Built in 1870 as a circuit bungalow for British Government Agents, the Polonnaruwa Rest House was carefully refurbished in the style of the early 1950s and retains its old world colonial charm.

The Directors of our London office stayed overnight at Polonnaruwa Rest House on 8 February 2009, in the appropriately named Queen's Suite which is the best of the deluxe rooms with a private terrace facing onto the huge Sea of Parakrama; one of the largest man made lakes in the world. The suites have now been tastefully refurbished, what a difference to the same suite I visited in 1998.

This simple yet tastefully designed rest house now has 10 star class guest rooms, including the 'Queen's Room', built in 1954 to mark Queen Elizabeth's visit to Sri Lanka.

Reproductions of old photographs, throughout the Rest House, commemorate the visit of Her Britannic majesty in 1954 on her Commonwealth Tour to what was then Ceylon, and in nostalgically I stuck an Union Jack on the photo. (see below)

Among the attractions of the Rest House is a matchless view of sunsets on the Parakrama Samudra, the largest reservoir in Sri Lanka, and close proximity to the ruins of Polonnaruwa.

The Rest House is less than a 1 km from the Polonnaruwa ruins.