Name: Elephant Shed - Tourist Hostel
Address: No 26/1 Wadugodapitiya Street, Kandy, Kandy, Kandy, Kandy, 20000, Sri Lanka
Rating: 9

24-hour reception

Express check-in/check-out

Terrace

Private check-in/check-out

General

Locker

Shower

Rooms

Laundry

Services and amenities

Coffee/tea for guests

Common kitchen

Bottled water (at extra charge)

Kettle

Meals

Free Wi-Fi

Internet

Airport transportation

Car rental

Transfer services

Transfer

Tour assistance

Tourist services

Bike rental

Hiking

Recreation

Offsite parking reservations required

Parking

Beach/pool towels

Pool and beach

Diving

Cycling

Sports

Pets Not Allowed

Pets

Location

At the hostel

Room amenities

Polgolla Reservoir Airport

Castlereigh Reservoir Waterdrome

Elephant Shed - Tourist Hostel

Kandy

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

private-bathroom

shared-bathroom

10-beds

11-beds

12-beds

13-beds

14-beds

15-beds

16-beds

17-beds

18-beds

19-beds

2-beds

20-beds

21-beds

22-beds

23-beds

24-beds

25-beds

26-beds

27-beds

28-beds

29-beds

3-beds

30-beds

31-beds

32-beds

33-beds

34-beds

35-beds

36-beds

37-beds

38-beds

39-beds

4-beds

40-beds

5-beds

6-beds

7-beds

8-beds

9-beds

king-bed

queen-bed

limited-time

lounge

treatment

no-window

bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

ocean-view

oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

partial-sea-view

partial-view

pool-view

river-view

sea-front

sea-view

street-view

sunrise-view

sunset-view

water-view

with-view

annex

basement

main-building

1-bedroom

2-bedrooms

3-bedrooms

4-bedrooms

5-bedrooms

6-bedrooms

not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

The Elephant Shed is located in the heart of Kandy. The staff are nice and the place is clean and well maintained. Unlike some hostels in Sri Lanka, the price is good for solo travellers; I have found hostels in some places in Sri Lanka asking the same amount or more when you could get your own private room for the money. Why? 

Each dormitory bed has a light and power socket, there are fans to keep you cool at night. There is a kitchen where you can cook your own food if you like and make tea or coffee (supplied) at any time of the day or night, plus a fridge/freezer for storing important items such as beer, which they are happy for you to bring in. There's a liquor shop about 100m down the road too! 

There is one electric shower if you want hot water, although the pressure is low. There are two cold water showers, which I prefer in the heat of Sri Lanka, each having decent water pressure, along with three toilets and one sink.

The Internet connection is pretty good, although WiFi connectivity on the rooftop area can be a bit on/off. The rooftop area is a nice place to chill out and meet other travellers though. 

I would happily return to The Elephant Shed. I stayed for 12 days in total. 

A great backpacker hostel

The hostel is very close to the city centre,with shops and tradesmen on the doorstep; so the sights and smells are part of the attraction.

The hostel has simple bunk beds.with free tea and coffee in the kitchen. The young boys running the hostel are friendly and easy going.You can have a drink on the roof terrace,the views are interesting .

The only downsides are the stairways are steep,and the hostel is difficult to find in the dark,but it is only maybe 300-400 yards from the bus/railway stations

Cheap & Easy Accommodation in the City Centre

The location and set up is quiet good like you get your own little sectioned off bunk with lamp and PowerPoint . Wifi is really good and there's a cool rooftop . Owner was amazing and actually drove me and my friend to the supermarket late at night because it was a tiny bit sketchy for us to have walked . Definitely recommend wearing your ear plugs because the noise travels throughout the hostel fairly loudly but that's not a complaint just a suggestion . Showers are good and overall for the price you pay it's a winner . Stayed here twice throughout our travels 

Good for a pit stop 

We booked this hostel on the fly when we could not get a train ticket from Colombo to Ella and decided to stay a night in Kandy and then take the next train to Ella from Kandy. We paid 1000 LKR for 2 bunk beds. I would argue that for the price, the facilities were OK. But there are certain things which can be improved.

