Helga's Folly, Artistic hotel in Kandy, Sri Lanka
Helga's Folly is a red mansion built in the 1930s on a hillside in Kandy, Sri Lanka, now operating as a hotel. The building holds sixteen rooms filled with antique furniture, dark painted murals, and a dense mix of personal objects collected over decades.
The mansion was built in the 1930s as a private family residence and stayed in the de Silva family for decades. Helga de Silva Blow Perera inherited the property from her parents and turned it into a hotel.
The walls are covered in hand-painted murals and personal photographs that reflect the life of the owner and her connections to Sri Lanka. Walking through the rooms feels more like visiting a private home than a hotel.
The hotel is on a hillside above Kandy city center and can be reached from downtown in a short drive. Comfortable shoes are a good idea since the grounds involve some slopes and uneven surfaces.
Taxidermy specimens are displayed throughout the rooms as part of the owner's personal collection, which is not something most hotels offer. The grounds are bordered by dense jungle and wild monkeys visit regularly.
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