170yr Old Grand Oriental Hotel (GOH) in Colombo to be Refurbished Following a Management Contract

14th November 2010, www.thebottomline.lk

One of the oldest and a colonial memoir of a hotel located in the heart of Colombo is to be completely refurbished following a management contract deal, The Bottom Line learns.

The Grand Oriental Hotel (GOH), which is a fully subsidiary of state banking giant Bank of Ceylon (BoC), is to undergo a complete revamp with the current boom in the local tourism seen following the end of the separatist war.

According to a newspaper advertisement published recently, the hotel is in the look out for a management contract deal with a party who can spend for the refurbishment work.

However, GOH is considered a heritage site and therefore, any kind of demolition work to the original structure is not permitted.

Although it was in the grapevine that several key leisure sector focussed firms are eying to secure the management contract, sources said that most of them have dropped the idea due to the high amount of investment needed to completely refurbish the hotel.

Aitken Spence is currently in the hunt for a city hotel. However, it is learnt that so far they haven’t extended any interest in the GOH property.

The BoC offices, which are currently housed in the GOH hotel, will be removed once the refurbishment work begins.
Constructed in 1837, GOH currently has 200-room capacity and a large banquet hall.