Day 1
Our trip began with a smooth 10-hour direct flight on Sri Lankan Airlines from London Heathrow, arriving into Colombo at lunchtime the next day to be greeted by a charming and friendly Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts representative and immediately chauffeured to the hotel (just 40 minutes’ drive) ready for a detailed site inspection of Cinnamon Life at City of Dreams, and boy what a tour that was!
The hotel is new on the scene, having opened its doors in October 2024, boasting 679 guestrooms and 6 restaurants offering a variety of cuisines – Indian, Chinese, Japanese, French, Steakhouse and the Cloud Wine bar for wines paired by “Wellington” the charismatic sommelier to accompany cheese/charcuterie boards. Breathtaking views of the Indian Ocean and the city are to be enjoyed whilst sipping cocktails at Flux on the 24th floor and enjoying incredible live music at the 2-tier Gatz bar on the 23rd and 24th floors. Many of the food & beverage outlets are situated on the 23rd floor, with the flexibility to privatise all, a few or just one outlet for a group, providing entertainment all in one place. State of the art and versatile event spaces for the most part located on lower floors, many with natural daylight, offer inspiring creativity for any size event and 160,000 square feet of space!
After the tour we then relaxed at Cloud Wine where we were treated to wine with a cheese and charcuterie board. The sommelier ‘Wellington’ entertained us wonderfully and it was lovely to meet Declan Hurley, Padmi Fernando and Lisa Mendis, although it ended up being an early night for us due to our long flight and action packed.
Day 2
I was met by Remauld Mack and Shakeel Jurangpathy for a tour of the city. First stop was Port City which is a huge piece of reclaimed land, a new economic zone aiming to facilitate connections to the South Asian market through investment opportunities, international business environments, world-class infrastructure, and high-quality sustainable living, at an estimated cost of US$15 billion. Cinnamon Hotels has agreements with all the amazing beach clubs on the site for water sports, private dining and boat trips.
Next stop was Colombo’s Lotus Tower which was very impressive with fantastic views of the city and surrounding area. The weather was lovely so we could see for miles!
We also visited the oldest cinema in Colombo Rio Cinema, which was very run down, but nonetheless a very historic monument in the city and the top 7th floor can still be used as a venue with stunning views of the city.
Back to the hotel for a quick refresh and then out for dinner with Palak Shah. I’m ashamed to say at the last minute we changed the restaurant from Japanese to the Staten steakhouse, to then find out poor Palak is a vegetarian…. next time we will check first!
Day 3
Took us outside of Colombo, to Cinnamon Bentota Beach which is the most amazing luxurious 5* incentive hotel, a 156 room resort with 16 beautiful suites. Many of the hotel’s original 1960s textile decorations have been lovingly recreated, particularly the batiks on the reception ceiling and the handloom ceiling in the Peacock salon and bar, which have been faithfully matched to the 1967 originals. The lovely Resort Manager Sriyangani Dhanapala was available to show us the hotel and I can certainly see UK luxury incentive groups being very happy there… the sandy beach, blue skies and warm ocean were incredibly inviting!
Day 4
Was a Monday and a business day. I met the whole Cinnamon Life sales team and was able to learn more about how the hotel operates, what business they are keen to receive from the UK and how they can handle large groups operationally, from arrival, guest rooms, service levels, dining, conference room setups, to departure. The main DMC is Walkers Tours although there are a couple of other competitors. Walkers Tours will look after any group from arrival to departure and understands the UK market – any group will be in good hands.
Note: phase 2 opening in October 2025 will be the high rollers luxury City of Dreams casino, and a shopping centre! More news to come so watch this space…
Our departure was late evening and onwards to Perth Australia, for a well-earned holiday, but that’s another story!
For additional information about how Sri Lanka is emerging as the new Asia conference destination please give me a call on:
07968 800023 or email [email protected].
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