Outdoor pool

Reviews of Thambili House By Edwards Collection

4.5 out of 5
Thambili House By Edwards Collection
70, Light House Street, Galle Fort, Galle

Reviews

9.2

Wonderful

Rating 10 - Excellent. 21 out of 30 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 6 out of 30 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 2 out of 30 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 0 out of 30 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 1 out of 30 reviews" "

9.8/10

Cleanliness

8.8/10

Staff & service

9.4/10

Amenities

9.0/10

Property conditions & facilities

10/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

10/10 Excellent

Michael

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Thambilli House was just terrific, rooms, staff, open areas, pool and location ideal for a Galle Fort visit. This was our 3rd stay at The Fort and by far the best accommodation so far. Only surprise was that the room did not have a bar fridge, quite unusual from our perspective.
Stayed 4 nights in Feb 2024

10/10 Excellent

Matteo, Doha

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, amenities
a true example of dutch colonial house. beautifully restored with the right balance of number of rooms (we counted 3 only) and the shared spaces. A fantastic open space breakfast space under the arches. Small pool that nobody uses, friendly and efficient staff, eager to please and be of service. recommended if you want to have the best stay in Galle
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2020
Response from Steven on 9 Apr 2020
Dear matteo Thank you so much for taking a couple of minutes of your valuable time to write your beautiful experiences staying with us. We do hope that you visit us once again and we wish you good health and happiness during this uncertain period. Best Regards Reservations Team

6/10 Okay

Kate, Melbourne

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Disliked: Staff & service
When we arrived, the top management has messed up our room. Instead of sea view room, we got another room. After spending more than 2 hours arguing with the management, the property Manager Malindu managed to get us our room. He was amazing. Making sure property is running smoothly with no hassle. And made sure guest were taken care of at any expense. Overall cleanliness and services were top notch! Hats off to Malindu and the in-house chef for making guests welcome, even though the top management is treating the guests like garbage!
Stayed 3 nights in Dec 2019
Response from Steven on 28 Feb 2020
Dear Kate Warm greetings from Edwards Collection Whilst we highly appreciate your comment, we sincerely invite you to visit us once again so that we can clear the errand. Hope you will consider this. And we strongly commend that we do not treat our guests in such a manner. IF we had we do apologize sincerely. Best Regards Steven Reservations Team

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Stayed 1 night in Jan 2020
Response from Steven on 29 Feb 2020
Thank you for your stay. Hope you enjoyed your blissful vacation. Hope to assist you once again Thanks & Best Regards Steven Reservations Team

8/10 Good

Dominic

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2020
Response from Steven on 29 Feb 2020
Thank you for your stay. Hope you enjoyed your blissful vacation. Hope to assist you once again Thanks & Best Regards Steven Reservations Team

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Ideal location. Front room had view of the sea through lovely frangipanis. Pool swims at night refreshing. Be sure to tell the staff the night before if you want a Sri Lankan style breakfast or you will be stuck with a continental breakfast. Helpful staff. Lovely old building tastefully decorated with great air conditioning.
Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2020
Response from Steven on 29 Feb 2020
Thank you for your stay. Hope you enjoyed your blissful vacation. Hope to assist you once again Thanks & Best Regards Steven Reservations Team

10/10 Excellent

Roy

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 3 nights in Nov 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Staying in a 300 year old beautiful villa that once belonged to a spice trader. The courtyard swimming pool was lovely.
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2019

8/10 Good

Daniel

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great little romantic get away
This is a beautiful very small boutique hotel. Perfect for a romantic get away. Excellent service and great breakfast as well. AC super cold for hot humid days. No bar, and it was a little weird having to have them open and close the main door each time you came and went. They were prompt in doing so, but still a little weird. The fort area of Galle is small but unique. You could walk all the streets and do all the shops in a couple of hours.
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2019

10/10 Excellent

Jane

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Delightful Thambili House!
Had a wonderful stay at Thambili House. We stayed in The Ginger Room which was very spacious, spotlessly clean and had a nice balcony over looking the small pool. Ideal place to relax and cool off in after a morning exploring the Fort. Mr Lakmal was exceptionally accommodating and made our stay very comfortable. The house is a fine example of an old Spice Traders House. Our only slight disappointment was we couldn’t sit and see the sea from the house. I had mistakenly thought we could but this is just from the other room. However, the house is ideally located in the Fort and seconds away from all the restaurants and other amenities the Fort and surrounding area has to offer.
Stayed 4 nights in Sep 2019

