The original building on the site was a simple, single-storey structure with open verandah to the street,[1] inhabited by a Dutch Governor.[2] In 1837 it was converted into barracks for the British Army. In 1873 it was converted into a hostelry, with reconstruction commencing on 23 February and completing 27 October, the same year.
The task of converting the Army hostel into a hotel was undertaken by the then Governor Sir Robert Wilmot-Horton, engaging the architect of Public Works Department, James George Smither, who was also responsible for the National Museum of Colombo, Colombo General Hospital and the old Colombo Town Hall. The estimated cost to build the hotel was 2,007 pounds but is noteworthy that the hotel was constructed within one year under the estimate for only 1,868 pounds.[3]
The Grand Oriental Hotel was officially opened on 5 November 1875, and had 154 luxury and semi-luxury rooms.[4] The owners were Colombo Hotels Company Ltd,[5][6] who advertised it to potential customers with the claim that it was "the only fully European owned and fully equipped hotel in the East" and "managed by experienced Europeans".[4]
According to a review published in 1907:
“The Grand Oriental Hotel (or GOH as it is familiarly known far and wide) was the first of the modern type of imposing hotels erected in the East. With its towering front facing the harbour and the shipping and its main portico separated by only a few yards from the principle landing stage, it occupies both a commanding and convenient position; and passengers by the mail steamers who are passing through the port are especially catered for at this establishment in the very best style…The building contains 154 bedrooms…The hotel is lighted throughout by electricity and all the public rooms and bedrooms are kept cool by means of electric fans.”[7]
The GOH began to prosper from the beginning and many wanted shares in the hotel. This prompted the management to sell 500 shares before the opening and later another 500 were also sold on the day of the opening.[8]
The hotel had its own landscaped tropical garden, which was illuminated at night with coloured lights,[9] together with a resident orchestra, which performed twice daily, and held special concerts on Wednesdays and Sundays.[10]
The hotel went thorough a refurbishment program in 1920 where on-suite bathrooms were introduced. In 1940 though still under the British management the colonial only tag started to change and locals too were seen dining and even hosting weddings in the hotel.
In the early 1950s the communal violence and political situation in the country combined with a series of strikes in the hotel[11] prompted the Dutch Burgher proprietor, Sam De Vos to sell the property. The Bank of Ceylon bought the Grand Oriental Hotel in 1954 for Rs. 625,000[12] and subsequently in 1955 leased it to Managing Director of Ceylon Hotels, P. A. Ediriweera.[13]
However he was replaced on a court order in 1960 and the hotel had no official management for nearly two years during which time the employees faced tremendous hardships. In 1963 the Bank of Ceylon with the assistance of the then Minister of Finance, T. B. Ilangaratne, and Minister of Labour, D. S. Goonesekera, once again took over the management.[12]
Taprobane Hotel - 1980
The company name was changed from Colombo Hotels Company to Hotels Colombo Ltd. However, due to legal constraints the Bank of Ceylon could not use the name Grand Oriental Hotel and they renamed the hotel as the Taprobane Hotel.[8] Sir Richard Aluwihare was appointed the company's chairman and the bank spending Rs. 736,036.90 on urgent repairs.[8]
During this period the hotel went through major changes with the bank taking over a section of the hotel. The hotel was reduced to 54 rooms and the garden too disappeared. A part of the hotel including the large dining room was given to the Bank of Ceylon. In 1966 Geoffrey Bawa was appointed to remodel the hotel, creating the Harbour Room, a restaurant on the fourth floor directly overlooking the Colombo Harbour. During this period the hotel's original was restored and the country's first night club, the Blue Leopard,[8] located in the basement of the hotel opened.[14][15] The total cost of the refurbishment was approximately Rs. 1.9 million.[16] In 1989 the hotel reverted to its original name, the Grand Oriental Hotel, re-opening in June 1991.[17]
In 2000 the Bank of Ceylon undertook a major refurbishment of the hotel at a cost of around Rs. 4 million.[8]
The hotel has 80 rooms and two suites. The suites are named after two famous personalities who stayed here, Dr José Rizal, who stayed in May 1882.[22] and Anton Chekhov, who stayed at the hotel in 1890 for five days, during which time he started writing Gusev.[23][24] It has two restaurants, the Harbour Room and the Sri Lankan Restaurant, a nightclub (B-52), a bar (Tap Bar) and a cafe (Tiffin Hut).[25]
Related Research Articles
The Kingsbury, trading as The Kingsbury PLC, formerly the Ceylon Continental Hotel Colombo and the Ceylon Inter-Continental Hotel, is a nine-story hotel located at 48, Janadhipathi Mawatha in the city centre of Colombo, Sri Lanka. It was built by U. N. Gunasekera, and is owned by Hotel Services (Ceylon) PLC, which is a subsidiary of Hayleys PLC. It was refurbished and reopened in January 2013.
The former Colombo General Post Office, at 17 Janadhipathi Mawatha, Colombo Fort, was the headquarters of the Sri Lanka Post and the office of the Postmaster General for over one hundred years, from 1895 until 2000.
Kollupitiya, also known as Colpetty is a major neighbourhood of Colombo, Sri Lanka. The name Kollupitiya comes from the name of a chief from Kandy who had unsuccessfully attempted to dethrone the last king of Kandy. During the period of British and Dutch administration, a brewery had commenced in Kollupitiya which converted coconut treacle into liquor. Nowadays, the suburb is a thriving commercial area containing fashionable high-end shopping malls. Some foreign embassies are located in Kollupitiya. The Prime Minister's House (Colombo) is located in Colombo 3 just two blocks south of Maha Nuge Gardens; a prominent private laneway in Kollupitiya.
