The first of September heralds a brand new chapter for the Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts chain as the country’s first-ever ‘lean luxury’ hotel with a Rs.3.5 billion investment opens its portals to pioneer a completely new lifestyle experience in city hospitality.
Keenly attuned to the empowered contemporary traveller whose needs are discerning, detailed and exact, Cinnamon Red combines unique ambience and elegant interiors to fulfil the requirements of the new age traveller.
Conveniently located at Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha in Colombo 3 (formerly Green Path), Cinnamon Red introduces the concept of lean luxury, aimed at invigorating the quintessence of travel, bridging luxury and affordability with intuitive service, modern technology and a range of facilities.
On presenting this unique experience to the modern-day traveller, Deputy Chairman and President Leisure Sector of John Keells Holdings Ajit Gunewardene said: “We are in the business of crafting inspiring experiences and our goal is to create a Sri Lankan brand that is recognised internationally. We are proud to have introduced the unique concept of ‘lean luxury,’ an evolution, which is well aligned to Sri Lanka being poised to attract the new age traveller in the next decade. Cinnamon Red carries all the core aspects of the Cinnamon brand, catering to various segments of travellers.”
He further asserts that Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts plans to expand this concept to other cities too, multiplying its investment in leisure and hospitality.
Transforming Colombo’s skyline, Cinnamon Red consists of 26 floors housing 243 spacious rooms. The hotel’s ultra-modern amenities include self-check-in and check-out kiosks, e-concierge services, round-the-clock vending machines, IPTV systems in all rooms and uninterrupted wireless connectivity.
The property has an infinity pool, a rooftop bar and a fitness centre located on the 26th floor, giving guests a 360-degree panoramic view of the city of Colombo and the Indian Ocean. A uniquely-designed restaurant on the eighth floor and a reception cum tea and coffee bar on the seventh floor personify the ‘lean luxury’ concept.
Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts Sector Head – City Hotels Rohan Karr noted that this venture is set to expand the brand’s portfolio in hotel management. The property will further enhance the room inventory within the chain’s city hotels which is collated through 501 rooms at Cinnamon Grand and 346 at Cinnamon Lakeside.
“Cinnamon Red is where business and comfort meet, blending the best of both worlds. Contemporary travellers seek a relaxed, uncomplicated stay, with less fuss and more independence, which is what we unequivocally offer at Cinnamon Red,” Karr said.
He added that plans are underway to further develop the Group’s leisure assets, reiterating that this sector, where Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts has a strong footing, would be a key growth catalyst.
“We see Colombo becoming the next ‘hot’ destination in Asia and given that we have taken a long-term view of the country, we’re extremely confident of the potential that Sri Lanka has.”
The Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts portfolio comprises 13 hotels including two Colombo city hotels, eight resorts in Sri Lanka and three island resorts in the Maldives. With the launch of Cinnamon Red in September as a lean luxury brand, the Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts chain is poised to set a new benchmark for the lean luxury category in the country.
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Adding an unusual yet wholly welcome twist to the typical brunch spreads that adorn hotel restaurants in celebration of the weekend, Cinnamon Lakeside is offering a delectable spread of flavours, rounding up mouth-watering delicacies from the hotel’s three key restaurants – The Dining Room, Royal Thai and Long Feng – at an ‘All Access Sunday Brunch’.
Giving diners right of entry to feast on an array of dishes, from Chinese to Indian, Continental, Thai and Sri Lankan, the brunch promotion, running for two months since last Sunday, is the perfect way to greet a Sunday before heading into yet another busy week.
The spread is extensive and requires a slow and steady intake, with many breaks in between. The dishes extend from The Dining Room and go on to the terrace overlooking the pool with cuisine from the Thai and Indian restaurants placed right in front of the respective restaurants.
Sushi and salad
We recommend that you start by treating your taste buds to the delightful salad and seafood bar at The Dining Room. On one side, heaps of sushi maki and sashimi with a fiery wasabi and beautifully-arranged lobsters, oysters, mussels and flavoursome salmon wait waiting to be piled onto plates. On the other is a big plate of hummus, Mexican seafood salad, chicken salad and a host of other salads. The journey only begins here.
The inside
After the first plate is consumed, the next challenge is to decide what to have next. Should you go all international, or come to that last after tasting some spicy Thai and Indian favourites? Or should you just mix it all in one go?
We opted to start with The Dining Room itself. Pasta with extremely and perfectly creamy seafood, a scrumptious shepherd’s pie and mashed potato, buttered vegetables, crumb fried chicken (deliciously crunchy on the out and juicy inside) and prawn with fish roulade were some of the dishes served up.
Alongside these, carbonade of beef, cashew and pea curry, devilled seafood, grilled pork chop, tempered wing beans and lassoni fish tikka also gleamed from delightfully presented dishes.
The meat items and the seafood were exceptional, with the pork chops and crumb fried chicken being the best of the wide variety.
In-between
Between The Dining Room and Royal Thai, in the area that adjoins the restaurants were more meat items, looking scrumptious under a blanket of red light. Honey glazed ham with pineapple sauce, roast lamb with mint sauce and beef roll with black pepper sauce were some of the dishes. Although I am not the biggest fan of pineapple sauce, the mint sauce was perfect, adding a refreshing taste to the succulent meat.
The outside
Outside Royal Thai and Long Feng the hotel had served up some delicious Thai and Chinese cuisine.
To start off, the fried fish cake with chillie and cucumber sauce and hot dumplings – vegetable and chicken, straight out of the pan, are dishes you must try. Delicious, warm and best as a second starter before you dig in (again), these are prepared by smiling chefs who call out to you while you inspect what else is there to be enjoyed.
Glass noodle salad, BBQ chicken salad and delicious Thai spicy prawn salad are also served up. If you are a rice lover, you must try the Thai seafood fried rice – the best ever. You can even ignore the rest of the food and eat that plain. Not that we recommend that of course, since a well-balanced diet – with more meats and delicious items – is always promoted; if not for the nutrients, then for the flavoursome experience.
If you decide to mix the rice with other curries, try out the deep fried snapper with celery and spring onion, mapo tofu, mixed vegetable with oyster sauce, fish fillet with black pepper sauce or bao chicken. The latter two are my personal favourites as they were rich in spice, herbs and taste. The pork in spring onion and ginger sauce was exceptional.
For those who like a bit of Indian, one action station rounds up some exceptional romali rotis.
The dessert
If you can manage to walk up to the dessert section at the end of all this eating, we commend you for your spirit. For the desserts are totally worth it: from blueberry cheesecakes to caramel and amazing chocolate mousse garnished with tiny crunchy chocolate bits on top to tiny profiteroles oozing with chocolate icing and bite-sized éclairs, the dessert spread has it all. Miniature opera cakes were also a favourite here.
For a healthier choice, the fruit platter showcased an incredible variety as well.
The verdict
Absolute value for moneyrice. Priced under three categories – under unlimited flow of mocktails, lager or bubbly at Rs. 2,695, Rs. 2,995 and Rs. 3,595 respectively – the ‘All Access Sunday Brunch’ features a delightfully-extensive spread that epitomises an ideal Sunday comfort spread of yummies.
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