I didn’t expect to find a new guesthouse with the panache of a boutique hotel in Jaffna. Neither did I know that there are about 600 rooms for tourists available in Jaffna, according to a member of the Jafna-based Chamber of Commerce and Industries of Yarlpanam.Preconceived ideas of Jaffna evaporate as development arrives. To accommodate visitors, many houses that have survived three decades of war have been converted. The Expo Pavilion Margosa is a good example of how this can be done with imagination and caring management.
Part of the Expo Aviation Group, which resumed flights to Jaffna in January 2012, this guesthouse provides the closest accommodation to Palaly airfield. Since it is only 15 minutes drive from the centre of Jaffna town, it is convenient for leisure and business visitors, as well as being charming enough to make the flight or long road journey from the south worthwhile.
From the exterior, viewed over its still sparse garden, the house appears as a simple, low-slung bungalow with red tiled roof fronted with a long verandah and traditional white painted columns. Once inside it is revealed as a building of distinction, created by a fusion of contemporary style (brushed cement floors, solid cement settles) and rural antiques found in Jaffna.
This guesthouse does not have the frigid modernism typical of boutique hotels but exudes warmth inspired by colour schemes of saffron and burgundy alongside white walls and dark wood furnishing. Equally welcoming is the avid attention by the staff who are new to the hospitality trade but do not let their inexperience deter them from being both kind and helpful.
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| Low-slung, old charm bungalow |
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| Alcove off the verandah: A place to relax |
The bungalow’s verandah looks over a broad garden with a margosa tree and landscaping that has yet to acquire character. An extended alcove off the verandah is a favourite place for guests to relax in the evenings. At the other side of the verandah, there is a cosy, single bedroom, but the main accommodation lies inside the house.
Its ancient wooden entrance door opens into a reception hall where, in contrast to the antique furniture, a laptop provides swift internet connection for guests’ usage. The hall leads to a courtyard, the focal feature of houses of the same period. There are five bedrooms (one single, three doubles and a deluxe room) grouped around it, with tables for dining outside each one. From a separate side verandah there is a view across abandoned fields to a netting-covered vineyard bursting with grapes.
The three double rooms are large, each having two cement-based double beds whose severity is lightened by fitted wooden, head boards and bright décor. The window shutters are kept closed so the air-conditioning can function, but stand fans are available on request. Each bedroom has a bathroom with an open-air rain shower.
The sole deluxe room is larger. It also has two double beds and air-conditioning, with a sitting area and flat screen multi-channel television. Unable to open its windows, I found it a bit claustrophobic with its enclosed bathroom and opted instead for a standard bedroom where light streamed in from the attached open-to-the-sky bathroom.
Meals, served in the courtyard, are true Jaffna style, with crab curry oozing succulence and, for breakfast, a range of curries including seer fish with pittu and stringhoppers and Jaffna and southern versions of pol roti. The courtyard restaurant is open to non-residents and specialises in Jaffna dishes at modest prices, a welcome option to dining in town.
The guesthouse is proving popular with business visitors who don’t want to stay in the town after being there all day, and with leisure travellers who relish the tranquillity and gentle service, and its convenience as a base for exploring the peninsula.
With room rates (starting at Rs. 7,500 double with breakfast) sensibly priced for a place of such warmth and style, and about the same as the cost of a dreary guest room in the town, Expo Pavilion Margosa, proved to be a memorable place to stay.
Expo Pavilion Margosa, Channakam, Jaffna; tel: 021 7390490; 077 2348888 .
expopavilionm@expoa.com |
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