Are you planning a trip to Sri Lanka, and want to know where you should stay? Are you looking for reviews on hotels in Colombo to help you choose the right for you? To help you make the right choice, we have stayed at Cinnamon Lakeside, and here is our review on the hotel.
This is our favourite hotel in Colombo, mainly because of it’s beautiful large pool and surrounding area. Although Cinnamon Lakeside Hotel is not always defined by its pool, there are other aspects to consider. Such as their facilities, rooms, spa treatments, customer service, food and drink and more. In our review on the Cinnamon Lakeside Hotel, we break it down into these very important categories.
Table of Contents
Room
The room was spacious with a double bed, bathroom with a bath and shower, and our room had a small balcony. Not all rooms at the Cinnamon Lakeside in Colombo have a balcony, so this was a lovely bonus. The room is exactly what we needed, and accommodated us well, for our one-night stay.
If there was to be any negatives about the room, it would have to be the smell and the view. There was some unusual smell, we couldn’t put our finger on it, but it wasn’t very pleasant. We mentioned this to the receptionist the following morning, who was very apologetic. Had we mentioned this in the evening, we could have changed rooms, but the receptionist offered us a discount on our food bill as an apology.
This only goes to show, how great their service is, as soon as you mention a problem to a member of staff. This is exactly what we would have expected from a hotel such as this. Our experience has not put us off, from re-booking our next stay at Cinnamon Lakeside. It so happens, we have booked a room for New Year’s Eve to celebrate our achievements, and to celebrate what is to come.
Food and Drink
In our opinion the food is quite reasonable, there are 7 different restaurants, cafes, and bars to enjoy different cuisines. On our stay the breakfast was good, with a different selection of hot and cold dishes. You can eat a typical Sri Lankan breakfast featuring milk rice, and plain or egg hoppers. If this isn’t you want to try, then we would recommend the western style breakfast.
If we are not staying at the Cinnamon Lakeside in Colombo, we are often beside the pool, drinking a nice hot cup of tea, and enjoying a lovely piece of cake from Goodies. Goodies offer a variety of sandwiches, savoury snacks, and most importantly cake. The cakes are delicious, moist and one you will continue to return back for daily. We would recommend Goodies for a great place to meet friends or family, and don’t forget the cakes.
The pool bar offers a small selection of dishes, from fish and chips, to biriyani. There is a very good selection of drinks, including our favourite mocktail. On some occasions there will be a BBQ to order burgers and fries. We would recommend the bar food; it is quite pleasant and tasty but the BBQ is amazing.
Overall the food is good, the best would be Goodies and the pool bar, whilst the dining room food was ok. We have eaten at its sister hotel Cinnamon Grand, and the dining room food was much better in so many ways.
Facilities
We feel the main attraction to Cinnamon Lakeside in Colombo, is that beautiful large swimming pool, that overlooks Beira Lake. Although the pool is a great feature, Cinnamon Lakeside Hotel, also have the following facilities:
Swimming pool
We as you already know, can’t stop talking about the pool at Cinnamon Lakeside in Colombo. This in our opinion is the best hotel pool in Colombo. We have visited many other hotels, but this by far is the one we would recommend. You do not need to be a guest of the hotel to use the pool, but it does cost a princely sum of Rs 2500 to use the facilities. This does seem quite expensive, but it is a price we are prepared to pay. The grounds surrounding the pool is picturesque. The sun loungers can be position around the pool in the sun, or under the trees in the cool shade.
This is the largest pool in Colombo, and the majority of the pool is shallow at about 3ft deep. The deeper section on one side is at depth of about 5.5 ft – 6ft.
The changing facilities, are fantastic, with a couple of showers, a small number of toilet cubicles, a couple of changing rooms, and a sauna and steam room.
Spa
The spa at Cinnamon Lakeside in Colombo offers a variety of different spa treatments, to relax you into the holiday spirit.
Tennis and squash
If you are keen on competitive sport, and keeping fit, then hiring the tennis and squash court will definitely keep you on your toes.
Gym
A great way to keep fit and healthy is by regularly visiting the gym. The gym at Cinnamon Lakeside, is packed will all the equipment you need to stay fit. The one thing we noticed about the gym, is that it is always busy, this goes to show the popularity of this gym.
Location
Cinnamon Lakeside is in a good location, only a short distance from Fort train station, and the old Fort. Whilst Galle Face Green and the beach are a short distance away. To experience the cultural side of Sri Lanka, this can be done by visiting the many number of temples, churches and mosques which is just on the doorstep of Cinnamon Lakeside.
Service
The service provided on every visit to Cinnamon Lakeside, has been outstanding. As we entered the hotel, the door is always opened by a doorman, who will point us in the right direction. The staff at check in are always polite and helpful.
We feel the best service that we have ever experienced at Cinnamon Lakeside, is when we visit the pool. The bar staff, will greet us with a smile and a very friendly welcome, they are even prepared to go out of their way to help us. Once we have picked our sun lounger, they always put the beach umbrella up, will take our drinks order, and on many occasions have gone down to Goodies to collect our cake for our afternoon tea by the pool.
We visit annually, but the staff no matter how much time has passed, always remember us, and will always cater for our needs.
If this isn’t called service, then I don’t know what is, and this is one of the reasons we come back to Cinnamon Lakeside year on year. Of all the hotels in Colombo, we would recommend visiting Cinnamon Lakeside, and that is saying something.
Price
In our opinion the price to stay at Cinnamon Lakeside is reasonable, this is a 5* hotel, with great rooms, facilities, friendly and helpful staff, so you would expect the price to be reflective of this. Depending on when you plan to visit, you can expect a standard room to be priced between £80.00 – £200.00 per night.
The pool on the other hand is definitely worth the price, with great staff who go out of the way to help you out, are friendly and welcoming, you really can’t get anything better than that.
Cinnamon Lakeside Hotel has definitely left a lasting impression on us, that we will continue to visit year on year.
Cleanliness
The room we stayed in was clean, tidy and the bed was freshly made, the bathroom was also kept to a very high standard.
All of the facilities from the pool and changing rooms, to the restaurants and communal areas where spotless. It is clear that it is kept clean and tidy day and night. The changing facilities for the gym and pool, was cleaned regularly, and is a pleasant place to stay and visit.
We would overall recommend the pool and the gym facilities at the Cinnamon Lakeside to be the best in Colombo. This would also be on the top of our list of hotels to stay in whilst in Sri Lanka.
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Your say
Have you stayed at Cinnamon Lakeside in Colombo Sri Lanka? What was your thoughts? Was there any highlights for you? We would love to hear from you, so please leave a comment below.
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