I had a quick overnight stay in Colombo, whilst transiting from Doha to the Maldives and wanted to stay somewhere not too far from the airport. The Ramada Katunayake is about a 10-15 minute cab ride from the airport and suited my purposes. There is also a Ramada in the city centre so be careful which you book.

Booking the hotel on Expedia.co.uk I didn’t need to worry about points and at £53 for the night it was good value. I had been in touch with the hotel before arrival to arrange for a driver to pick me up. Alas, he was not there when I cleared Customs. However, the City Centre Ramada has a desk in the arrivals area and I ask there for assistance.

The guy behind the counter was great. He called the hotel and then located a driver for me, escorting me the kerb to make sure I got in to the right car.

It was quite dark by the time I arrived at the hotel. Reception was prompt to confirm the booking, indicate that they had upgraded me (how nice) and directed me to my room on the 3rd Floor. Opening the door the room reminded me of the old Best Western in San Juan at the airport. The room was clean but basic, although had I wanted luxury I could have travelled to the city.

I turned the light switch on for the bathroom, and all the power went off in the room. Looking for the breaker box, and not finding it, I noticed that all power had been lost to the hotel and indeed those properties I could see from the window. What HAD I done?

Luckily I had my iPhone, and for the first time ever used the torch function. Power came back after about 5 minutes, stayed for 15 minutes and then went again for another 10 minutes. This was my hint to go to bed.

I slept reasonably well as the property was pretty quiet at night as it is set back from the main road.

The next morning I had a shower and there was plenty of hot water. The bathroom was perfectly functional:

I went down for the buffet breakfast which was not included in my room rate and ended up costing about £4. There was a wide choice of hot and cold items with the staff readily refilling any glass or cup that was emptied.

I had arranged for the driver who delivered me, to come and collect me, and he was there at the appointed time for the trip back to the airport.

After two security checks – one to get in to the building and another to get in to the check-in desks, I secured a boarding pass and was off to immigration and the lounge that BA uses. More about that tomorrow.