Sri Lanka’s Lantern boutique hotel goes international
Sri Lanka’s Lantern boutique hotel is to go international creating a unique identity by bringing together the elements of the country’s rich heritage, local culture, traditions, food, sights and community life, CEO and Director of Lantern boutique hotels Navesh Perumal revealed.
Lantern boutique hotel pool side view
He said that his aim is to promote Lantern boutique hotel concept overseas while
CEO Navesh Perumal
expanding the chain of tourist villas countrywide.
Lantern is a boutique hotel situated at Kamburugamuwa in Galle in one of the picturesque beaches and its unique concept redefines the luxury boutique holiday by engaging guests with the local community, offering a personalised experience.
This six roomed boutique hotel built at a cost of Rs 100 million is the start of an ambitious short term plan of building a chain of luxury villas, apartment complexes and a club house in Kamburugamuwa, he said, adding that he plans to set up boutique hotels countrywide including Kandy and Jaffna
“We see a great opportunity to go international and create an iconic Lantern boutique hotel brand with a uniquely Sri Lankan flavour and that is our ultimate goal,” Mr. Perumal, a foreign investor, told the Business Times in a lengthy interview on the birth of Lantern brand, traveller preferences, re-defining boutique hotel concept in the island and its future sustenance
Inside the hotel
Mr. Perumal was relaxing on a poolside armless couch, a couple of hours after a culinary and pastry demonstration by a foreign celebrity chef Pierrick and executive chef Sumith Bandara at the launch of a series of promotional events at Lantern.
He disclosed that following two decades of experience in Business Development, Development Delivery and Construction in the UAE, SE Asia, India, Sri Lanka and Australia and after serving in Australia, Dubai and Singapore, he decided to 
facilitate genuine interests into Sri Lanka, promoting and attracting commercially sound, environmentally sustainable, culturally aware and community beneficial investments. He noted that the birth of Lantern brand was due to his true attraction to Sri Lanka and his links with the island nation through his Sri Lankan wife born in Kandy. “The Lantern experience has to be something that you would not experience anywhere else in the world. Therefore, we take that into our design, refreshments, staff uniforms and even staff greeting. We wanted to create something uniquely Sri Lankan. We brainstormed and looked backwards; tourism entails travelling from place to
Executive chef Sumith and celebrity chef Pierrick
place where an individual wants to experience the local culture, traditions, food, sights and sounds in the country they visit. We kept that in mind with the Lantern branding,” he said.
Sometimes guests at other nearby hotels may perhaps visit his hotel for dining and get personalised services, he said adding that ‘Lantern’s urban kitchen and open pantry is a first in a Sri Lankan resort, and boasts a diverse global contemporary food and beverage programme run under the supervision of an experienced executive chef’.
Mr. Perumal, a down-to-earth foreign investor who likes to be an ‘Inn Keeper’ rather than CEO or the Director of the company, said that he targets foreign travellers of middle to upper income levels and families as well as small tourist groups who will offer repeat business for the hotel. Personalised service is essential without which the consumer will not pay a fancy price, he said, adding that the staff should know each guest by his or her name.