Granbell Hotel Colombo

The hotel stay and view was amazing but check-in is very slow .

I had a wonderful experience during my sta and I would especially like to appreciate Mihiranga from the Front Office. He was incredibly kind welcoming, and professional during my check in. He made sure I was comfortable and helped make my arrival such a pleasant experience. I really appreciated his warm attitude and thoughtful serviceThank you for the wonderful hospitality. This is the best place to stay

🚨 GRANBELL HOTEL COLOMBO — PAY FOR ONE ROOM, GET ANOTHER? A SCAM YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT! 🚨

⭐ 1/5 — EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED. PLEASE READ BEFORE BOOKING.

I am posting this because I genuinely don't want locals or foreign tourists to go through what we experienced.

We regularly do hotel stays and reviews through Achintha Travels, including 5-star hotels, so we understand that no hotel is perfect. But our experience at Granbell was far beyond an ordinary hotel issue.

🔴 BOOKED ONE ROOM — KEPT GETTING DIFFERENT ROOMS

Through Agoda, I paid approximately LKR 36,000 including breakfast for:

Premium Double Sea View with Terrace

After payment, the room kept changing:

Premium Double Sea View with Terrace ➡️ Double Sea View WITHOUT Terrace ➡️ Information about a Twin Room WITHOUT Balcony ➡️ Reception then told me over the phone that a Double Deluxe Sea View would be provided.

I NEVER BOOKED A TWIN ROOM.

Agoda eventually acknowledged the issue and offered LKR 5,000 compensation, which I accepted believing the matter was resolved.

It wasn't.

🔴 CHECK-IN — ANOTHER SURPRISE

We checked in on 29 August 2026. Until that day, I still had not received proper booking confirmation from the hotel. I had to ask for it, and only then was it sent to my email.

When we arrived, we were given yet another room that was not what we booked. After I questioned it and made a fuss, another room was provided.

Even that room was NOT the Premium Double Sea View with Terrace.

We ended up with only a partial sea/city view, not the direct sea view I had specifically paid for.

So essentially:

Booked: Premium Double Sea View with Terrace Changed to: Double Sea View without Terrace Then: Twin Room without Balcony Promised by reception: Double Deluxe Sea View Actually received: Partial sea/city-view room

How is this acceptable for a fully paid reservation?

🔴 THE ROOM HAD PROBLEMS TOO

The final room also had:

❌ AC not working properly ❌ Hot water stopped after approximately 10 PM ❌ Stains on towels AND bedsheet ❌ Not the sea-view room we booked

We went there to relax and enjoy a hotel stay. Instead, the entire experience was frustrating.

🔴 BREAKFAST WAS EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTING

We have stayed at many hotels through Achintha Travels, including 5-star properties.

Honestly, this was one of the worst hotel breakfasts we have experienced.

We stayed at Granbell one or two years ago and remember the breakfast being much better. The decline in breakfast, service and overall customer experience was extremely noticeable.

🔴 CUSTOMER SERVICE & AGODA

The front desk/customer service was, in our experience, rude and unhelpful, with very little concern for the problems we were facing.

The most frustrating part was being passed between the hotel and Agoda:

Hotel → Contact Agoda. Agoda → Contact the hotel.

I booked through Agoda, paid for the reservation and the hotel accepted it. Yet I was left spending hours trying to get the two parties to resolve their own issue.

⚠️ WHY I AM WARNING PEOPLE

The same Premium Double Sea View with Terrace continues to be advertised.

If customers can book and pay for a particular room, they should receive that room or an equivalent/higher category. If it is unavailable, customers should be told before arriving, not after they have travelled and have no realistic alternative.

I am genuinely concerned that customers could book one room and end up being allocated something completely different after payment.

I have also seen foreign guests at the front desk dealing with reservation confusion. A tourist may arrive after travelling a long distance and simply accept whatever room they are given because they don't know what they originally booked.

Please be careful.

I also know of another person who experienced a similar issue involving Granbell .

We genuinely did not enjoy our stay at all.

🚨 Based on our experience, I DO NOT RECOMMEND GRANBELL HOTEL COLOMBO — to locals or foreign tourists.