Invests over US$ 40 million on Marino Sands Hotel:

Damro diversifies to leisure sector

Shirajiv Sirimane

Damro, South Asia's largest furniture manufacturer has ventured into tourism and plans to build a 270 room luxury hotel and a department store. The company hopes to invest US $40 million for this. Named as Marino Sands, the hotel will be located inthe Colombo City at Colombo 3 extending from Galle Road to Marine Drive in a one-and-a-half acre land.

The proposed hotel in Colombo 3

This would be a 12 storey building with more than 400,000 sq feet. There will be three basements for parking and two floors dedicated for a department store.

Piling has already commenced by Nawaloka Piling and with a target period of three years for construction. Marino Sands will open in 2016.

Marino Sands Hotel would operate this venture as a BOI project under the guidance and support of ‘One Stop Unit’ of Sri Lanka Tourism. Project is monitored and supervised by the Urban Development Authority and Coast Conservation Department.

Some of the features of the hotel include a variety of spacious luxury rooms, private balcony for every room, panoramic views of the sea & city and an in-house department store. Marino Sands will be complimented by a 200ft ‘Roof-top Infinity Pool,’ the only one of its kind in Sri Lanka. Luxury accommodation will come in a variety of categories, having a separate balcony for each room to enjoy the beauty of the Indian Ocean.

The project will be completed with 270 rooms inclusive of suite rooms. There will be a roof-top restaurant in addition to three sea view restaurants. The 100,000 sq ft department store located at the ground floor will be a key feature to attract foreigners who travel a abroad for shopping.

Damro owns a strong showroom and dealer network in India. Currently it has 55 showrooms and plans to increase the number up to 100 by 2016. The hotel will be promoted to the Indian middle-class through this branch network and aims to attract 50,000 ‘new tourists’ to Sri Lanka annually, an official from Damro said.