Sri Lanka Ceylon Hotels Corp to upgrade hotels

June 24, 2010 (LBO) - Ceylon Hotels Corporation, which has properties on prime locations throughout Sri Lanka, has lured a top executive from a big hotel group and plans to upgrade several hotels, a stock exchange filing said. The CHC, part of the Gale Face Hotel group, plans to spend 350-500 million rupees on the refurbishment, according to a decision by the firm’s board of directors Thursday.

CHC’s Tissamaharama resthouse in the south is to be upgraded to a four-star level acceptable to tour operators while the Lihiniya Surf Hotel Bentota on the south-west coast will also be upgraded to a four-star level, it said.

Both hotels are to be closed for refurbishment from July 15 and are expected to be re-launched by November 15 in time for the peak winter tourist season.

Refurbishment of CHC’s Ambepussa Resthouse and ˜Avanhala’ restaurant on a major highway north of Colombo has started and they will be re-launched on July 7, 2010, the statement said.

CHC has also hired Chethiya Perera, former director of Aitken Spence Hotel Holdings and chief executive of Aitken Spence Maldives, part of the Aitken Spence conglomerate which is one of the biggest resort operators in Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

Pere