FIVE-STAR HOSPITALITY REDEFINED
Wijith DeChickera is wowed by his first experience of Cinnamon Bentota Beach – Signature Selection and vows to return for more
Cinnamon. Bentota. Beach. Consider each. Beach – a place of sport, fun and games. Bentota: the best beach on the southern coast of Sri Lanka. Cinnamon, a precious spice, treasured by traders who visited our shores and found more…
That’s what intrepid travellers discover – to their great delight – when the words above are combined and enhanced. For Cinnamon Bentota Beach – Signature Selection holds out the promise of so much more…
You sight this iconic property across the Bentota River – the estuarine boundary between Western and Southern Provinces – intuiting you’re about to be transported into a realm transcending the ordinary.
Then you arrive at the fortified entrance of this unique five-star hotel by the sun kissed sea, beside a dreamily meandering river – and you know from the stylised, warm and well-meant greeting that you’ve arrived in an inimitable bastion of hospitality.
Cinnamon Bentota Beach has ‘Signature’ arrival and departure rituals that make guests feel especially welcome. At the stone entrance to its portals, being greeted by a brace of welcomers with conch shell and drums is lighter than granite. Don’t be surprised if they invite you to light the oil lamp in the old foyer where your first (and last) impression will be its distinctive ‘Batik Ceiling.’
Initially designed by artist Ena de Silva, the present version is the third reproduction of the iconic original, made possible despite the hotel being demolished and reconstructed between 2017 and 2019.
This was a marvel of reengineering as architect the late Deshamanya Geoffrey Bawa’s plans were destroyed by termites. Reconstruction relied on archival material, and meticulously researched and indexed memorabilia, photos of its previous avatars and the architect’s sketches. Today, there are 156 panels that make an indelible impression.
An assortment of refreshments is at hand for world-weary travellers including the hotel’s ‘Signature’ soft drink – a revitalising blend of king coconut water infused with cinnamon and lemongrass, added vanilla extract and no extra sugar!
Rejuvenated by that life-giving potion, you will check in – or opt to check out the scrumptious lunch buffet, confident that a meticulous concierge service will ensure your bags are securely deposited.
The fare on offer at the multi space (including alfresco) Zest restaurant is suitably eclectic – from exquisite continental to exotic oriental and everything comestible in-between your appetite may crave.
A team of local, Indian and Middle Eastern chefs offers a smorgasbord that satisfies without over sating guests, such are their deft culinary touches.
After such a repast, a feast fit for kings and queens, a further treat awaits: a short afternoon siesta in one of the 16 ‘Signature’ suites in the old wing that once housed 32 standard rooms.
Now upgraded luxuriously and individualistically, these meaningfully named suites – for instance, Paru (Deluxe/river view), Prtugisi (Deluxe/sea view), Muthu (Premium/sea view), Araliya (Premium/river view) and Hiru (Deluxe/river facing ocean view) – have all angles covered from comfort through luxury to indulgence.
These include in room ironing and external laundry facilities, fresh fruits, a butler service that considerately tops up a gamut of refreshing treats, a thoughtful tea maker to brew those complimentary speciality blends and a coffee machine with classy china to go with these little indulgences.
In addition to these iconic suites, the hotel offers Premium (pool access and terrace) and Luxury (beach access and seafront) rooms.
A short siesta it’ll have to be… for a panoply of activities awaits you on the 11 acre property so ‘Edenically’ located between sea and river.
There is the natural rock pool, a marvel of construction by master architect Bawa. A delight to swim in by day, the water remains wonderfully warm even the next morning.
First a delicious dip in the cool, safe, shallow waters of the Indian Ocean along Bentota beach at sunrise. And then, after those outdoors excursions, indulge yourself to a soak in a decadent bathtub replete with sundry bath salts to complete a trifecta of immersive liquid treats.
For more ‘liquid treats,’ patronise the avant-garde Fuze bar where a fine dining restaurant stood in the old days before architect Channa Daswatte’s adroit workmanship changed some of the interior locales while masterfully retaining most of his mentor Bawa’s brainchild in stone, brick and tile.
This space is ideal for cocktails or snacks to the tune of a piano of an evening. There are also tabla recitals on Fridays, plus cultural shows over the weekend in the main restaurant. And for those to whom studied leisure beckons, there’s Monopoly, chess or a collection of board games around comfy easy chairs.
Fuze abuts a lounge where Bawa’s – and Daswatte’s – master craftsman like approaches to interior design are evident. There is a gradient in the relative placing and respective heights of the furniture so the view of those in the lounge’s ‘hinterland’ isn’t obstructed by others in the ‘littoral’ closer to large windows overlooking the rock pool.
Above loungers’ heads is the iconic ‘Sunset Ceiling’ by the redoubtable Barbara Sansoni from 1967 with Marie Gnanaraj and Barefoot being responsible for the 2019 reproduction. The latter is indistinguishable from the former.
These are square panels of handloom fabric mounted on plyboard in a spectrum of solar shades that brighten up the west facing lounge beautifully, ensuring memories of sunset linger well beyond sundown into mellow midnights.
The eyes will also have much to feast on in the Art Museum where hang copies of artworks from the rooms, and reproductions of photos, portraits and paintings pertinent to Bentota Beach Hotel’s early days as a rest house, a strategic halfway point between Colombo and Galle – a locus for promoting southwestern coastal tourism, a commission to Bawa by Minister of State J. R. Jayewardene in the 1960s’ government of Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake.
Adjacent is an Artist’s Village – a CSR project of Cinnamon Bentota Beach – where Signature Selection graciously employs an in-house artist, and five visiting artistes who specialise in leatherwork, woodcarving, wood and brass works, woodchip art, rattan weaving and silk artistry.
Nearby is the Cinnamon Nature Trails desk from where many a breathtaking expedition to the wide blue yonder may be undertaken by explorers – guided tours of the mangroves nearby and as far afield as Mirissa for whale watching with the in-house naturalist leading, and others including visits to close by garden based icons (Bawa’s Lunuganga and his brother Bevis’ Brief), the latter being conducted by the hotel’s in-house Art Curator with the naturalist in tow.
For the romantic – and not only flower picking couples but botanically inclined romancers too – there is the Signature Selection hothouse where not only is a private secluded high tea on offer daily but also a veritable bouquet of blooms (from orchids and lilies to frangipani, some 60 varieties) that are grown here for decorating the hotel.
The prospect of romancing the senses works up more digestive appetites (if you’re still in an outdoorsy mood, there’s the ‘drench bar’ beside the pool…).
For fine foods, one heads over to a spread of delectable comestibles at an array of restaurants offering speciality dining from French cuisine through à la carte Italian at Ottimo or Café Comida, to the ‘punnily’ named seafood outlet Sea Meats Spice (devilishly clever – and diabolically scrumptious treats!).
After which, the urge to work off those sinful calories may strike home hard…
So it’s off to a state-of-the-art gym with three treadmills, a trio of cycling machines, five different fitness workout stations and assorted weights. This fitness centre is staffed from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. but guests can avail themselves of its facilities ‘24/7/365.’
So much more… indeed – to say and do; but time and space constrain. Once discovered, one must explore.
I’ll be back, Cinnamon Bentota Beach Signature Selection – for more, so much more, of Cinnamon Hotels and Resorts’ commitment to luxury and exceptional service!
Your iconic, individualistic and, indulgent offering is captivating indeed; and a new planet swims into your constellation – leaving for now, the sung blessing of Girā Sandéshaya (part of the ‘Signature’ departure ritual) ringing in my ears…