Financial Times

Mount Lavinia turns 200
By Robert Ingall
It’s not easy writing about a hotel whose reputation and history go before it. A hotel that mixes the best of the old with that of the new, or as Bazeer Cassim, Mount Lavinia's General Manager, put it: “Old hotel, new thinking”.
The occasion: the hotel is celebrating its 200th year, well, the original governor's mansion to be exact. But that was during colonial rule and is a story everyone knows – and if you really want to know, that tunnel is still there, it just needs some excavation it seems.

And that was what last Tuesday was about: to celebrate the old with the new. To do that the hotel is going to commemorate the past, present and the future for the next eight months, concluding in a ball on New Year’s Eve in period costume.

One addition that is noticeable is the new hotel logo that Sanath Ukwatte, the hotel Chairman, said was “aimed at bringing the past on board”. He added that a coffee-table book was also being put together telling the history of the hotel that took in five years of research. But one thing he was sure about was that the events to celebrate the anniversary would enhance the “most romantic hotel in Sri Lanka, if not the world”.

As for the planned events, everything starts on April 14 to celebrate the Sinhalese and Tamil New Year, or Sooriya Mangalya, to be televised by ITN with public participation. The book's release date is July 14, when you will also be able to enjoy the Governor’s High Tea promotion offering the best of Tiffin’s and Ceylon Tea.

For food there will be a Nostalgic Price promotion, where a three-course meal can be bought for Rs 200, but it is limited to 100 a day, so book early.
There will also be a photo competition, open to both the professional and amateur, for the best hotel sunset image. And what can't be forgotten is the release of a total of 1,000 balloons from five locations, with the chance of winning a top prize of Rs 100,000 – plus there is to be a special cocktail and ice cream launch.

And talking of the ball, Mr. Cassim said the number is limited to 450 people. On being asked where people can get a costume: “The hotel is going to get hold of pictures and articles of the type of costume to be worn. Once decided upon the names of around six tailors will be given to those attending so they can get their costumes made.”

The cocktail was the next topic, as the ingredients were wanted, but that was to be a disappointment for completely understandable reasons. The ingredients were not for publishing in case others decided on a preempt strike, which according to the General Manager had happened before – but a dark orange is to be the colour.

On deciding what to include in the celebrations, Mr. Cassim said that it was difficult to decide what to do and took over two years of serious thinking. “The problem was: was it to be mainly incorporating the old or the modern? Getting that balance between the two was not easy – getting that balance right between the old hotel and new thinking.”

But one item we can’t forget is the book that took all that research.
The directors of Paradise Isle Publications, Sanath Nanayakkara and Eshan Goonasekera, said that their research uncovered new and never-before-seen articles and pictures of the hotel and its history. But one thing they couldn’t provide was a picture of the woman that Sir Thomas Maitland fell in love with, but as they said: “From the descriptions in the book it will be for the reader to decide what she looked like.”

The two Sri Lankans (both with eloquent English accents) have been doing business together for 10 years in London, with their priority being Sri Lanka.
But it has to be admitted, there is something about the hotel, or is it the team that manages it these days? One thing is for sure, it is a beautiful place that really has done well by mixing the old with the new — happy birthday Mount Lavinia Hotel.

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