great location in the heart of colombo. great view of the sea, harbour and the city of colombo. excellent food, very friendly staff, great ambience mark this hotel.
the bed linen could be cleaner. bathrooms too small. rooms smelled a little damp.
otherwise a good stay

After reading few reviews on this site, we finally decided to stay at the Taj Samudra (for a night) on our way to the Maldives, with some degree of trepidation.

I must say that this is an excellent, secure place (though not for the nouveau rich).The pick-up at the airport to the check-in was a flawless experience. Our triple room was quite spacious and well maintained (although not "new").There were indeed no smelly carpets and we really did not look for spotted lizards or cockroaches (as other reviewers have mentioned), nor did they present themselves to us for review !!

We had all meals the hotel - the Singapore Chilly Crab at the Golden Dragon was really fresh & delicious and the Sri Lankan Chicken Curry lived upto our spicy expectation.The buffet breakfast was more than adequate.

The service from the hotel taxi was superb (albeit slightly expensive), but the promptness, courtesy and local knowledge of the chauffeur gave us a secure feeling and more than made up for that expense. Since Saturday is a half-day working in Colombo, the traffic was meagre in the afternoon and evening with all shops open.

One cannot really compare this Taj property with others in a relative sense, but we certainly did not face any problems once we landed there.

Since we did the room reservation on our own (no agency !!) we did face initial problems since we required early check-in at 7.00 a.m. and check-out at 8.30 a.m. (next day), and Taj central reservations, insisted on a 50 % additional cost & with a "subject to availability clause" - or - booking for 2 nights (which was ridiculous !) and just did not budge an inch, despite several requests ! Nevertheless, after I spoke to the Taj Samudra, directly, the problem was sorted out at no extra cost ! Considering that the Srilankan flight lands into Colombo at 5.45 a.m.,this is an area which needs to be looked into,actively, for the convenience of the guests.

Due to unavailability in Hilton we decided to stay at the Taj Samudra. And from the moment we arrived till we departed from this hotel it didnt stop to shock us!

Check in was painful and the guest relations manager really needs to check her title, or behavior!

The rooms on the top floor were a nightmare, spooted lizards and cockroaches in the room. Leaking taps in the bath and cracked Sink. The carpet was sticky and smelling.

Upon a lot of arguments we were shifted to a lower level which was slightly better without the carpet, but then due to "unavailabilty" of sea-room we were not allocated a city face room, but we could pay 10$ extra and would get a sea-face room!! this is as informed by the Guest relations manager!!

The Restaurants and food was just about ok, the Indian restaurant had a strong odour which became unbearable at times. The temperatures in none of the restaurants were controlled well, it was always freezing cold.

Some trainee staff from India at the latitude restaurant were on a paid holiday, permitting some favored guests who ordered A La Carte to binge on the buffet desserts, for free! Shocking when I paid nearly 3 times the A La Carte amount for the buffet! Water was served from broken glass jugs. And breakfast was a choas!

The Lobby was a surprise, right above the Duty Manager and Reception were three chandeliers with atleast 25% bulbs either fused or missing and no one cared about it. The cieling in the lobby is disfigured with water leakage, but unattended.

The lobby lounge is fine and so is the travel staff.

Overall a very bad experience.

Stayed at this hotel for one night in Sept 2009. Nice property, spacious room, small fridge (no mini bar), fantastic view (overlooking Indian Ocean & beach). Our request for a non-smoking room was honored right on the spot despite the fact that the hotel was quite busy.

Unfortunately, didn't get to try the restaurant or any of the other facilities at the hotel. All in all, a reasonable stay- no complaints.

Would come back.