Original Hotels

Helga’s Folly Sri Lankan Home is a rather eccentric hotel in Kandy, a city in Sri Lanka. This original hotel is full of modern facilities clashing with unusual architectural designs, bright eclectic colours and a mix of many different styles.

The creator of this unusual hotel is Helga. Helga’s mother, Esme, is an artist and designer, while her father, Edmond Frederick Lorenz De Silva was a politician, a member of parliament and an ambassador. Her grandparents, aunts, uncles and siblings were also very prominent politicians, womens’ rights activists and artists. Helga was responsible for turning the stately family mansion into a curious hotel, and she was in charge of the tropical decorations that cover the mansion from head to toe, as well as creating an interesting juxtaposition between madness and life which is present in the hotel’s décor.

Helga’s Folly is a large compound formed by several red buildings hiding in the trees, and looks like a fairy tale home in a world where everything is upside down. The walls are painted in all the colours of the rainbow and are shaped in different waves, and hold many newspaper clippings, pictures and drawings which tell the viewer the history of the hotel. This hotel is a popular haunt for the artiest citizens of the world, since many painters, actors, singers and the like have been inspired by the mad atmosphere of this hotel.

The hotel was built during the third decade of the XXth Century, and originally it was a large family mansion. Later on, the mansion underwent a radical transformation which symbolizes the more traditional aspects of Sri Lanka and the innovation of art. The hotel is located only 10 minutes away from what used to be the ancient Kandy Kingdom, full of palaces, castles andreligious temples.

The hotel stands on a hill overlooking the jungle, and is only a short distance away from several famous landmarks. Those landmarks include the Anuradhapura, Polanaruwa, Sigiriya and Nuwaraelita temples. The hotel also offers excursions to Hunasgiriya and the Knuckle mountains, as well as several natural landmarks.

The hotel consists of a large main mansion with a living room, two triple rooms with bathroom, a dining room and several terraces, as well as several apartments. The Colombo apartments have a large visitors’ lounge and a dining hall with a balcony, as well as a main bedroom with two double our poster beds and an ensuite bathroom with a Jacuzzi. There are also two extra guest rooms decorated in a lavish antique style, as well as a closet with chandeliers, a small kitchenette and several wardrobes covered in mirrors.

Helga’s Folly is decorated with art nouveau ornaments and has 40 rooms. There are several types of rooms, such as Standard, Deluxe and Superior rooms, as well as a large suite. All rooms have air conditioning, a double bed, a private bathroom and a balcony with views towards the Kandy Valley. All rooms have an individual design full of decorations that date from several different centuries and there are many brightly coloured sculptures throughout the hallways.

Some of the rooms have easily recognizable themes, such as the A Cat on a Hot Tin Roof room. Another room is family friendly and is full of DVDs and books for children. Yet another room has a distinctly hippie look around it with the flower power décor seen in the 1960’s. One room has a darker feel around it, since it is painted in dark colours and has several Gothic candles and black designs.

The Nutcracker Suite is undoubtedly the best suite at the hotel. It has a separate living room, an enormous master bedroom with a double four-poster bed, a luxurious en suite bathroom and a chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

Price per night varies according to the type of room and the dates. A Standard room is prices at about 133€ per night, while Double room costs 140€ per night and a triple room costs around 152€ per night.

This hotel offers its guests comfortable lodgings, many activities and the possibility to relax. There is laundry service at the hotel, and the hotel offers its guests the option to pick them up from and leave them at the airport.

Most of the decorations at this hotel are antique artefacts from every corner of the world, such as India, Sri Lanka, The Netherlands or Great Britain. All rooms have painted walls which are covered in photographs, high ceilings and a unique décor in each room.

The hotel’s garden has many trees and curious plants. Many monkeys and cats like to take long walks amongst the lush gardens. The large pavilion on the territory has been transformed into a tea house and many guests choose that spot in order to relax while watching exotic birds fly by.

The hotel also has a large swimming pool. In the nearby building there are seven dining rooms, all of which have beautiful views of the jungle. Guests will also be able to enjoy the traditional bar and restaurant on one of the floors, or else visit the library or the quiet room. One of the common rooms also holds a large collection of DVDs, most of which show 1930’s films which can be viewed in the hotel’s own cinema.

The hotel also has a traditional restaurant. The restaurant specializes in the most traditional regional cuisine, and its menu is full of different types of meat, fish, noodles and vegetables, all of them accompanied by many different savoury sauces. The ingredients used are all organic ingredients from ecologically friendly farms. Many main courses are prepared with the many spices that grown directly in the hotel gardens, and many desserts are made from the hand made jams and sweet sauces that are made at the hotel. Guests will also have the opportunity to taste some local cocktails and the best tea from the Agarsland region.

During many years, the hotel has been a popular choice of many celebrities who have come to this hotel in order to relax from the paparazzi and enjoy the upside down world that reigns at Helga’s Folly Home. Some of the most famous visitors have included Vivian Leigh, Sir Laurence Olivier, William Holden, Gregory Peck, Sir Alec Guinness, Zandra Rhodes, Paula Yates, Mahatma Gandhi himself, Nehru or even Indira Gandhi. Even Kelly Jones of the Stereophonics stayed here and was inspired to write a song, Madam Helga, about this curious Sri Lankan hotel.