Mount Lavinia Hotel Invests $6mn on Bentota Luxury Villas

03rd February 2011, www.dailynews.lk Harshini PERERA

Mount Lavinia Hotel (MLH) will invest on luxury villas in Bentota to cater to the high demand and tourist arrivals to the country.
Construction on this will begin later this year.

“We expect to build 20 luxury villas in the next two years which will cost over US $ six million, Mount Lavinia Hotel Chairman and Managing Director, Sanath Ukwatte told Daily News Business.

Mount Lavinia Hotel has also decided to set up hotels in Dambulla and East catering to the cultural triangle and the east coast shortly.

“Mount Lavinia Hotel will be refurbished with a 100 rooms project under its development. The hotel has already upgraded 53 rooms for this season and the balance will be completed in the next off season. The investment for the refurbishment of 100 rooms is estimated at US$ 2 million”, he said.

“Tourist arrivals are increasing and we have experienced a higher occupancy rate making our rates go up. We are positive that peace and stability in the country will attract more tourists,” he said.

“Over 70 students from East have studied at the International Training School initiated by the hotel. We will be addressing the need of youth in the North as the next stage,” Ukwatte said.

Mount Lavinia Hotel invested US $ 25 million on a resort, Vakarufalhi in Maldives one year ago in South Ari Atoll island.

Under this project 75 rooms has been set up with a tie-up between a leading European tour operating company and Mount Lavinia Hotel.

Sri Lanka's Softlogic Buys Hotel Ceysands at Bentota, a Golden Key Credit Card Company (GKCC) Property

03rd December 2010, www.sundaytimes.lk

Softlogic Holdings Ltd has been allowed to purchase the disputed Hotel Ceysands at Bentota at a price of Rs.925 million, according to a directive issued by the Supreme Court on Friday.

The 3-member Court bench headed by Justice Shirani Tilakawardane directed the Chartered Accountants committee appointed to devise a repayment plan and to asses and value Golden Key Credit Card Company (GKCC) properties, to accept the offer made by Softlogic, when the GKCC case was taken up for hearing today. The court has authorised the sale of GK properties to pay off investors who lost some Rs 26 billion after the company crashed in December 2008.

Related Info:
Softlogic Plans a City Hotel in Colombo with Moevenpick Hotels

Forbes Ranks Sri Lanka Beaches Among Top 10 in Asia. Tangalle Bay to Weligama and Bentota Beaches Highlighted

21st July 2010, www.lankabusinessonline.com

A beach stretch from Tangalle Bay to Weligama in Sri Lanka's south and Bentota in the southwest have been named among the top 10 in Asia by Forbes, a business magazine.

The beaches were judged by a panel which included Graham Uden, a photographer based in Hong Kong and John Borthwick, a Sydney-based travel writer and photographer.

"Sri Lanka has beautiful beaches on its southwest coast, from the southern tip up towards Colombo," Frobes quoted Uden as saying.

"It's a beautiful coastline with rugged rocks, plus sandy beaches and coconut groves. There are fisherman that stand on poles. They stand there for hours, just fishing from these poles."

A 30-year war which hit the tourism industry only ended last year. The island attracted 447,000 tourists including business visitors and regional tourists who are not necessarily interested in beaches.

Most beaches even in relatively popular areas are not crowded and

"What characterizes these beaches is that they are undeveloped, tranquil and remote," the Forbes quoted Borthwick as saying.

Sri Lanka is expecting 600,000 tourists this year and 2.5 billion by 2016. The New York Times has named Sri Lanka the number one holiday destination for the year.

More Info:
Asia's Best Beaches - Forbes

Images:
Tangalla Bay to Weligama Beach, Sri Lanka

Bentota Beach, Southwest Sri Lanka

John Keells to Invest 6BN to Upgrade and Build Hotels in Sri Lanka

22nd November 2009, www.lankabusinessonline.com

Sri Lanka's John Keells Holdings is ready to invest nearly 6.0 billion rupees over the next two to three years in upgrading and building new hotels if tourism arrivals pick up after the end of a 30-year war as expected, an official said.

Deputy chairman Ajith Gunewardene said JKH was planning a 190 room hotel in Beruwela on which design work would be finished by next April.

The hotel is expected to cost around 1.7 billion rupees, and will be a 4-star rated hotel coming under the group's mid-market 'Chaaya' brand. Its up market 5-star properties are branded Cinnamon.

JKH has a 10-acre long stretch in Beruwala, after it bought land from Sri Lanka's Confifi group next to an existing property. JKH's Beach Hotel Bayroo, in Beruwala was damaged during the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami.

JKH has already closed its 80 room Club Oceanic Hotel in the Eastern coast of Trincomalee to be refurbished at a cost of 400 million rupees as a 4-star rated property.

Bentota Beach Hotel, would also be refurbished towards the end of next year at cost of 800 million rupees. The 115 room property would be 5-star rated.

"If tourism arrivals increase we will be ready with rooms," Gunewardene told a forum organized by Leopard Capital, a private equity group in Colombo.

"Cambodia saw an exponential growth after unrest ended. Arrivals grew from 557,000 in 200 to 2.1 million in 2008. Sri Lanka had 438,000 tourists last year."

By 2011 JKH would be ready to start a 100 room 5-star hotel at its existing land in Ahungalle. The project may cost 1.6 billion rupees.

It could also build another 4-star 120 room hotel in the East Coast on its existing or acquired property. JKH had access to property in Kuchchaveli as well as in Nilaveli, Gunewardene said.