Lotus Inn: A rare bloom in Jaffna
View(s):It’s perhaps an exaggeration for Lotus Inn in Jaffna to claim, as it does on its entrance sign and publicity leaflet, that it is a ‘boutique’ hotel. But
A taste of Jaffna: A pick from the breakfast menu
when the hotel’s best room costs only Rs. 4,500 one can forgive the hyperbole and rejoice in finding an affordable hotel in Jaffna that is clean, well run, and fun to stay in.
The criticism on websites about many hotels in Jaffna seems to be that, while they are well-meaning, the staff have little experience of how a hotel should be run, with clean bedrooms and bathrooms, clean linen and caring service, plus good food. So, compared with the many hotels in Jaffna, Lotus Inn is, indeed, ‘boutique,’ if that means exceptional.
I confess I discovered the hotel, and booked it through an on line travel agency. I did that in panic as the hotel I intended to stay at seemed (as often happens in Jaffna) to have closed unexpectedly. How else to guarantee a secured room for when I arrived by train from Colombo? I later found out that Lotus Inn staff would have happily and efficiently accepted my booking by telephone.
It’s a new hotel (with 10 rooms) that not many three-wheeler drivers know, so visitors must insist on being driven the length of Manipay Road (which has both an old and a new numbering system to add to the confusion in finding it). The hotel is on the left,100m before a crossroads, the Ottumadam Junction. The sign across its entrance drive proclaims it as Lotus Inn Boutique Hotel, and a huge graphic poster of a bedroom interior stretches along the street wall.
At the end of a pretty, palm lined drive is the charming Inn with walls painted ochre and a roof of red tiles. Under its porch are motor scooters for rent, but you’d need to be familiar with Jaffna driving techniques to risk hiring one. As we arrived, two lads rushed out to greet us from the
Hotel with a view: The lotus pond where birds and squirrels frolic
reception office at the side of the Inn. A third turned up bringing towels to the room.
Our room, number 5, was on the building’s first floor with a corner balcony overlooking the neighbouring lotus pond, where birds and squirrels frolicked in the vegetation at its banks. It was air-conditioned but we threw open the door and windows and relied on the fan to keep the room cool. There were three very comfortable single beds in the room, a flat screen television on the wall, a lockable cupboard with a mirror, a work table, a luggage rack and an armchair.
The sheets on the beds were white-striped in the manner resembling fine Frette linen. The floor was tiled and clean. The bathroom was clean (and there was soap and toilet paper provided) and with hot water but it quickly became flooded when I used the shower because there was no shower curtain or screen. No problem.
There are other rooms on the first floor as well as a dining area in the parlour, and a grand balcony above the porch that is ideal for relaxing and watching the activity below. On the night we were there this consisted of cars arriving and discharging guests, some of whom stayed in the three terraced chalet rooms beside the garden. A temporary tent pavilion had been erected there as a place for using the free WiFi connection, or dining.
Everything is freshly prepared on demand in the ground floor kitchen. Breakfast can be chosen from a picture menu depicting variations of a typical Jaffna breakfast. This was served in plastic containers, in the manner of a modern thali, and was excellent and decently priced at Rs. 500 for two. In the evening, when we wanted a soft drink, one of the lads ran to a corner shop to buy it for us. We weren’t charged for bed tea, which was served to the room on time.
Bright and clean: Lotus Inn, a pleasant discovery
It is that kind of willingness to oblige guests that gives Lotus Inn its close relationship to a true boutique hotel.
I was amused when I checked the hotel’s website, to see a headline saying it offers “beachside accommodation.” It doesn’t. However, scrolling down, I see the text states: “It is located enroute to the best beach in the northern province, the Casurina Beach in Karainagar” – but that’s 27km distant. More exaggeration; but nevertheless the Lotus Inn is a pleasant and a good value discovery in Jaffna.
Lotus Inn Boutique Hotel, 181 Manipay Road, Jaffna; tel: 021 222 9955; email: info@lotusinn.lk; www.lotusinn.lk; double rooms from Rs 3,500. Breakfast Rs. 500 for two.