With Rs 900 mn local and French investment:

Aliya Resort opens in November

Shirajiv SIRIMANE

Aliya Resort, a four star luxury hotel will open in November in Sigiriya adding more value to the destination. The hotel is being built by famed hotelier, Chandra Wickramasinghe with an investment of Rs 900 million. French investor with US $ one million, Coneassance Ceylan and Wickramasinghe himself has invested for the hotel.

Wickramasinghe said that he acquired a 20 acre land to build this hotel. Aliya would be classed as a four star property and would consist of 96 rooms. He said that today Sigiriya area has many four star plus rooms and to compete in this market novel concepts had to be adopted.

Wickramasinghe who own and operate the Rs. 350 million Maalu Maalu resort in Pasikudah said, Aliya hotel rooms would have a fusion of luxury and the ancient elephant watch hut concept.

“In addition we will have a disco and a karaoke lounge to introduce a touch of night life to the area,” he said.

The hotel would also have an ayurveda centre, elephant study centre and a paddy museum. “Our aim is to woo students and other researchers keen on elephants and paddy research. We are in the process of collecting information of the history of paddy in Sri Lanka and ancient equipment used for farming. This segment would be a long stay market, helping the hotel to maintain high occupancy throughout the year.”

The hotel would also aggressively market the Buddhist and cultural circuit to China, Japan, Thailand and also to Malaysia and Europe. The project would generate over 220 direct employment opportunities and the 70 % of the staff would be drawn up from the area. “We hope to provide them in house training,” he said.

Maalu Maalu was the first luxury boutique hotel to open on the East Coast of Sri Lanka and is the first Eco and family friendly beach resort exclusively designed according to the green building guidelines on energy and environment. It reinterprets the ethnic style of a typical Sri Lankan fishing village (also known as ‘wadiya’) and has 40 chalets designed in a tropical setting to blend with the natural environment amidst elegance and luxury.