Hidden in plain sight by the comings and goings of Galle ’s lively bus stand and the sun-shaded, makeshift stalls selling stubby bunches of kolikuttu bananas, is the muted pink facade of the Sydney Hotel. It's stood here, outside the sutrdy walls of Galle Fort , for more than a century.
Since most tourists don’t venture outside Galle Fort’s walls, Sydney is frequented, first and foremost, by loyal locals and the odd curious traveller. The kind who prefers seeking out stories, history and tradition, as opposed to the shiny Instagram backdrops increasingly making up much of Sri Lanka’s south coast . Which is how my companion, Suranga, and I, end up stopping by one moody monsoonal day. After one of many fort strolls, we navigate eager tuktuks, sporadic rain and the chaos of the bus stand, to escape the blustery Galle wind, ducking into the Sydney Hotel, where we find a woman collecting boxes of food to take home to her family, extolling the delights of the restaurant's large portions and good pricing. We decide to follow suit, meandering through to the central bar, known as Joe’s Pub, to sit and watch the day go by with spicy kothu (chopped and fried roti with vegetables, egg and meat), mixed fried rice and a plate of hot devilled sausage.
The hotel's history is palpable. From our table, we see a standing-only bar at the centre of the room, set behind a thick metal grill – the original, we are told. Here, everyone from fishermen and street sweepers to doctors and lawyers have been swinging by for decades, on their way to or from work, with most spending just a couple of swift minutes at the counter for a neat shot of DCSL Extra Special Arrack. No ice, no mixer.
Previous owners - J. L. Pimanda, J. A. Pimanda and Y. F. De Zoysa
It’s a tradition that Sydney’s owner, Yoshan De Zoysa, is keen to uphold: “I want to showcase typical Sri Lankan bar culture to visitors to our tropical island,” he tells me. And it only takes a few minutes to witness just how popular the place is, even after 100 years of service.
While the current building has been in Yoshan’s family since 1921, the original structure dates back even further. During the late 1800s, horse racing was an extremely popular sport in Galle, yet many locals, were banished from the grounds by the British colonists. To remedy this, a local Galle man, known as Situge Don Hendrick de Silva, built a large pavilion-like structure on the site where the Sydney Hotel now sits, so he could watch the horse racing undisturbed.
Years later, Yoshan’s great-grandfather, J. L. Pimanda, bought the two-storey structure and transformed it into a hotel, bar and restaurant. One that not only catered to locals, but also the soldiers and sailors docking at nearby Galle Fort. Since many were arriving on ships from Australia , Pimanda thought it would be a good idea to name the place the Sydney Hotel, providing a little familiarity to travellers arriving in an unknown land.
Sydney has stayed in the family ever since, with Yoshan quitting his corporate job to take over from his father, Yohan De Zoysa, in April 2024 following his retirement. “I didn't want to be the one who gives up on a 100-year-old business,” he says. “We survived a tsunami, an economic crash, the Covid pandemic and a civil war. I owe it to my family’s heritage and the building's rich history to give it all I have.”
But keeping a sprawling, rapidly ageing building going is no easy task.
Before the country’s highways were built, there was only one road leading from Colombo and the northern regions down to the pilgrimage town of Kataragama, near Yala National Park , ensuring everyone and anyone heading from north to south would have to pass by the Sydney Hotel. This long route around the country ensured a steady stream of customers, not only from local areas like Hikkaduwa and Unawatuna, but from all over Sri Lanka as they stopped off on the way to wherever they were heading. “There used to be six barmen in the bar area alone to handle the crowd”, Yoshan laughs, “and that was only pouring the arrack.”
Today, fewer barmen are needed thanks to the highway that bypasses Galle, but Yoshan still has a team of 15, including one of the bar’s longest-serving staff members, Piyadasa, who’s been with Sydney for 48 years, joining when he was just 25.
He, like the Sydney, has seen a lot in that time, including the impact of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, which devastated the Galle area and killed over 35,000 Sri Lankans across the country. The bar was closed for just one week, but remnants of its devastation remain. Sea salt absorbed into the walls causes the paint to crumble off, no matter how many times it's covered. On the second floor, where derelict bedrooms now remain, the tsunami’s date is scribbled onto one of the wooden doors.
This battering, along with the country’s 2022 economic crash and the building's ageing structure, has all added to the pressures of keeping the business alive. Attempting to raise funds for a much-needed upper-level renovation, Yoshan’s father even auctioned off one of the ancient wooden staircases, shipping it to Norway in 2012. But it’s all been worth it to keep the spirit of the place alive, says Yoshan. “Sydney is more than just a place to grab a quick drink, it's a hub of community and camaraderie, it’s a place where locals gather to swap stories, share news and celebrate life's ups and downs.
“We're not here to be trendy, we're here to be timeless,” he adds. “This 104-year-old family business is a meeting place where friendships are forged and where the bonds of the community grow stronger each day. And in an age where loneliness is becoming an epidemic, that really does count for something.”
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