10/10 Excellent

Stephanie

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
The house is gorgeous, the service was excellent, the bed extra comfy, the terrace beautiful and the breakfast amazing. We were heartbroken to leave :( special mention for the excellent service, very attentive, kind and arranging
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Travelled with partner
Liked: Staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
If is a beautiful historic home in an immaculate location. To top it off, Steven and his team were spectacular with their service during our stay.
Stayed 4 nights in Aug 2019

10/10 Excellent

Jake

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Fantastic Stay
We booked this as a bit of a treat during a 3 week stay in Sri Lanka, we were not disappointed. The staff and hotel were lovely! The service was personal and welcoming, and the unique small property left us feeling at home.
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2018
Response from Menaka on 13 Aug 2018
Dear Sir/Madam, Thank you for your valuable comment of Thambili House. It is pleasure to here that you really enjoyed your stay with us. We are looking forward to seeing you again at Edwards Collection properties. G.A Manoj Menaka (Villa Manager)

10/10 Excellent

BARTRAM

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Beautiful boutique hotel with excellent service and really friendly, helpful staff. They served a good breakfast, both Western and Sri Lankan. Perfect location in Galle fort.
Stayed 3 nights in Jun 2018
Response from Chinthaka on 5 Jul 2018
Dear Sir / Madam Thank you for your comments & it's a pleasure to have to serve you. Looking forward to welcome for your next holiday to Edwards Collection properties.

8/10 Good

Roger

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Disliked: Staff & service
Beautiful building, poor service
Beautiful building. Catering not great. Stay spoilt by staff desperate to charge us 25 USD each for breakfast, when it was included in the room price - even to the point where the supervisor would not let us check out until he had confirmation from the manager that we did not have to pay for breakfast.Not 5 star service for a 5 star price.

10/10 Excellent

Zaynab

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Home away from home
It's like your own house! Private, bespoke and custom. Love it
Stayed 4 nights in Jan 2018

6/10 Okay

Julien, london

Liked: Cleanliness
Disliked: Room comfort
Short stay in Galle
The hotel itself is not bad for a boutique hote, pretty guest, only 3 rooms. We based our booking on the picture of the room. In real the room was very small with no windows! so we felt very oppressed. We asked to change room but the 3 others were already booked. We booked 3 nights but we left after 2. As a guest house not a lot or room to sunbathe. So should you want to book this hotel, get the room with windows at least
Stayed 3 nights in Feb 2018

10/10 Excellent

Jane

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Treat yourself
Stunning property, great location and a real retreat from the heat and bustle of Galle
Stayed 2 nights in Feb 2018

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness
Disliked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Huge disappointment, not worth the price
Arrived to be checked in by someone who did not speak English so was unable to answer any of our questions. Did not even have a city map. Then we went to the room for which we paid in excess of USD250 for 1 night: Basically a converted attic, only window facing internal hallway. Mosquitos everywhere. Room had no cupboard to hang clothes, nothing to place suitcase on so had to leave on the floor, no amenity kit in the bathroom, basically only soap and shampoo, no minibar. After single shower no hot water. Constant noises from the hot water boiler in the bathroom disturbing our sleep. A TOTAL DISASTER AND MISREPRESENTATION OF ROOM ON THE HOTEL WEBSITE. When complained to a senior person on the phone (as no one in the hotel spoke English or had any authority) was given 2 options: find another hotel at 7pm and get reimbursed or get transferred to a sister hotel 20 minutes out of town. Given that we were in Galle for 1 night only clearly both options were not viable.
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2018

10/10 Excellent

Robert

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
An oasis of tranquility
Beautiful house, wonderful staff, the Sri Lankan breakfast was incredible. Just an oasis away from the heat and bustle of Galle. Will be going again....
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2018

10/10 Excellent

Vidhya

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2017
Response from Chin on 9 Jan 2018
Dear Sir / Madam Thank you for your valuable review, looking forward to welcome you back again to The Thmbili House.

