Renuka City Hotel honours and rewards 46 long-serving employees

Renuka City Hotel recently honoured 46 of its longest-serving staff members at a felicitation ceremony held at the hotel. 

Ravi Thambiayah, Chairman of Renuka City Hotels Plc and Renuka Hotels Ltd., who has been the driving force of the hotel since its inception in 1972, presented the tokens of appreciation to employees together with the other Directors. This marks the third such occasion where the hotel has presented long service awards to its staff. 

Among those recognised were 28 employees with a service record of over 12 years, who received gold sovereigns. 17 of the 28 employees that received gold sovereigns have served the hotel for over two decades. Carmen Joseph, a veteran employee, said that her journey with the hotel had been a long and rewarding one, 

“I have been here for over four decades because this is an interesting industry to be in. Every day is a new adventure, with dynamic people and new challenges to meet. It has been a pleasure to work with Mr. Thambiayah and the other executive directors,” she said.

A further 18 employees who have served for over six years received gift vouchers. “We focus our training in-house so our associates learn our culture and the art of hospitality from the very beginning. This method directly correlates to their retention,” said Thambiayah.

Renuka City Hotel has been abuzz since its relaunch in 2015 and its Chairman and Directors were keen on hosting this ceremony to mark the service rendered by the team. “Our staff are courteous and detail-oriented and respond promptly to our guest needs. Above all they embody the genuine warmth that Sri Lankan hospitality is known for. We felt it was fitting that we give them the recognition they deserve,” said Joint Managing Director Shibani Thambiayah. 

Renuka City Hotel is located in Colombo 3 only minutes away from many of the city’s key attractions and has been a consistently popular and affordable option for tourists and businessmen alike for over four decades. Following its most recent refurbishment and rebranding process, the hotel has once again skyrocketed in popularity amongst travellers, which has helped the establishment maintain an average occupancy rate of over 80% throughout the year. 

“We attribute this success to the commitment of our staff who ensure that every guest has a pleasant stay. They have gone beyond industry norms to truly personalise the experience of every guest staying at the hotel,” said Joint Managing Director Arnila Thambiayah.

In total, Renuka City Hotel operates 99 modern rooms, including 18 Super Deluxe rooms and 41 Deluxe rooms, which include a host of amenities, including free Wi-Fi, flat screen TVs with local and cable channels, safety deposit lockers, minifridges, 24-hour room service, tea/coffee making facilities, toiletries, and much more. 

Renuka City Hotel Chairman Ravi Thambiayah with long-serving members of the RCH team 

In addition, the hotel provides a fully-equipped business centre, gymnasium, rooftop infinity pool, eclipse bar, dedicated parking facilities and convenient laundry and dry cleaning services. “Our policy is to keep the property in immaculate condition. To ensure this we do a soft refurbishment every four years and a complete renovation every eight years – which includes new plumbing, electrical revamps and so on, so that our customers get the most up-to-date product coupled with the best possible service,” said Executive Director Niruja Thambiayah.

The hotel’s famous Palmyrah Restaurant is considered an essential stop for locals and foreigners seeking to sample authentic Sri Lankan cuisine in a trendy and comfortable atmosphere. 

The brainchild of the late Alfred Leo Thambiayah, MP for Kayts, the restaurant is well-known for its Jaffna-style cuisine including signature dishes and customer favourites such as mutton paal poriyal, fried fish pittu, Jaffna crab curry, odiyal kool and milk hoppers. The concept behind the restaurant was to share his ancestral cuisine with the rest of the country. His dedication to uphold the standards of perfect quality, service and ambience, has been the foundation of the 44-year-old restaurant’s unwavering reputation as the finest place in Colombo to experience genuine Sri Lankan gastronomy. The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner every day.

The hotel also offers its clientele highly flexible meeting and banqueting facilities. Equipped with deluxe interiors and state-of-the-art lighting, the hotel’s recently refurbished banquet facilities are ideal for celebrating any special occasion or for hosting a corporate function or conference. It has the flexibility to accommodate audiences of 20 to 250 people. The multi-functional banquet hall has inbuilt partitions creating individual rooms to meet every client’s requirements.