56 by Deco in Galle

STAY AWAY FROM THIS HOTEL...
... unless you want to sleep in a moldy room (it was actually hard to breathe after a few hours) with bug infestation (the insects were likely of the mold-eating kind, so at least no direct harm from them). We were asked to pay for the room already upon check-in, in hindsight we know why. And of course there was no (partial) refund - we could have asked for a chemical spray after all, that would have solved the problem immediately!
The really good reviews mostly seem to be from a few years ago, when this place actually lived up to its 3-star hotel reputation. The more recent reviews seem to reflect the current state a bit better...

Two stars for the good location (right in the middle of Fort Galle), the nice shower (this was actually very clean and had the best water pressure we have had so far in Sri Lanka) and the friendly staff, who also reacted very kindly when told about the insects (although I do have some questions about the hotel management, which - based on our conversation with the staff - obviously knows about this mold/bug situation... So, for 50-70$ you get the lovely choice between breathing in spores and/or chemicals for the night.
Based on our experience (we hope other travellers have a different one), one either pays at least 150$ per night to stay in a decent hotel in Fort Galle, or one only comes for a day trip. Very different value for money here compared to other places in this country!

Pay attention!!! The photos they show online are only for the private rooms, but you actually book a bunk bed in a mixed dormitory (4 beds crammed in 10 sqm). They probably do that intentionally because on the phone the writing is small but the photo of the double bed is bigger, but you actually book a a bunk bed in a dormitory. When you ask them if you can upgrade to private room, they say everything is booked, so you are just trapped because the booking is non refundable.

I stayed in a dorm room and while the bed was comfortable there was a constant smell of mildew! It was very damp and nearly made it hard to breathe!
When I asked if there were any lockers or keys to the room the man simply said no and left…
The room is accessible from the street which ment I had to take all of my valuables with me everywhere I went which included a laptop as I work and travel…this made it kind of unpleasant to travel around Galle Fort…
And working in my room was impossible as the WiFi did not reach it… but there are a hundred cute cafes in Galle so that was theleast of my issues…
The location is great but otherwise I would not recommend