Hotel Flower Garden

The Paradise Garden in Unawatuna:

Beverley JANSZ

UNAWATUNA beach, in the Galle district, is classified as one of the most beautiful and fascinating beaches in the world. Unawatuna is a paradise for beach lovers, both foreign and Sri Lankan.

The beach is surrounded by a number of star class hotels, and cabanas and is one of Sri Lanka’s most popular tourist destinations. Most of the hotels which were damaged by the tsunami, have now been completely refurbished, and Unawatuna has regained its glamour and splendour.

True to its name, Hotel Flower Garden, at Unawatuna, has been built on a marvellously landscaped one-acre garden which resembles a min-flower garden. It is located within walking distance to the world famous Unawatuna beach, in Galle district.

The hotel which began with nine cabanas in 2003, now offers 25 luxury cabanas with all modern facilities to the discerning traveller.

All cabanas are equipped with A/C, hot/cold water, mini-bar and room service. Hotel Flower Garden has a beautiful and large swimming pool and a well stocked bar.

The restaurant offers the very best in Western, Eastern and Sri Lankan cuisine, together with an ‘A-la-carte’ menu.

The restaurant specialises in French, Italian and German cuisine, the preparation of which is personally supervised by the young owner of the hotel, K. Sassi, who holds a Degree in Food and Beverage, having successfully completed a course in Hotel at Ricken, St. Gallen, Switzerland, for five years as its Food and Beverage Adviser from 1992 to 1996. The hotel offers tours to Koggala Lake, Turtle Farm, fishing in Weligama Bay Beach.

A visit to the ‘jungle beach’ is a unique feature offered by the hotel to tourists.

UDA Rest House Managers’ Annual Convention

UDA Rest House Managers Association Annual Convention was held at Mount Lavinia Hotel recently.

The chief guest for the occasion was Urban Development and Sacred Areas Development Minister Dinesh Gunawardena. Chairman UDA P. Ramujan, Managing Director of UDA Rest House Ltd Shelton Alwis, all UDA Rest House Managers around the country and a host of distinguished guests were present.

General Secretary, Deshamanya Sarath Marasinghe in his welcome speech said that Ministry of Local Government intends to take over Rest Houses from UDA Management and requested Minister Dinesh Gunawardena to intervene in the matter.

Key-note speech of the convention was presented by Chairman Deshabandu Wimal Perera. He said that he has figured out certain important matters pertaining to managing rest houses, that have to be discussed with officials of the UDA Rest House Division as well as Directors of the UDA Rest House Ltd.

He further said that most of the UDA Rest House have to be refurbished. In order to do so he requested Minister Dinesh Gunawardena to extend the agreements of the managers to a longer period which will encourage them to refurbish their rest houses and improve the standard up to the required expectation of the UDA.

Minister Dinesh Gunawardena said that with splendid leadership of Wimal Perera as the Chairman of UDA Rest House Managers Association along with his members, has taken a tremendous effort to hold a convention of this nature. He gave an assurance that these rest houses under no circumstances will be handed over to local authorities.

Speaking of rest houses he said that granting of long term agreements could be discussed with the newly formed UDA Rest House Ltd and prominence will be given to managers who have brought their rest houses to the required standard of the UDA.

Awards were presented to managers for their performance of past year and a special prestigious award was presented to Chairman Deshabandu Wimal Perera by Minister Dinesh Gunawardena for being selected as Chairman uncontested for the fifth consecutive year.

New Resident Manager at Full Moon Garden Hotel

Beverley JANSZ

JAYANTHA Ekanayaka, a versatile and experienced hotelier has been appointed Resident Manager, Full Moon Garden Hotel, Katunayake.

Ekanayake counts over 30 years experience in Sri Lanka’s Hotel Industry and has been a prominent personality in Lanka’s hospitality industry. With Ekanayake at the helm of Full Moon Garden Hotel, the property will see a new lease of life and shine among Sri Lanka’s star class hotels.

