Helga’s Folly is at the heart of Kandy city and makes it special based on the fact that it is advertised itself as an anti-hotel. If the concept feels unfamiliar, it’s because it is. The concept of “anti-hotel” is something that should be experienced to comprehend. 

The first glimpse of what it is meant was felt as soon as we arrived there, and what we experienced was nothing. There was absolutely nothing except the off season halloween decorations we saw before. 

Even after we’ve entered the premises what we encountered was a remote house with Halloween decorations, without anyone around. Once we got we started to realize what was meant, the walls were full of somewhat abstract and ghostly paintings and the house itself was ancient and all of this resulted in one spooky house. It honestly was the first time I thought that the house was haunted. 

This is what this place tries to offer basically in a nutshell. The place genuinely feels haunted although you know it is made that way intentionally. The inside of this place especially feels that way, it is surrounded by various antiques and objects that resembles a haunted house. The scenes inside the place were straight out of a horror movie. Old songs from maybe 40’s or 50’s were playing apparently from a grammar phone (they weren’t) accompanied by trippy lights which made this place feel truly haunted.

It would be a fair assumption to make that there aren’t many places which would make you feel the same way anywhere else, just spending your time in this mini-haunted house was one of my best experiences for sure.  

This place specifically targets the tourists and any locals who wants to go there have to pay the same price. There aren’t much of a choice when it comes to the food, you’d have to select one designated for the day, and wait 45 minutes for preparation. The cost per head here is USD20 which is about LKR3700 be mindful as the prices are not mentioned in the menu. The beverages are also very expensive a normal beer that would be priced around LKR300 outside would cost over LKR1000 here. This place also provides accommodation but since we didn’t stay there we can not make a comment about it.

Additionally we went there at night, around 8 PM which I would assume the best time to visit to get the most out of the atmosphere but it closes after 10PM. Overall the best thing about this place is its atmosphere, be mindful about the prices and be prepared to pay over the odds but also expect to get brilliant haunted house themed vibes that wouldn’t be able to get anywhere else.