Galle Face Hotel

Colombo, Sri Lanka. Facing the Galle Face Green and the Indian Ocean, it is the only hotel in Colombo with direct beachfront access.

Galle Face HotelColombo, Sri Lanka

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Practical information

Restaurants and bars include 1864 Limited Edition, King of the Mambo, Firebeach, The Verandah, the Travellers’ Bar and the pub In… on the Green.
Colombo’s only saltwater swimming pool, a spa, a museum devoted to the hotel’s history and famous guests, and a library.
The Chequerboard terrace, a favourite spot to watch the sunset, and the Jubilee and Grand ballrooms.
Facing the Galle Face Green and the Indian Ocean, it is the only hotel in Colombo with direct beachfront access.

11 dates, written by Grand Hotels of the World from the sources below.

1840
A misfired British artillery cannonball crashes through the roof of the Galle Face Boarding House; it is still kept at the hotel.
1864
Four British entrepreneurs found the hotel in a former Dutch villa, Galle Face House, named after the green it faces.
1870 – 1894
Land is gradually acquired to expand the hotel.
1894
Architect Edward Skinner completes the design of the south wing, which has remained largely unchanged ever since.
1942
K. C. Kuttan joins as a bellboy; serving until his death in 2014, he becomes the world’s oldest hospitality veteran and doorman.
1950s – 1960s
Radio Ceylon broadcasts music programmes and New Year’s Eve dances from the hotel and its Coconut Grove night club.
20th century
Guests include Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Richard Nixon, Prince Philip, Lord Mountbatten, the young Hirohito and Yuri Gagarin; Arthur C. Clarke writes the end of 3001 here.
2012
The hotel wins PATA’s first Best International Heritage Hotel award and becomes the first Sri Lankan hotel featured on a postage stamp.
April 2013
Refurbishment of the north wing begins.
26 October 2015
The hotel reopens, formally inaugurated by President Maithripala Sirisena.
2024
Named Best Hotel in the Rest of Asia at the Condé Nast Traveller Readers’ Choice Awards.