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Beautiful home in Galle
This is a beautifully decorated house with 3 bedrooms across a small street from the ocean. Positives included very nice bedrooms and bathrooms, a cold plunge pool (all other pools in SL were warm, which is not refreshing as it is hot, hot, hot there), and a great location, right in the middle of everything you would want to see. They upgraded me to the bedroom at the front, which has a porch with recliners where you can watch the waves roll in. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE ADDRESS ON HOTELS.COM IS INCORRECT. The hotel is on Ramparts Street NOT at 70 Lighthouse Street (look for the house on Google maps).
Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2017
Dear Sir,Madam, We are extremely happy that you have enjoyed your holiday at Thambili House. Also thank you very much for taking time to share in detailed review which is truly appreciated. and will inspire our staff to continue to strive towards outstanding customer service in future. Thank you. Namal Dissanayake.

10/10 Excellent

Shontelle

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Best kept secret in Galle Fort
The property is amazingly beautiful, was a little difficult to find as the address given is actually the back of the property. The sevice was amazing, tea & coffee on request, they helped us with aquiring wine for lounging by the pool & the breakfast was outstanding. I would bypass Colombo entirely next time to spend more time here :)
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2017
Dear Sir,Madam, truly appreciated your constructive feedback looking forward to welcome you again. Best regards Namal Dissanayake.

10/10 Excellent

Martha , USA

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Very Nice hotel inside the old dutch fort
My husband and I stayed at the Thambili house for one night and I must say it was sensational. The staff greeted us warmly, upgraded our room to one with a sea view for no extra charge, and did everything they could to make our stay an enjoyable one.The nutmeg room was clean and spacious with a beautiful balcony overlooking the ocean! The hotel is in an excellent location it is close to the lighthouse and many other shops and restaurants are about a 5 minute walk away! We enjoyed dinner that night at the Thambili house as well with some delcious seafood and traditional sri lankan curry everything was Fantastic. I would definitely reccomend this hotel to anyone and would love to stay there again one day

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Verborgener Schatz
Das Haus hat 3 Zimmer und uns wurde zuerst das Zimmer im Dachgeschoss zugeteilt: sehr eng mit sehr vielen Mücken. Spater erhielten wir ein Zimmer im Obergeschoss: großartig eingerichtet mit Terrasse und einem fantastischen Blick auf den Ozean. Das Personal ist sehr gastfreundlich. Das Frühstück mit sehr viel Liebe gemacht.
Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2020
Response from Steven on 29 Feb 2020
Thank you for your stay. Hope you enjoyed your blissful vacation. Hope to assist you once again Thanks & Best Regards Steven Reservations Team

10/10 Excellent

LOK CHUNG

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Miss
Great hospitality
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2019

10/10 Excellent

Sebastian

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Hospitality at a historical gem
Fantastic hotel with very welcoming staff and an interesting history. The hospitality was beyond measure! The lovely staff looked after all of our needs.
Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2019
Response from Upali Silva on 18 Aug 2019
Dear Sir / madam Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us & looking forward to welcome you back to Thambili House for your next vacation in Sri Lanka.

10/10 Excellent

Tony

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
A EXQUISITE COLONIALS GEM
Everything from the welcoming to the rooms and all surroudings were way over expectations. Staying true to its colonial historiy updated to meet all modern Contemporary needs. The staff met all our need with a genuine and attentive smile Will come back
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2019
Response from Chinthaka on 20 Mar 2019
Dear Sir Thank you for sharing your valuable comments & it will much helpful to improve our services. Looking forward to welcome you back to Thambili House for your next vacation in Sri Lanka.

10/10 Excellent

Anne

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Kjempefint, lite og koselig hotell midt i Galle. Servicen var super, vi fikk også en oppgradering av rom pga ledighet. Vi spiste god sri lankisk middag på hotellet og koste oss ved bassenget. Litt problemer med vanntilførsel og strøm, men det ble fikset så fort vi sa i fra.
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2018
Response from Chinthaka on 29 Jun 2018
Dear Sir / Madam Tank you for your valuable comments of Thambili House. We are happy that you had an great time with us & looking forward to welcome you back to Edwards Collection property for your next holiday.

8/10 Good

Sanne

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2017
Response from Chin on 6 Jan 2018
Dear Sir / Madam Thank you for review