Sri Lanka ’26 #23: A room with a view

Read this blog: The one where Matilda complains to Management

Thursday 26th and Friday 27th March 2026

The day started with a rail journey. As regular readers will know, this holiday was originally planned to include far more train travel.

Tragically, floods in November 2025 killed many Sri Lankans and washed away sections of the railway tracks in the scenic mountain regions. Indeed during this trip, we have been struck by the deep orange wounds in the landscape caused by rock slides and the mounds of fallen rock and soil where these wounds have been tended and the debris cleared from the roads and train tracks.

Obviously, with Robert in charge, we arrived at Galle Station in good time for our train and as this is a terminus station we were able to see the engine being shunted from one end to the other of the train [see Video of the day].

Much of the south western coastal section of the track was destroyed in the 2004 tsunami but during our visit the rails between Galle to Columbo were unaffected and this picturesque seafront section was therefore one of the few journeys we were able to complete.

The views were delightful.

Back in Columbo we took a tuk tuk to the Galle Face Hotel.

The hotel buildings form three sides of a rectangle with the fourth side open to the sea. Rooms on the inside of the two wings [parallel sides which face each other] have a garden view. When we checked in to the Galle Face Hotel the receptionist confirmed we had booked a garden view room and asked us if we wanted to pay extra to upgrade to a sea view.

Having spent more than originally budgeted on the holiday due to the political instability in the Gulf and the need to change our flights home, we said we were quite happy with a garden view.

Matilda was less happy when she opened the curtains to this.

No wonder the concierge suggested upgrading.

Perhaps, strategically, the curtains had been left closed.

Nevertheless, we ordered a tuk tuk to take us to the Department of Immigration and Emigration as we needed to extend our visas and we did not have time to spend querying the definition of “garden view”. 

A standard Sri Lankan tourist visa is issued for 30 days and can only be extended after it has been issued. After we arrived in Sri Lanka and the visa was issued at border control we applied for it to be extended. Robert received confirmation that this was approved but he received no further communication or any information about how to pay. We were beginning to get worried and asked Dilanka, our Walkers guide to call the Department of Immigration and Emigration on our behalf [if you do need a good Sri Lankan Guide then email us and we will put you in touch with him]. It transpired that their system is only compatible with gmail email accounts for online payments. Otherwise applicants have to go to the central Department of Immigration and Emigration office in Colombo and pay cash. It was fortunate that we were already scheduled ton return to Colombo.

The Department of Immigration and Emigration was about a 30 minute tuk tuk ride away from the hotel. Once we arrived, the system was anything but transparent. Robert showed the email he had been sent telling us we needed to get our visas extended and we were directed to a waiting area. Signs made it clear that applicants who had arrived earlier in the day were able to take a numbered ticket so they at least had a sense of their place in the queue. Unfortunately, this system only seemed to operate for those arriving in the morning.

We could hear many people discussing their progress, or lack of it, through the system and we were not the only ones who were bemused.  Miraculously, after waiting for hours with very little movement, as the close of business approached, staff were galvanised into action; the queue started to move. One member of staff seemed to be championing our cause and it seemed as though every case would be resolved by closing time.

We had to spend five long hours and $100 each to remain in Sri Lanka for two extra days although they actually gave us a month’s extension.

Sadly we arrived back at the hotel after dark and were therefore too late to see the Galle Face Hotel piper at sundown, but planned to make sure that we would be able to watch this the following day.

The pool looked very inviting with lights reflecting in the still water.

We went to the German Bar across the road which Robert had identified as a hostelry [see Selfie of the day] which might serve a decent beer but returned to the hotel to eat [see below].

The following morning, breakfast was served in The Verandah restaurant which opens onto the garden and has a sea view. The member of staff charged with scaring monkeys away came to display his catapult to Robert.

The recently appointed Guest Relations Manager was also mingling with residents at breakfast. Robert was busy placing his order at the egg station for a serious breakfast . . .

. . . when she approached our table and asked Matilda how she was enjoying her stay.

Matilda might not have summoned up the energy to complain to reception, but when asked directly, she felt that, in the interests of helping the hotel to improve its customer service, she simply had to tell the truth. Having paid for a garden view, she expected to be given a room with a garden view. When Robert returned to the table and the lovely Darshi, having offered to change our room, went off to identify a new one, he pessimistically predicted that the new one would be significantly smaller. 

Men always think size matters. 

After breakfast we went to meet the Guest Relations Manager at reception as requested and she had found us alternative accommodation saying conspiratorially to Matilda that even though we had asked for a garden view the new room had a sea view. 

This was a significant upgrade.

In a huge misrepresentation of the facts, Robert started calling Matilda ‘Mrs Angry’. In other respects Robert was however correct: the room was smaller. With a new improved view, we were then able to indulge in some poolside relaxation and start to enjoy the rest of our day.

Video of the day:

Selfie of the day:

Dish of the day:

Route Map: