Why Sri Lanka Has Spent A Billion Dollars And Dreamed In A Colombo Resort

Colombo:

For years, Sri Lanka has lived in the shadow of its large-brother neighbor, India. It too has had its share of unrest, wars, coups, crises and head-changing. All that uncertainty, however, is now in the past. The island nation is poised for a spectacular resurgence of luxury tourism. Palatial hotels, idyllic destinations, tea trails and integrated resorts, from the beaches to the hills – this is Sri Lanka’s time in the tropical sun. Central to this resurgence is a ginormous glass-and-stone sphinx gazing out at the sea. This monster of a building is named City of Dreams, and Cinnamon Life at City of Dreams is the latest luxury option in the teardrop island.

Developed over ten years for more than 1.2 billion US dollars, City of Dreams has experienced it all. It started with a vision that Sri Lanka had of becoming South Asia’s biggest integrated resort.

As the years passed, the resort experienced delays, a political firestorm, and a nation eager to break onto the tourist scene. In October 2024, the John Keells group finally had their dreams come true at the City of Dreams: Cinnamon Life thundered its arrival in Colombo.

Located in the Central Business District of the Sri Lankan capital, in New Colombo, the resort has unparalled views of, at the same time, the city, the Beira Lake, and the Indian Ocean. But Indian Ocean views come with the twin towers of ITC Ratnadipa, a block from which there’s no escaping when you’re at the City of Dreams. Well, the blocking of the view is a story in itself.

When world-renowned British-Sri Lankan architect Cecil Balmond was commissioned to design City of Dreams’ architecture, the team was assured Indian Ocean views that would never be blocked.

The ground in front of the resort zone was allegedly sacred. Nothing commercial was ever going to materialize there. But, if a piece of anecdotal evidence by long-time journalist Vir Sanghvi is to be believed, a call by then Indian Prime Minister, the late Manmohan Singh, shifted things on that shore of Colombo. In August 2008, Dr Manmohan Singh went to Colombo and was worried about the billions of money China was dumping into the island nation.

Dr Singh wanted Indian influence to be more robust in Sri Lanka. So, he placed a call to then chairman of the ITC Yogi Deveshwar and inquired of him whether the Indian firm would attempt to make an investment in Sri Lanka. It was an invitation too good to refuse. ITC inked its skybridge-connected towers, Ratnadipa, that face the Indian Ocean and spoiled the view for City of Dreams. But, like the nation itself, this integrated resort managed to find a way through. They did not just look out; but also remained in. So, when one goes to Cinnamon Life at City of Dreams, they probably don’t even have to go out of the resort.

The weekend we are in Colombo to visit this place, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is here. Traffic restrictions have been imposed, Colombo has signboard after signboard declaring the arrival of the ‘Pride of India’, and April is all about stretching and preparing for warmer days.

The climate in Colombo remains nice; and the humid heat is still a few weeks off. The Indian Ocean has its say. The position of City of Dreams is such that a breeze is always in store for you if you were to venture out of the air-conditioned glass-enclosed resort to the deck or one of the numerous open spaces that the property has.

The first time you see the City of Dreams, it reminds you of Maman, that giant spider-sculpture of French-American artist Louise Bourgeois. The car drives up into the lobby, and the atmosphere is slightly less fearsome. Angled columns support a ceiling festooned with champagne bubbles in gleaming steel. You’re ushered inside into the upper life.

As the lift sweeps you up to Level 24, where Reception is located, it’s a street in the air.

The glass walls that stretch all the way down to the floor have the Indian Ocean on one side; and the Lotus Tower, the brightest character in the Colombo sky line, on the other. You get the picture. It’s the din of a crowded city; and the serenity of the ocean. The sea waves inspire the horizontality of the City of Dreams, and the verticality is the representation of the city of New Colombo. It’s a symphony in itself. Cinnamon Life has 687 keys at the City of Dreams. There is a new casino hotel that is launching its doors sometime in mid-2025.

