• Three Cinnamon City Hotels offer guests distinct experiences
• Lean luxury property Cinnamon Red marks eighth anniversary

  By Marianne David The lean luxury property in the trio of Cinnamon City Hotels, Cinnamon Red Colombo, celebrated its eighth anniversary on 1 September. While serving up Cinnamon’s signature hospitality and service, Cinnamon Red provides guests an experience laced with functionality, ideally suited to tech-savvy business travellers. With its prime location and modern décor, the property serves as an ideal mid-range hotel for those craving Cinnamon hospitality without the frills. In this interview, Cinnamon City Hotels Area Vice President Kamal Munasinghe speaks on the hospitality industry in general with a focus on Cinnamon City Hotels in particular, while Cinnamon Red General Manager Terrence Fernando expands on the lean luxury offering and what guests can look forward to at Sri Lanka’s first-ever lean luxury hotel – Cinnamon Red. Following are excerpts of the interview:     ‘This is a resilient nation and a resilient industry’     How have the Cinnamon City Hotels in general and Cinnamon Red in particular been faring, especially in the backdrop of the ongoing economic crisis and the current state of tourism in the country?   KM: The repeated lockdowns during the pandemic resulted in a negative experience, not only for Cinnamon hotels, but all hotels. However, in October last year we started operating our hotels at full strength and saw an influx of guests at all Cinnamon City Hotels – Cinnamon Red, Cinnamon Grand, and Cinnamon Lakeside. We had a fantastic season, December and January were excellent and this positive turn continued until March. Going into April, the instability, economic crisis, and fuel issue started impacting our business. Now we are seeing some positive movement due to the stability that has been established with the Government and the administration.     There is stiff competition in the market. How do you intend to keep Cinnamon City Hotels competitive in terms of pricing and offering?   KM: Cinnamon hotels have always been consistent in terms of what we offer any guest and they keep returning, looking for that specific brand of hospitality. That’s what differentiates Cinnamon from the rest.  ​Cinnamon Grand, Cinnamon Lakeside, and Cinnamon Red are distinct in their own way and cater to different types of travellers. What we offer in terms of amenities, food and beverage options, entertainment and recreational activities, and other benefits differs at each property. We also pride ourselves on continuously evolving with the times. We just relaunched Nuga Gama at Cinnamon Grand and several of the signature restaurants at the properties are currently undergoing changes as well. If you take Cinnamon Red, it’s all about lean luxury and that’s the target market we want to be there for. If you are coming for a short stay on business, you will come to Cinnamon Red, but if you want a full-blown business hotel, you go to Cinnamon Grand. At Cinnamon Red, we don’t have all the frills that a five-star property has, but the experience and being able to be productive is the main intention. Having easy accessibility, good connectivity, a good sleep experience, and a good breakfast – these are the key things that business travellers expect and Cinnamon Red delivers on them all.   When it comes to Cinnamon Lakeside, it’s the best location in town set along the waterfront and is positioned as the ‘resort in the city’. It is very different in terms of the food and beverage experience, the entertainment experience, and also the product quality and other benefits. Guests choose Cinnamon hotels for the authentic Sri Lankan hospitality experience that is offered, alongside a rounded experience.     How have the ongoing brain drain and economic crisis impacted operations and how are you combating the issues?   KM: A lot of people are leaving and it’s going to be a major challenge overall for the industry. We don’t have a strong supply chain to have sufficient talent and we are looking at many options, including developing our own training programme. We have been very strong in developing our own people. I have worked for many big brands but when I came to John Keells, to Cinnamon Hotels, I saw a structured training programme that is not offered anywhere in the world; this will help us build staff strength.     How do you view Sri Lanka’s tourism potential in the current context and how will you position Cinnamon City Hotels for growth?   KM: I think we are positioned well at the moment. We see some stability in the administration, which is a good sign, and the work on getting travel bans and travel advisories lifted is a very positive sign. We should be ready for the December season in terms of having the right talent, products, and offerings.  A lot of diaspora visitors will come to Colombo this season as they have not been able to visit in the last two to three years. We saw some numbers in the July/August summer period and I am sure the numbers will come in during December too. That’s what we hear from our travel partners as well. Overall, things are looking positive. Although we have been suffering for the last few years, this is a resilient nation and a resilient industry. We are very positive. If things continue the way they are happening now, the future is bright for this country. Our product offerings and service delivery have to compete with regional giants and we have to be ready as a destination. If we have many restrictions in running our hotels, there will be challenges in offering a superior experience to international travellers, but I think that with the right attitude and the administration’s view on tourism, we will get there.     Cinnamon Red: ‘Luxury you actually need’   Cinnamon Red is positioned as a lean luxury hotel. When you say lean luxury, what does that mean, what is the offering?   TF: Cinnamon Red is about enjoying luxury that you actually need. For discerning travellers, sometimes luxury that you don’t need gets in the way of enjoying the stay. When this property was planned, there were absolutely no mid-range properties – it was either five-star or two-star offerings – so we came up with the concept of a mid-range, no-frills hotel; essentially, lean luxury. Cinnamon Red is a business hotel, so our guests need a good sleep at night, good internet connectivity, good shower facilities, and a good breakfast. In terms of the quality of the rooms, they are slightly smaller than those of five-star properties but they are all luxurious. That’s the main idea behind lean luxury – you are limited in certain ways, but you also have luxury. We also have a restaurant and a lovely rooftop bar, which are heavily patronised by locals. While Cinnamon Red is mainly for business people, Frequent Independent Travellers (FITs) also like to stay here, mostly because of the rooftop and the infinity pool, which they want to experience. Around 52% of our business comes online and about 40% of those who book online are tourists, not business visitors.     How would you describe the property’s offerings and potential? What can residential and walk-in guests look forward to?   TF: Cinnamon Red couples the legendary service standards of the Cinnamon brand with a value-for-money experience. We have 243 rooms, where lean luxury is in every detail – no-frills rooms, vending machines, self-service in-room dining, and e-concierge service. On top of that we have a restaurant, a bar, a rooftop with breath-taking views, and we are centrally-located. Since inception this hotel has had about 80% occupancy, yet, despite such high occupancy, the rooms are in excellent condition because we have fabulous housekeeping and engineering staff. The average stay is about two nights and mainly comprises those who want to carry out their business while being in a central location. They have a good night’s sleep, have breakfast, and then they are out all day. When they return, if they want to have dinner, the restaurant is open till 10.30 p.m. F&B is mainly patronised by the local market. For walk-in guests who come here for the rooftop bar, we have a live band playing on Fridays and a DJ on Saturdays. We might extend it to Thursday as well and we are also looking at hosting sporting events.     The property turned eight on 1 September. How did you celebrate the anniversary?   TF: We had a religious ceremony followed by a staff meeting and felicitation to commemorate the special day. What’s interesting is that we have 34 staff members who have been part of the Cinnamon Red family since inception.     How does Cinnamon Red differentiate itself from other hotels in the city?    TF: The location is absolutely fabulous for the business traveller, our rooms are of very high quality, and we offer a five-star sleeping experience. By cutting back on the size of the rooms and some of the costlier amenities of a traditional luxury hotel, we offer an elevated experience at a very reasonable price.