Cinnamon Grand Colombo

What it is

The hotel opened in 1975 as the Hotel Lanka Oberoi, the first Oberoi hotel outside India, in a building designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. It stands on the site of the residence of the Anglican Bishop of Colombo.

In 2003, after Oberoi ended its management contract, it became the Colombo Plaza Hotel, and in 2005 it was rebranded the Cinnamon Grand Hotel. John Keells Holdings acquired a controlling stake in the owner, Asian Hotels, in 2003, for LKR 4.1 billion.

A large city hotel

The page gives 475 rooms and 26 suites, citing a company brochure. It lists restaurants including Plates for all-day dining, Lagoon for seafood, Nuga Gama for Sri Lankan food and London Grill for steak, plus a lobby tea lounge and two bars. It also has two gyms, two pools, one outdoor and one on the roof, and saunas.

The page counts the restaurants and bars two ways, so we give the names rather than a total.

History to know

Wikipedia records two attacks on the hotel: a bomb in January 1984 that killed one employee, and the Easter bombings of 21 April 2019, when it was one of several Colombo hotels targeted. We include them because they are part of the record, not to alarm you. They say nothing about the hotel today.

Rooms and the rate

Time Out lists a range of US$132.40 to US$380 a night. Our itinerary prices its Colombo night at Shangri-La Colombo, not here.

Who it suits

It suits travellers who want a central address on Galle Road for a night in Colombo, with a choice of restaurants in the building.

It is a poor fit for anyone who wants a small hotel: with 475 rooms it is one of the larger ones in the city.