Premium five-star city hotel, Cinnamon Grand Colombo held its Quarterly Associate Meeting for Q1 and Q2 2015/2016 at the Oak Room; recognising dedicated associates for their exemplary performance in the first two quarters of 2015.
The quarterly meeting focuses not only on recognising and rewarding hotel’s associates but also includes a component where the hotel’s performance is discussed and associates are brought up-to-date on the hotel’s future events and plans.
Those recognised as winners and as nominees, receive cash prizes, special dining vouchers and a letter of appreciation from the General Manager to celebrate their achievement.
Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts Sector Head-City Hotels/Cinnamon Grand Colombo General Manager Rohan Karr expressed his appreciation for team members nominated for the ‘Associate of the Quarter’ award for their dedication and hard work; and commended the efforts of D.K.A.E. Indunil from Kitchen Stewarding and Dimuthu Indika from Banquets who were recognised as ‘Associates of the Quarter’. Indunil was appreciated for always going beyond his call of duty to ensure that the clerical needs of his department is met – staying past his working hours and doing much more than his job scope whilst Dimuthu was commended for surpassing targets.
Nominees for this coveted title included T.R. Arfin from F&B (The London Grill) for his skills as a sommelier, R.M.K.B. Ranatunga from Front Office for his positive leadership skills and Ruwan Kumara from Housekeeping for his dedication and commitment.
The team award for the quarterly meeting went to the Banquet Operations team for the superior service extended to customers 24/7.
With sustainability a core component of Cinnamon Grand’s hospitality agenda, a green award was also given for the ‘Best Green Idea’, as part of a Cinnamon’s city hotels initiative. The award went to Anura Silva for his idea that would ensure economical use of foil paper in the hotel.
Karr also encouraged staff to be active participants in the hotel’s future development. He thanked the associates for their commitment and encouraged them to reach greater heights.
Prompting those gathered to pen their thoughts as to what the management could do better to improve staff and guest product and services in five minutes, with the promise of a cash prize for the best five ideas, 63 new ideas were received, which will be implemented accordingly

Souce:: http://www.ft.lk/article/480849/Cinnamon-Grand-star-associates-recognised-at-Quarterly-Associate-Meeting

Heritance Hotels, Sri Lanka’s leading chain of resorts, owned and managed by Aitken Spence Hotels is once again in the forefront of sustainability with all hotels in its portfolio being awarded the Travelife for Hotels and Accommodations Gold award.

Travelife – the international sustainability certification scheme – assesses a property’s performance in managing social, environmental and economic impacts. The Gold award achieved by Heritance Tea Factory, Heritance Ayurveda Maha Gedara, Heritance Kandalama and Heritance Ahungalla is a testament to the chain’s deep commitment to sustainability.

Travelife is a practical tool which assists properties to monitor and manage their social and environmental impacts. The scheme which is supported by some of the largest tour operators in the industry helps hotels cut costs and increase sales, by improved sustainability.

To gain Travelife Gold certification the hotel must meet the 150 sustainability criteria set by the scheme. This includes environmental issues, such as minimising waste and use of energy, water and chemicals, as well as taking positive action on social issues, such as employee welfare, working with the local community, child protection and human rights. Hotels must display how they are helping to support local businesses and protect local traditions and wildlife.

The Heritance Hotels portfolio underwent a stringent audit process which focussed on energy saving practices, waste management, emission and environmental sustainability principles followed by each Hotel. The audit results are scored on Bronze, Silver or Gold depending on the degree of the Hotels commitment towards the environment and locality in which it operates. Achieving Gold status is not an easy feat and it is a remarkable achievement that the entire chain achieved this accolade.

Heritance Hotels, a pioneer in practicing and promoting sustainable tourism in Sri Lanka, has taken numerous initiatives in ensuring that energy consuming assets have been managed effectively and energy conserving technology has been implemented at each resort.

Heritance Ahungalla, one of Sri Lanka’s leading beach resorts, was the first hotel in Sri Lanka to receive the ISO 50001:2011 certification. Heritance Ayurveda Maha Gedara, was the first net metered hotel in Sri Lanka and Heritance Tea Factory and Heritance Kandalama were the first in the hospitality industry to utilize a biomass gasifier as a renewable energy source. Apart from the significant systems implemented at the resorts, all resorts use Sewage Treated Plant (STP) water for irrigation and have replaced incandescent lighting with CFL and LED lights.

Source: http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=121869

Here General Manager of the hotel Roshanlal Perera and members of the Welfare Society handing over the keys of the house to Rasalingam.

November 3 , 2014 will be a memorable day in the history of Heritance Tea Factory. It is the day the dream of the Staff Welfare Society of Heritance Tea Factory, providing a home for one of its employees, K. Rasalingham, came true.

Rasalingham, his wife and their eight- year old daughter moved into the brand new house built for them by the employees of the hotel amid the blessings of the hotel’s management, staff and, the members of the Staff Welfare Society.

Source: http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=120254

Lalin Samarawickrame – Managing Director (Middle) Asela Wevita – Hunas Falls by Amaya, Kandy (Left), Srijith Goonaratne – Amaya Lake, Dambulla (Right)

The prestigious International Hotel Awards organization honored Amaya Resorts & Spas with two 5 star category Awards at an awards ceremony at The London Marriott Hotel, Grosvenor Square, London.

Amaya Lake won a 5 star in the category of Best Hotel Renovation/Refurbishment which was received by Srijith Gooneratne, the General Manager of the Hotel.

Asela Wavita received on behalf of Hunas Falls by Amaya the 5 Star Award in the category of Best Sustainable Hotel for Sri Lanka in the Asia Pacific region.

Further ahead, developed to identify, highlight and reward excellence throughout the global hospitality industry, the International Hotel Awards seek the finest operations throughout a wide range of areas.

Mr Lalin Samarawickrama, Managing Director of Amaya Resorts & Spas comments, “We feel honoured to have represented our two resorts at such a prestigious event. Our General Managers have worked timelessly and pursued relentlessly for perfection and that is what we have been honoured with here today”

Stuart Shield, President of the International Hotel Awards, comments, “The five-star standard has improved dramatically over the last few years and this indicates the levels of determination from the world’s best hotels to deliver the ultimate in comfort and service. Guests who have experienced such quality will only be satisfied by the hotel industry either retaining or even improving on these standards”

Source: http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=119565

‘We are extremely honoured to have begun 2014 by achieving these rankings’ said Amaya Lesiure PLC Managing Director Lalin Samarawickrama.

‘The awards are based upon feedback from our guests and thus recognize the care and attention of our staff in delivering our promise of privacy and comfort.’

Part of the Amaya chain of hotels, the property brings to life the concept of ‘Little England’. Located amongst winding brooks and tea gardens that date back to the 18th century, Langdale by Amaya has built a strong reputation for its exclusive luxury boutique offering.

The 11th annual TripAdvisorTravellers’ Choice Awards honoured the world’s best hotels, as judged by real travellers. Unlike other hotel honours, TripAdvisorTravellers’ Choice winners are based on millions of valuable reviews and opinions from travellers around the world.

TripAdvisor is the world’s largest travel site, enabling travellers to plan and have the perfect trip. Langdale by Amaya was awarded the Travellers Choice Award last year as well in the categories of the Best Luxury Hotel and the Best Small Hotel in Sri Lanka. In 2012 Langdale by Amaya was honored with the Certificate of Excellence from TripAdvisor, having maintained an average rating of four or higher out of a possible five, as reviewed by guests.

Source : http://www.dailymirror.lk/travel/travel-getaways/42490-langdale-by-amaya-in-the-top-25-luxury-hotels-in-sri-lanka.html