Grand Hotel Nuwara Eliya announces Lankan born intl. hotelier as new GM

Suresh Abbas

The legendary Tudor styled Grand Hotel nestled in the salubrious hills of Nuwara Eliya has announced the appointment of Suresh Abbas as its new General Manager.

High performance individual with a wealth of experience spanning over three decades in operations in three continents. Suresh had his primary education at St. Thomas Preparatory School in Colpetty and St. Thomas Mt. Lavinia and worked at the Hilton Colombo. His first love being food and beverage, he went on to pursue hospitality management at Ecole Blanc Montreux in Switzerland, his professional development program-PDP at the prestigious Cornell University, USA and further his studies by doing his Advance Management Diploma at the West London College United Kingdom. 

He boasts of a remarkable career spanning a multitude of exciting hotels in countries such as Qatar, UAE, UK, Ireland and Ukraine. His international exposure began in 1994 in Doha Qatar at the Ramada Renaissance Hotel where he was empowered to master the ability to lead motivated passionate teams to deliver exceptional guest experiences effectively across all levels.

His last assignment was to open Sadie, a new boutique collection from the Best Western chain in the UK. This unique concept is the first of its kind in the world.

Suresh Abbas worked along with Gordon Ramsay’s guru, Celebrity Chef Marco Pierre White to open the Steak House Chop Shop UK.

He has won the MPW(Marco Pierre White) most improved restaurant award - Wheelers Fish & Chips in 2019. MPW training recognition award and MPW team member finalist in 2019. Progressively he was involved in the entire renovation and the pre-opening of the Best Western Plus in Dover Marina UK.

He is certified as a health and safety and food hygiene and fire safety expert in accordance with (Association of British Travel Agents) ABTA regulations.

Commenting on his exciting challenge having returned to Sri Lanka, Suresh stated that he is delighted to have been granted this opportunity to manage such a prestigious address. The Grand old dame can only be compared with the Raffles Singapore, The Peninsula Hong Kong and the Manila Hotel Philippines. Now, with broader experiences from different aspects of the business and a variety of cultures.

He further stated that he looks forward to leading a passionately enthusiastic team across many different departments, as well as making his own contribution to the hotel’s exciting plans to enhance the guest experience by providing unparalleled luxury matched with gracious and intuitive service.

To date, Nuwara Eliya is considered the English country village with similar weather patterns, red telephone boxes, pink brick post office of Victorian architecture, a well-maintained golf course, horse racing track, botanical gardens and flower shows, century old colonial bungalows to name a few of what this quaint little village has to offer. The iconic Grand Hotel has 154 bedrooms, four restaurants and two bars, a Coffee bar and the Tea Lounge overlooking the prize-winning garden.

The Grand Hotel is the only colonial property in Sri Lanka that is Travelife certified for sustainability and has obtained the ISO22000 and ISO9001 and HACCP certified for food safety and hygiene. The Tea Lounge is considered as one of the best locations in the country to have a refreshing cup of tea. The hill resort was also rated as one of the Top Heritage hotels in Asia by CNN Travel a few years ago.