds and building to explore before or after your high tea. The food on offer for the high tea was very good quality and tasty. The staff were very attentive and were always keeping our cups topped up. A great afternoon activity whilst in Nuwara Eliya.

From the outside, it lives up to its name, the lobby & public rooms do as well.

It has three restaurants, one Thai, one Indian & one a-la carte called The Magnolia.

The food was nice although the Thai menu was confusing.

I am coeliac & dishes marked as gluten free were not & vice versa.

We spoke at length to our waiter & gave him my Sinhalese coeliac card to show to the chef.

Long & short, we ate at the Thai & a-la carte restaurants & I was fine.

The food was good but not as good as other places we have stayed in Sri Lanka.

Asparagus, front of house was great answering all our questions quickly & accurately.

I spoke with Anura the deputy house manager re some washing as I have a skin condition & he arranged my laundry to be done by hand.
Anura brought our laundry personally to our room & explained what had been done. Excellent service I thought.

The rooms, however, I expected more from a hotel of this standard.

A bath with shower over & a flimsy shower curtain doesn't really cut it at this level.
I realise the hotel is very old, but I think a really nice walk in shower would lift the room.

There is, what appears to be an internal road used by staff & deliveries.
There is quite a lot of traffic noise, but this stops after about 7 pm.

We were woken both nights by street dogs having a barking competition, consequently, even though we had a comfortable bed we did not feel refreshed.

We did a walk with the resident Naturalist, Sandun, he was excellent with an encyclopedic knowledge of his subject.

The front of house staff were excellent all bedecked in their uniforms.

Went for afternoon tea. Had the most lovely time eating delicious food in the most beautiful building with wonderful staff. Kumar, the doorman was a delight

I had the high tea at the grand hotel! It was such a lovely experience with delicious food, tea and live music! All of the staff were so kind especially Prasadi who made sure everything was to my liking and was so kind! Would highly recommend this experience to everyone!

A superb High Tea experience for us. Staff all very friendly and attentive. Kumar was cheerful and helpful
Garden’s are stunning and lovely to see, very ‘English’