The Hotel Suisse is a heritage hotel located in

Kandy Kandy ( si, මහනුවර ''Mahanuwara'', ; ta, கண்டி Kandy, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

History

The building was originally the residence of Pilimatala Gabada Nilame, the Chief Minister of the Royal Granary, and was built in the 17th century. It was located on Migon Aramba, 'the place where the King’s buffaloes grazed'. Following the Great Rebellion of 1817–18 the building was confiscated by the British in 1818, and given to a British officer, who renamed it Haramby (Aramba) House. In 1846 it became the residence of

George Wall George Wall (20 February 1885 – June 1962) was an English association football, footballer. Career Born in The Boldons, Boldon Colliery, County Durham, Wall started his career with Boldon Royal Rovers and played for Whitburn and Jarrow F.C ...

, the manager of the Ceylon Plantation Company. In the early 1880s the building was occupied by the Kandy Club. In 1887 the club moved to a building vacated by the Orient Bank, which had gone into liquidation, later became part of the Queen's Hotel. In 1924 the building was acquired by a Swiss lady, Jeanne Louisa Burdayron, who operated it as a guest house before it became a hotel. At one stage the building was also used as a maternity ward for planters' wives. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

(between April 1944 and 1945), it was used as the headquarters of the South East Asia Command, under the command of Lord

Louis Mountbatten Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979) was a British naval officer, colonial administrator and close relative of the British royal family. Mountbatten, who was of German ...

. In 1951 the government took over the building for use as government offices.

Facilities

The hotel has 90 rooms, including seven suites, a lounge bar and restaurant. It also has an outdoor swimming pool,

Ayurvedic Ayurveda () is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. The theory and practice of Ayurveda is pseudoscientific. Ayurveda is heavily practiced in India and Nepal, where around 80% of the population rep ...

centre, sauna and spa.

References

External links

Official Hotel Website
{{Kandy landmarks Hotels in Kandy Buildings and structures in Kandy British colonial architecture in Sri Lanka Heritage hotels in Sri Lanka