That will contribute a further 113 rooms to the City of Dreams, and bring the number to a whopping 800 right in the centre of Colombo. It’s the biggest single private investment ever made in Sri Lanka, of course. The resort employs over 1,500 individuals and 250 chefs to assist it in managing its 12 restaurants, pubs and bars. The F&B choices at Cinnamon Life vary from a quaint French bistro decked out in soft white and black, to a Japanese restaurant that is Japanese minimalism and sophistication personified, such as a lip-smacking salmon roll. The pubs and restaurants switch back and forth between dramatic ocean views or city vistas; so while you gaze at the Lotus Tower while you finish off your sushi and sake, you can breathe in the sea-breeze while reclining near the infinity pool.

The resort features all types of cuisine to choose from. Its mind-numbing selection of sambals is not to be missed at the Lankan counter at Quizzine, where you eat for breakfast. The resort, international in scope, is quintessentially Sri Lankan in spirit. Consider the many artworks that are scattered throughout the floors of the hotel. A great overturned steel pail greets your eye as soon as you step off the elevator to stroll to breakfast. The bucket, externally, is a picture of idyll. It’s got tropical lush drawings and palm trees from Jaffna against a blue sky streaked with clouds painted on it. It’s only when you look inside the inverted bucket that you see the deep red of blood. Blood shed in July 1983, Sri Lanka’s Black July, when a civil war swept across the Jaffna peninsula.

The bucket became a racial-profiling shibboleth. It was the instrument of discrimination by the majority Sinhalese government against the minority Sri Lankan Tamils. The Sri Lankan Tamils said their buckets “valdiya”. The Sinhalese way was “baldiya”. The v/b difference was used to separate the Tamils from the Sinhalese. Dialect decided who perished. The bucket lived to tell their story. Sri Lankan artist Gayan Prageeth names his bucket “Before Nineteen Eighty Three”.

Art is ubiquitous at Cinnamon Life.

The hotel commissions works of art, and also has gallery works on rotation.

The artists featured range from younger millennials to established older names in Sri Lankan art. So pervasive is art throughout the resort that your room key cards themselves carry a portion of one of three artworks in the gallery. It was a microcosm of Sri Lanka’s development, its beautiful floating city streets in the air, and the massive cost to the country. It was a fragment of Chathurika Jayani’s “Dreamscapes”; certainly the fitting work to be part of the centrepiece of the Cinnamon Life lobby, the sky street. This was the key that unlocked the door to a suite, one of the Oceanscape suites in the resort, that took my breath away. The travertine marble, the brain-twisting furniture, the dance of light and shadow were all a masterclass in elegance. The sea flowed in through the glass walls of the room. Outside, the sun was only just beginning to set into the sea; a burning ball of fiery orange against a peaceful grey ocean. Outside on the promenade, the crowd was thin. Their plans for the weekend had to be made with road closures in mind as the seafront was taken over by the Indian Prime Minister’s entourage that night. A little of that dark shadow of the big brother. For one sunset, Colombo didn’t mind.

FACT SHEET

Where: Cinnamon Life in City of Dreams is in New Colombo, a 45-minute journey from the international airport in Colombo. Private helicopter transfers and luxury car or limousine pickup are available at the resort.

What to do: The resort spoils you for choice. There are 12 food and beverage venues to dine at, depending on your preference. From French, to Japanese, to Indian fusion and Sri Lankan local cuisine, you can choose from a range of cuisines. Don’t forget to have a drink during sunset at the infinity pool. Cinnamon Life at City of Dreams also boasts a world-class spa, the Kurundu Wellness Spa, which provides an assortment of treatments.

Currency: 1 INR equals 3.5 Lankan Rupees.

Flights and visa: Sri Lanka is visa-free for Indian passport holders. Visitors must complete an Electronic Travel Authorisation form online prior to traveling to the country. Colombo has good connectivity by flights from Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai.