Our stay at the Granbell Hotel Colombo Marine Drive Colombo, in Sri Lanka, wasn’t exactly what we expected. It exceeded our expectations!
After a very long journey from Bulgaria, we were very tired, and all we wished for was a pleasant first few nights with a comfy bed and a shower. Surprise surprise, we got what we wished for (and beyond!).
In this post we will cover ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW about this awesome hotel in Sri Lanka and feel free to leave a comment at the end of the article, should you have any questions.
Table of Contents
All You Need to Know About the Granbell Hotel Colombo Marine Drive Colombo 👇
Location
📍 282/5, Kollupitiya Road, Marine Drive, Colombo 3, Sri Lanka 🇱🇰
The GranBell Hotel is located in the centre of Colombo CBD, an excellent base from where to start exploring the surrounding areas and must-see attractions in the city.
Only a few steps away from local shops and restaurants, we see this location as a great place to be based.
However, if you want to explore a bit further around the city, you must use one of the thousand Tuk-Tuks that are always available in the city, with a few of them also standing in front of the hotel’s building all day and night.
Also nearby: Bambalapitiya Beach, Galle Face Beach and Bambalapitiya Railway Station.
Granbell Hotel Colombo Marine Drive Colombo – Distance from the airport:
– Ratmalana International Airport, 12 km away
– Bandaranaike International Airport (where we landed from Istanbul), is in the suburb of Negombo, 32.5 km north of the nation’s capital and commercial centre, Colombo
✈️ Official website: https://www.airport.lk/main
You have different options To & From Bandaranaike International Airport:
🚖 Taxi –> Many options at the arrivals and from the city
🚘 Uber –> Book through the app directly, with your current account or sign up for a new one in seconds
🕺 PickMe | A very useful app through which you can order taxis and tuk-tuks all over Sri Lanka
🚌 Public Transport –> Direct express buses to Colombo “Pettah” Central Bus Station within a 25 minutes ride
Hotel Amenities | Facilities :
Free 🅿️
☕ Nice Breakfast
🛀 Spa & Wellness
🏊♀️ Outdoor Swimming Pool | Infinity Pool
🍽️ 2 Restaurants
🌇 Balcony | Terrace
🛜 Free WiFi
🌊 Sea View | City View
☀️ Panoramic View
🍹 Cocktail Bar
🙋♂️🗺️ City and Country Tour Assistance
Granbell Hotel Colombo Contact Number
☎️ +94 112 397 397 (Hopefully, you won’t need it, as this blog post is the best among the many Granbell Hotel Colombo Reviews!🤪)
First Impressions
The hotel has a modern look and pleasant and luxurious exteriors that immediately make you think you made the right choice by reserving your stay here.
The first floor is your first step in the check-in process. Here is where the friendly team at the reception welcome you. There are several tables and chairs, and a small but pretty good café as well. This was also the first place we visited every morning to sip a nice coffee while sitting on the balcony staring at the ocean (so peaceful).
It’s also a good area of the hotel where to get some work done (We do what we have to so we can do what we want to, hey!)😅
Rooms
There are different types of rooms to choose from, depending on what your needs are (single traveller, a couple, a family with kids and so on) and for different pockets (each with different features).
Overall, here below is a list of all kinds of rooms the hotel offers, however when we stayed not all were free (it’s pretty busy very often):
- Standard Double City or Sea View
- Standard Twin City or Sea View
- Superior Twin City or Sea View
- Superior Double with Terrace (Sea & City View)
- Deluxe Double Room with Sea View and Terrace
- Deluxe Twin Room with Sea View and Terrace
- Deluxe Studio with Sea view and Terrace
Unfortunately, we could not book anything other than the “Double Sea View” but were very pleased with it regardless!
All rooms are offered services such as:
Room Service
24h desk
Laundry(extra cost)
Currency Exchange
Daily housekeeping
Safety deposit box
A/C
Breakfast (extra)
Fast WiFi
Parking
Private bathroom with bath, shower and slippers
Hot tub
Free toiletries
Tea and coffee maker
Flat Screen TV
Sea View (wow!)
And you also get to enjoy:
- Two restaurants (a Japanese Restaurant and an “All Day Dining” Restaurant)
- Parking
- Spa and Wellness Centre
- Outdoor Swimming Pool (Infinity Pool, simply AMAZING!)
- Fitness Centre
- Bar
- Cafe’
- Terrace
- WiFi is available all around and it’s free (pretty decent as well)
- CCTV inside (common areas) and outside the hotel
- Smoke alarms
- 24h Security
- Safety box
- Luggage storage (before or after check-in, according to your needs)
- Designated Smoking Area
- Cleaning and disinfection of all accommodations between guest stays
- Help with booking organised tours and transportation to/from the hotel and around Sri Lanka
Check-in | Check-out 🛎️
Check-in from 14:00 till 23:300
Check-out from 07:00 till 12:00
🐕 Pets are not allowed. (sigh)
💳 Payment methods accepted:
Visa/Mastercard/American Express etc. (and cash, of course)
Rooftop
Oh My Gosh! Words will probably never be fair enough to do justice! The Rooftop is our absolute favourite place of this hotel, with its restaurant-bar, and Infinity Pool. Check this quick video below, it’s probably better than any word I could use to describe it.
On the same floor, you can also find a nice cocktail bar and an “All Day Dining” restaurant, all in one. We ate there a couple of times and had no complaints about it. They do serve International meals as well which were pretty good.
In terms of costs, it’s quite pricy compared to local restaurants and bars, and that’s normal somehow considering it’s a well-established and fancy hotel. However, still absolutely affordable (even more so if you come from the West).
They also sell cigarettes but the cost is almost double what people pay at local tobacco shops so that’s not ideal (and by the way, Sri Lanka is not much smokers-friendly, considering a pack of cigarettes costs almost double than anywhere in Europe. So if you smoke, you have +1 reason to stop! 😜
Restaurants
There are two restaurants available at the hotel:
– MINORI JAPANESE RESTAURANT 🎎
– ALL DAY DINING 👩🍳🍳
Both offer Ocean Views and good menus, however, we only tried the “All Day Dining” as we wanted to explore the local restaurants and experience something more authentic.
Rooftop Bar
A very nice bar with an awesome panoramic view over both the city and the sea. No better place than this for having a cocktail or a couple of beers after a long day walking and exploring the city (trust me).
CAFE
As mentioned at the beginning, this was our mandatory stop, every morning. Very nice coffees and smiling staff, a good way to start your day. They also sell some delicious chicken rolls which I loved.
You can book your stay through the link here below. We used booking.com as well, and you usually can get some % off on the original price.
https://www.booking.com/hotel/lk/granbell-colombo.en
Conclusions
GranBell Hotel exceeded our expectations, and considering it was our first stop after landing in Colombo the very first time we travelled to Sri Lanka, we couldn’t be happier.
We were happy to start on a positive note, and thankfully it marked the beginning of an incredible journey around the country from South to the far North East, and back through the hills and mountains of the island.
Do we recommend it? Absolutely yes!
Who is it for? In our opinion, it’s best for couples, but there’s not a specific demographic for it. Guaranteed anyone from solo travellers to families and couples would enjoy their stays.
Our score: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Thanks for reading till the end, we hope you enjoyed it and we look forward to seeing you back to check our other posts out. And if we convinced you to reserve your room at the GranBell, well done! You won’t be disappointed, and we would love to hear from you in the comments during or after your stay.
🤩🙌
Don’t forget to check out our other blog posts about Colombo here below 👇
Mount Lavinia Beach – One of the best beaches in Colombo
The Best Things To Do in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 2024
“If you want to be a better person, explore new places. Just travel, and let it go!”
_Carmelo @exploreoclock