Hotel Topaz Kandy has completed a major refurbishment for their 72 rooms and are geared to obtain the four star classification by the end of the year. The total investment for the project is Rs 300 million.

McLarens Group Managing Director Anura Basnayake, the owning company of the hotel said the entire hotel was redone with new toilets, king sized beds, furniture, new pool and pool deck, new dining options, bathroom fittings and modern lighting systems and many other features.

He said in a bid to provide more space in rooms the balconies too were curved in.

Floors were named under different themes and for the first time in Sri Lanka a separate floor is allocated only for honeymooners.

“We have created a special décor and atmosphere for this floor and the concept is drawing a tremendous response both locally and in the international market.”

This is branded as Rose floor and offers only six rooms to maintain its exclusivity.

He said that similarly the ground floor has being named as Lily floor to with several mini Lily ponds being built in the gardens. “We have separate beds in these 26 rooms and we are marketing this for the Japanese market and travel agents have highly endorsed this and we also have very good response for this as well.” He said that the hotel is also heavily marketed in the web and they get 30% from this segment helping the hotel to maintain over 70% occupancy.

“Our winter bookings are very strong with heavy focus from the Chinese, Japanese and Indian markets.”

He said that the highway will bring additional business to Kandy which he claimed has a ‘high rate war’ with over 350 star class rooms being added recently. Kandy unfortunately is still being considered a round trip destination and more entertainment options and destination marketing is needed to keep clients for a longer stay.”

He said that Sri Lanka before the conflict was virtually unknown and with the war news taking centre stage and the tsunami devastation being given high priority in the international media the country became internationally known.

“And when the war ended it also got much international attention which is helping to market Sri Lanka as a tourist destination easier”.