Ceyloni Lake Residency

Location: Nicely situated close to Kandy Viewpoint, with a short walk to the lake and town; top location to see the lake, convenient to city center and temple with the tooth of the Buddha; nearby popular attractions and great view from the window

While vacationing in Sri Lanka, there was a highly suspicious incident that occurred during the night of 27th July 2025,at the Ceyloni Lake Residency Hotel, Kandy. I was traveling with four friends (five of us in total, including one couple). On the night in question, we were staying in two separate rooms: the couple in one room, and three (all male) in another room on the lower floor. Around *2:15 AM*, while we were all fast asleep, one of my friends woke up to the sensation of someone entering their room. A young boy, approximately 10-12 years of age, was inside the room. This sudden intrusion caused significant alarm, and upon questioning the boy, he simply stated, "Sorry," and mentioned that he would leave. We were shocked by this situation and quickly approached the door to investigate. Upon opening the door, we found that two individuals were already standing outside our room. One of these men appeared to be an employee of the hotel. The two men informed us that the boy was “sleepwalking,” a claim that we found highly unconvincing, considering the circumstances. We have several concerns about this incident, which lead us to suspect that it may have been an attempted robbery disguised as a sleepwalking event: 1. *The boy’s entry into the room:* The door to our room was closed and required significant effort to open, as it was an old door. We find it highly unlikely that a 10-12-year-old boy could have opened it while sleepwalking. 2. *The two men already at the door:* When we opened the door, the two men were standing outside and did not enter the room until after we started shouting. This felt strange, as they seemed to be waiting for something. 3. *Other room disturbance:* When we spoke to our friends in the other room the next morning, they mentioned hearing a knock on their door around *1:45 AM*, which raises further suspicion. 4. *The hotel employee’s strange behavior:* In the morning, when we returned our room keys, one of the hotel staff (the same man who had been standing outside our door) casually mentioned that the boy was “mentally disturbed.” His behavior seemed suspicious as he was more focused on asking us where the boy had entered from, rather than addressing the potential seriousness of the situation. 5. *The boy’s attire:* The boy was only wearing underwear when he entered our room, despite the weather being cool, which further raised red flags. Considering all the above points, we strongly suspect that this was an attempted robbery or another malicious activity, which was masked by the sleepwalking story.

Granted, Sri Lanka's tourism industry has been hit badly by COVID. Granted that people are finding it hard to run their businesses. But reviews need to present people with a factual and real assessment. So here it is. We reached the vicinity of the hotel (thanks to Google maps), but struggled to find the place as the signage we very poor. People in the vicinity did not know where this hotel was! When we did eventually find the place- it was sad and uninviting. The "reception" was an old desk in a corner of the hall. We were then shown to our room - which was equally sad and depressing. Everything about the room was screaming that it had not been cleaned or maintained for several months. The bathroom was so bad that the entire family decided to skip a shower next morning. The old man who was apparently the manager of the place, made a valiant attempt to rustle up a breakfast next morning. It was decent. Overall, it is not the kind of place you want to stay in when on a vacation...