Full Moon Garden Hotel offers 30 deluxe guest rooms with all modern facilities. The restaurant could cater to over 1000 guests and is considered as one of the largest in Katunayaka.

The “Araliya” Banquet Hall which is air-conditioned, can cater to 125 guests. The “Orchid” Hall which is built specially for “Poruwa” ceremonies, is also very popular for wedding ceremonies.

At present a luxury banquet hall which could accommodate over 500 guests, is being built.

Full Moon Garden Hotel also has a beautiful swimming pool and a large parking area.

The hotel is owned and managed by Full Moon Garden Hotel (Pvt) Ltd., Colombo Road, Katunayaka. Its directors are Danesh de Silva (Chairman) and Pradeep de Silva (Managing Director).

Festivals of Malaysia at Galadari

General Manager Galadari Hotel Sampath Siriwardena with Rosli Ismail Malaysian High Commissioner, declared opened the Festivals of Malaysia and the Malaysian Food Festival at the Galadari Hotel.

Here Sampath Siriwardena, with Rosli Ismail, and Madam Mariana Alias at the opening of the Malaysian Food Festival at Galadari Hotel.

Chocolate Festival at Ceylon Continental Hotel

An unforgettable feast of the choicest array of yummy chocolates will be on show at the newly opened pastry shop - Cafe County of Ceylon Continental Hotel Colombo from September 14-21.

Savour a delicious range of chocolates at the Cafe County such as Strawberry chocolates, Brandy chocolates, Orange chocolates, Almond & Kahlua chocolates, Hazelnut & Pistachio chocolates, white ganach & dark ganach chocolates and cornflakes chocolates will be available at the Cafe County from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Pastry Chef Nalinda and his brigade has done the perfecting of these chocolate creations specially for this chocolate promotion.

Cafe County also offers fresh juices such as Orange, Lime, Avacado, Pineapple, Mango and mixed fruit juices and milk shakes.

Iftar menus at Cinnamon Grand

Special Iftar menus are now available at the Cinnamon Grand’s Taprobane restaurant this holy month of Ramazan. If you are looking for a place to breakfast after work or share this time of religious fellowship with your colleagues or even family members, Cinnamon Grand is the ideal choice. The special menus are available from September 9th to October 13th from 6.15 p.m.-10.30 p.m.

The menus, all of which are Halal, include selected snack items as well as a host of main dishes. There is a selection of fresh juices - orange, papaya, mango and faluda - a delicious platter of Mutable, Hummus, Tabouleh, Babaghannou, combinations of Vegetable Spring Rolls, Mini Chicken Pastille with Cinnamon and icing sugar mini bag of seafood pastille.

A platter of delicious dates, Chicken Conjee and to top it all off, a warm cup of Gahuwa Coffee completes the experience. For those of you who would like to have a full meal to break your fast, you can opt for the main menu with a choice of dishes and desserts with tea and coffee.

The main menu offers a Lentil soup, a platter of Mutable, Hummus, Tabouleh, Babaghannou, Chicken Mhammer with Cous Cous or Rice and a Mixed Grill Kebab Platter. There’s also the option of Fish Tagine Al Fassai, Platter of Omali, Basbusa, Baklawa or Fresh Fruits.

Workshop on Dining Etiquette at Hotel Tree of Life

Twenty eight final year students specialising in Agricultural Economics and Business Management from the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya participated in a workshop on Dining Etiquette at Hotel Tree of Life Kandy.

The programme was organised by the Agriculture Faculty Management Science Society as a component of a career guidance series titled “Leading the way through business etiquette” and was conducted by the staff of Tree of Life including Assistant General Manager Timothy Paldano and Restaurant and Bar Manager, Neil Samaratunge.

Here Timothy Paldano (standing left) delivering a lecture on Dining Etiquette. At right (standing) is Neil Samaratunge.

Soup and Salad Promotion at Commons

Indulge yourself in a variety of scrumptious soups and salads including chicken, ox tail and asparagus, together with crisp fresh salads, at Commons. The Soup and Salad promotion which begins today, will end on September 30.