Pros -

1. The beds were large and comfortable. Could easily accommodate you with your backpack if you are afraid of putting it inside the flimsy lockers.
2. The bathrooms were clean. The bathrooms are at the top floor and you have to take numerous stairs to access them but that would come in the cons. The bathrooms were actually cleaner than I expected.
3. The owner was able to accomodate us late in the night without any hassle.
4. The location is nice. Walking distance from the train station and the city center. We did not have to take a single tuk tuk ride in Kandy to go anywhere from the hostel.

Cons - 

1. Even though the location in general was good, the hostel is in a dark alleyway. While coming here, at first we just skipped the alley and walked ahead. But google maps was insisting us to enter the alley. We asked the shopkeeper and he confirmed. Although Sri Lanka is generally safe for tourists to roam around in the night, the location does not look very safe.
2. Everything has been crammed up in small space. There are not even proper stairs to access the floors and you have to be very careful to not bump your head into the ceiling. The height of the stairs is also uneven so you gotta be very very careful while climbing up or down these stairs.
3. The WiFi was not working when we arrived. This is something we witnessed everywhere in Sri Lanka. This country is now officially the one with the poorest WiFi network for me. The owner was not even apologetic about WiFi not working (when it was clearly mentioned at the time of booking that the WiFi is included).
4. Some of the beds in the dorm does not have a fan. There is no AC in here (although you probably do not even need it in Sri Lanka). In the dorm we stayed, there were two fans which could pass air to at most 4 beds and there were total 8 beds in the dorm. We insisted on taking 2 beds in front of the fan. Even then the fan had to be properly adjusted so both the beds can get the air.
5. The lockers were very flimsy and there were no locks. In most hostels I have stayed in, the owner usually provides locks to lockers and there is a cabinet for lockers. Here the lockers are just some storage space at the bottom of the beds.

The only reason I would give it a three star is because of the price. You get what you pay for. But there were things which were promised and not there, especially the WiFi.

Very basic. But you get what you pay for.

Bad mattress, not really clean, feels like a rip off. The host is not interested at all at making guests feel welcome. The stairs are worse than the ones climbing Adam's Peak. 
Wi-Fi and Location are good, but that's all. 

Worst place I stayed at so far in Sri Lanka 

We showed up and the mattresses were outside on the balcony...one guy complained of bed bugs the first night. The next day I got back to the room and they had given my bed away and someone had taken my charger and all the stuff I had on it. Moved beds and got eaten alive by bed bugs while laying on it during the day. Ended up leaving the hostel without spending another night. 

The management team didnt care about anything or make any movement to make our stay better. Very dirty hostel.

Easily the worst hostel I've ever stayed at in my 8 months travelling.

-Krystina, Canadian

Cheap price, terrible hostel

In the description of the hostel they put they have parking, so we went there for thre good location and to park our tuk tuks but they were very unhelpful ofering a good solution, so we didint go there, i dont know how its the hostel BUT IF YOURE GOING WITH YOUR VEHICLE DONT GO THERE

No parking!!!!

Pros: 
Close to train station, food and shops. 
free wifi
power outlet at each bed
Cons:
tiny hostel. No space - brought out claustrophobia in me. I couldn't walk straight between the bunk beds. The toilet door is on top of you when you close the door. 
The steps are so steep we couldn't walk up them with our packs on. Will have to slide packs down them to leave hostel. 
Lights are provided at each bed, but the power cord doesn't fir the socket so are useless. 
the doors to the dorms only have a slide lock from the inside. This means you can only lock the door when everyone is inside the room! Very unsafe!
There is no aircon, just fans so is very hot. 

Stay elsewhere. We were only here for 1 night so stuck it out. Will not be staying here again in a few days when we are back in Kandy.

Elephant Shed - Tourist Hostel

Main amenities of the hostel

Location

Available rooms

Location

Description of the hostel

What other amenities are there?

General

Rooms

Services and amenities

Meals

Internet

Transfer

Tourist services

Recreation

Parking

Pool and beach

Sports

Pets

Policies

Check-in terms and conditions

Payment