Pahalage Rohitha Piyatissa Abeygunawardena is a Sri Lankan politician and businessman. He was the Minister of Nation Building. He is a representative of Kalutara District for the United People's Freedom Alliance in the Parliament of Sri Lanka. On 27 November 2019, he was appointed as Minister for Energy On 12 August 2020, he was appointed as the minister of ports and shipping.
Aitken Spence PLC is a Sri Lankan blue chip conglomerate with operations in South Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the Pacific. Listed in the Colombo Stock Exchange since 1983, it has major interests in hotels, travel, maritime services and logistics. The group also has a significant presence in printing, plantations, power generation, financial services, IT Business Process Outsourcing/Knowledge Process Outsourcing sector, elevator agency services, garments, and property development.
The Colombo Club is the second oldest gentlemen's club in Sri Lanka.
Victoria Masonic Temple in Colombo, Sri Lanka is the meeting place for the Masonic Lodges in the Colombo area. It was built in 1901 during British rule.
Piyadasa Ariyasena Ediriweera (1915–1985) was a Sri Lankan travel agent, journalist and entrepreneur. Ediriweera Is credited as establishing Sri Lanka's first travel agency.
Alfred Leo Saverimuthu Thambiayah was a Ceylon Tamil businessman, politician and Member of Parliament.
Closenberg Hotel is a three star heritage hotel located in Galle, Sri Lanka. It is situated on the southern side of Galle Harbour.
The Cinnamon Grand Colombo, trading as Asian Hotels and Properties PLC and formerly called the Hotel Lanka Oberoi, is a luxury five-star hotel in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The Cinnamon Grand is located at 77 Galle Road, Kollupitiya, Colombo.
Janaka Ratnayake is a Sri Lankan businessmen. Currently serving as the Chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka, Trillium Property Management and Services Ltd, City Housing and Real Estate PLC, Trillium Residencies Pvt Ltd, and Rent A Comp Pvt Ltd.. He is the former chairman and chief executive of Export Development Board of Sri Lanka (EDB), Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka (MBSL), Merchant Credit Sri Lanka (MCSL), MBSL Savings Bank, and MBSL Insurance.
Vallibel One PLC is one of Sri Lanka's largest conglomerate companies. The company controls a massive subsidiaries chain and listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange since 2011. It has a market capitalisation of approximately Rs. 26.95 billion. The company wholly owns LB Finance, Royal Ceramics Lanka, and Delmege Group. The company was included in S&P SL 20 index in 2018.
Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts is a major Sri Lankan luxury hotel chain brand. Cinnamon Hotels was recognised as the most valuable hospitality brand in Sri Lanka for 2019 with a brand equity of seven billion Sri Lankan Rupees. Philip Kotler, the renowned marketing author included a 10-page reference of the brand in his 2010 co-authored book, Asian Competitors: Marketing For Competitiveness In The Age Of Digital Consumers on the effective use of social media and various digital initiatives.
Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo, trading as Trans Asia Hotels PLC, is a five-star luxury hotel located in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The hotel is listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange and John Keells Holdings own a stake of 92% of the company's shares, 48% directly and 43% through its subsidiary Asian Hotels and Properties PLC. Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo has 346 rooms including 20 suites.
Taj Samudra, trading as TAL Lanka Hotels PLC, is a five-star luxury hotel in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The hotel is a listed company on the Colombo Stock Exchange since 1982 and the majority of the shares are held by Taj Hotels. The hotel is located right opposite Galle Face Green facing the Indian Ocean. The hotel is one of the oldest five-star hotels in the city of Colombo. Brand Finance ranked Taj Samudra 78th amongst the 100 most valuable brands in Sri Lanka for 2021.
Cinnamon Citadel Kandy, formerly known as The Citadel Kandy, is a four-star hotel located in Kandy, Sri Lanka. The hotel is located on the bank of the Mahaweli River. The hotel's main deck is decorated with Dumbara weaving designs and an 18-foot handwoven wall hanging by Ena de Silva.
Mahaweli Reach Hotel, traded as Mahaweli Reach Hotels PLC, is a five-star luxury hotel in Kandy, Sri Lanka. The hotel is located on the banks of the Mahaweli River, hence the name. The hotel was founded in 1973 and in 1982, it was listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange. Mahaweli Reach became the first five-star hotel in Kandy in 2000. Universal Enterprises, a Maldivian resort operator has been the controlling shareholder of the hotel since 2002. Mahaweli Reach, a hotel with colonial architecture, was designed by Ashley de Vos.
1 2 King, Anthony D. (2016). Writing the Global City: Globalisation, Postcolonialism and the Urban. Routledge. p.158. ISBN9781317362715.
↑ Wright, Arnold, ed. (1907). Twentieth Century Impressions of Ceylon: Its History, People, Commerce, Industries, and Resources. Asian Educational Services. pp.452–454. ISBN9788120613355.
↑ McMillian, Alister, ed. (1928). Extract from Seaports of India and Ceylon. Asian Educational Services. pp.448–449. ISBN9788120619951.
↑ Amarasinghe, Ranjith (2000). Revolutionary Idealism and Parliamentary Politics: A Study of Trotskyism in Sri Lanka. Colombo, Sri Lanka: Social Scientists' Association. p.128.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
