The Strangest Hotel in Kandy, Sri Lanka

Do you remember that dining room scene in Tim Burton’s film Beetlejuice? The one where the dinner guests became possessed and started singing and dancing to Harry Belafonte’s Day-O (Banana Boat Song)?

That’s what dining at Helga’s Folly felt like to me. Like at any moment, I could look up from my bowl of asparagus soup and find a frizzy-haired Michael Keaton sitting across the table from me.

“Beetlejuice…Beetlejuice…Beetlejuice. It’s SHOWTIME!”

I didn’t stay at Helga’s Folly but I had read enough to want to see it for myself. I hopped into a tuk-tuk and rode into the jungle hills of Kandy so I could explore this unusual hotel that’s become one of the city’s most intriguing attractions.

Helga’s Folly is a hotel / acid trip located in the mountains surrounding Kandy, Sri…