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All Sri Lanka Kandy Helga's Folly

Helga's Folly

A Bohemian "anti-hotel" offers off-kilter stays in Sri Lanka.

Kandy, Sri Lanka

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esme
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Helga’s Folly   jaliyaj on Flickr
Madame Helga a few years ago   flo faz / Atlas Obscura User
One of the rooms to stay   flo faz / Atlas Obscura User
  flo faz / Atlas Obscura User
  flo faz / Atlas Obscura User
  Apocalypse Yana
  Apocalypse Yana
  Apocalypse Yana
  Apocalypse Yana
Lots of memorabilia   flo faz / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Even hotels which are considered "off the beaten path" generally offer a standard lodging experience, but Sri Lanka's Helga's Folly presents a junkman's paradise of faded luxury.

A meandering crimson mansion nestled in the Sri Lankan jungle, the home of eccentric proprietor Helga de Silva Blow Perera has been turned into an overstuffed hotel full of knick-knacks and memories. After inheriting the property from her parents, de Silva turned her former home, full of sumptuous pillows, beds, and couches, into an intimate traveling destination. Visitors can rent a room for the night and relax among the house's many rich parlors surrounded by walls covered in every manner of decoration from taxidermy to the countless picture frames displaying old press clippings of Hollywood gone by. The Folly takes great pride from its former celebrity lodgers including Laurence Olivier and Vivian Leigh who once had a very public feud around the location. This kitschy kingdom is maybe the last thing one would expect to find in the jungles of Sri Lanka, but somehow Helga's Folly seems right at home.     

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Eccentric Homes Hotels Places To Stay Homes

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Added By

esmetravels

Edited By

EricGrundhauser, Apocalypse Yana, flo faz

  • EricGrundhauser
  • Apocalypse Yana
  • flo faz

Published

November 4, 2012

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Sources
  • http://www.esmetravels.com/category/travel-blog/sri-lanka/page/8/
  • http://sabotagetimes.com/travel/helgas-folly-a-review-of-the-famed-anti-hotel/
  • http://www.lonelyplanet.com/sri-lanka/the-hill-country/kandy/hotels/helga-s-folly
Helga's Folly
Kandy, 20000
Sri Lanka
7.291624, 80.630264
Visit Website

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Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Kandy

Kandy

Sri Lanka

Places 2

Nearby Places

Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic

Kandy, Sri Lanka

miles away

Mackwoods Tea Plantation Sign

Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka

miles away

The Main Line

Nanuoya, Sri Lanka

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Kandy

Kandy

Sri Lanka

Places 2

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