Sophisticated comfort at a budget price; that’s Colombo’s Marino Beach Hotel
Marina’s stunning rooftop pool and inset below, a spacious room
As the skyline of Colombo ascends to utter ugliness, more hotels are opening in the city with bedrooms that have views of the desecration of what was once considered the Garden City of the East. From my bedroom balcony at Colombo’s newest hotel, Marino Beach, facing south, I can see tall cranes perched above cramped building sites, dwarfing the very few red-roofed bungalows that remain with their clusters of coconut palms hemmed in walled gardens.
But to the west the view is of the Indian Ocean rolling in to splash against the boulders bolstering the edge of the railway tracks running parallel to Marine Drive. There is no sign of a beach and instead Marino Beach Hotel presents the latest in splendour and smoothly crafted hospitality. It is both ultra modern (the paperless check-in had me baffled as I had to sign on a computer screen) and endearingly dated (with soft lighting and dark carpeted corridors that stretch the distance from Marine Drive to Galle Road).
Before staying in a hotel for the first time, canny guests try to deduce from various clues what the experience will be like. If the booking process goes without hassles, that’s a good sign. However, I couldn’t tell from the website if the hotel had a restaurant, although breakfast was advertised as an extra. The highlight of the hotel is shown as the long swimming pool on the roof and it is truly magnificent, with swimmers able to gaze over its infinity edge to the Indian Ocean ten floors below.
When I booked online I was astonished by the efficiency. I received several emails confirming everything and even requesting whether I wanted a smoking or non-smoking room. Although when I telephoned the hotel, the call took rather a long time to be answered, the intelligent response from the operator soothed my qualms. So I was feeling confident about enjoying my one-night stay before I arrived.
The clean cut opulence of the huge lobby is impressive – a long walk to the long reception desk, past a white grand piano (and not much other furniture) under waves of brilliantly lit chandeliers and across well buffed glimmering tiles. In contrast there is a dimly lit coffee shop on the southern side. Lifts to all floors above the second work only with a touch of the room key-card, a security measure designed to keep all but registered hotel guests out. Even entry to the rooftop swimming pool (and its bar and small restaurant) is controlled by a barrier that only admits you if you have the key-card.
My room, number 612, was exactly as a hotel room should be, with the bathroom on one side of the entrance and wardrobe, with safe and extras like bathrobe and slippers, on the other. The bathroom was a surprise though, as I could watch the room and the staggering view of the ocean while using it, since only a glass panel separates it from the bedroom. But there is an electronic device that lowers a blind for privacy. There is a full length bath tub as well as a separate shower in a glass cubicle.
In contrast to the muted hues of the corridor, the room was bright, taking full advantage of natural lighting and spaciousness (376 square feet). There was a counter below the 50-inch flat screen television and a separate vanity/work desk complete with conveniently placed wall sockets for all gadgets. A sofa for two was by the window from which there is access to a narrow glass-walled balcony, overlooking the ragged skyline and the surging sea.
Perhaps because it is so new (the hotel opened in August), there is not much signage so I had to discover the delights myself. From the lobby a discreetly located lift gives access either to three floors of underground car parking, or to a mall of shops and food outlets. A separate lift from the mall takes people to the eighth floor only, where there is a grill restaurant that is not accessible from the hotel.
The hotel’s restaurant open to everyone (with a generous buffet breakfast) is on the second floor and it was there I discovered a secret bar (Tides) with an expansive sea view and a keen young mixologist, not a clueless dispenser of drinks. Access direct to this bar is possible by another lift, located at the right side of the lobby entrance.
Although the appeal of Marino Beach Hotel to most visitors is undoubtedly the wondrous rooftop pool, it scored with me in other ways. It is modern but with an inbuilt atmosphere of traditional décor and hospitality. It’s already proving popular with independent tourists staying in Colombo at the end of a holiday touring Sri Lanka, who seek sophisticated comfort at a budget price. The view determines the room rate and this starts at Rs12,000 for two (before the punitive addition of 30.8 per cent for tax and service charge). For such a high quality hotel, that room rate is as amazing as the rooftop swimming pool.
Marino Beach Hotel, 590 Marine Drive, Colombo 3; www.marinobeach.com