Club Hotel Dolphin opens after extensive refurbishment
Thursday, 5 December 2013 00:00
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Developed based on a ‘club’ concept, Serendib Leisure – subsidiary of Hemas Holdings – on Sunday opened its refurbished Club Hotel Dolphin, the cash cow of the group featuring 154 rooms and ample activity merging the ‘play’ and ‘pause’ in life in perfect harmony.Offering guests luxurious comfort, perfect pampering and a host of excitement, Club Hotel Dolphin, one of the most popular club hotels in Sri Lanka, underwent a Rs. 550 million investment within six months to emerge with a new look, wiping away the tired marks of the past and welcoming a swank guise and a promise to deliver the best guest experience, with an aim to become the best club hotel in Asia. The hotel recently celebrated 30 years of operation.On the eve of the opening, Serendib Leisure Management Managing Director Ranil de Silva joined Daily FT for a brief chat on the refurbishment, the hotel and future plans for the group.Following are excerpts:By Cheranka Mendis
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Q: Tell us about the refurbishment?A: As the word refurbishment goes, we just refurbished what we had while adding on three extra rooms, extending the room inventory to 154 rooms at Cub Hotel Dolphin. With this we have 104 rooms and 50 chalets. The initial phase of work took place in 2010 where the villas and some of the public areas were refurbished at Rs. 530 million.
This area was looking a little old and tired, hence the plan to refurbish the hotel; with special focus on the rooms. We wanted to emphasise the sleep experience and this has come out well with completely new bedding and modern amenities. The rooms are looking more elegant, whilst still maintaining the vibe of being a ‘fun’ place to be in. The washrooms were completely redone as well. It is a total different ambiance from before and is a major transformation.
Q: Other than the rooms, what else falls in to the refurbished category?A: The gardens have been re-landscaped and a brand new kids club was added, which will help establish this hotel as a great family hotel. Parents can now leave their kids with the trained child-minders, whilst having an enjoyable holiday themselves.
The banquet hall, which was primarily used by locals has been elegantly redecorated as well, and is ideal for a wedding, conference or any such function, and can accommodate up to 250 people in a banquet setting.
Our nightclub which I believe was built totally wrong before, has been transformed in to a nice lounge with space for guests to dance and enjoy while the upstairs area houses a karaoke lounge with a large screen. We now have a really good tennis court where you can play high standard matches, while the badminton and squash courts were also newly done up.
Q: Any new additions to the dining experience?A: The open area outside the nightclub/lounge will be used to serve tapas, etc – a place where one could relax, enjoying the breeze and good food. We also have Sands restaurant for all day dining, Waves for fine dining and another restaurant by the other pool. (One of the pools at Club Hotel Dolphin is 104 m long and is the longest pool in Sri Lanka). We also have several bars for our guests to enjoy spirited beverages.
Q: What is the occupancy like at the hotel?A: Occupancy at Dolphin is almost entirely foreign. Locals make up of less than 10% of the occupancy here. The reason for the low number of locals is not that they do not like the hotel, in fact they crave to come here, but we cannot accommodate them due to advanced bookings. Occupancy today (1 December) is almost at 100%.
I believe, Dolphin, in Sri Lanka maintains the highest occupancy throughout the year, on average doing 87-88% a year. Usually it is at 100% and off peak at 70-80%. Primarily, our guests are from Germany and Britain, which covers up for almost 80% of the guests coming here.
On average the Germans spend 14-20 days here. However if they come through the web, the stays are shorter and is between three to four days.
Q: The industry is now concentrating on India and Middle East. How is Dolphin looking at this?A: Indians do not like the club concept. This is not for them. Middle Eastern tourists do like it but they know particular areas as destinations within Sri Lanka and opt to visit those places. Bentota is one such area. Waikkal is not really known as a destination.
Q: Do you hope to promote the area in the future?A: Of course. There is another hotel coming up almost next door and we are very happy about this. We do not see them as competition, but rather as a factor that will help Waikkal become a destination. Ranweli Holiday Village is already part of this landscape and there is more land available for hotels and resorts to come up.
Q: How much has been invested for the refurbishment?A: We budgeted Rs. 550 million for the refurbishment and managed to complete it on time and within budget. We started the refurbishment on 1 May this year.
Q: Has the company invested in more properties for renovation?A: We have done four projects so far; all have been on time and on budget. In 2010 we refurbished the villas in this hotel at Rs. 550 million. In 2011 Avani Bentota was renovated for Rs. 650 million, followed by Avani Kalutara in 2012 at another Rs. 550 million. The company also put in Rs. 550 million for similar work at Hotel Sigiriya.
Q: When do you hope to achieve ROI on your projects?A: In Club Hotel Dolphin, we will have a pay back in about three years. Other projects will take five to five-and-a-half years. This is our cash cow. This is by far the biggest and best performing hotel.
Q: Any new properties coming up?A: We have four hotels and the fifth is being built in Tangalle, under the name Anantara. A high-end brand, Anantara is one of the most popular brands in Asia and is owned by Minor International, who is our partner. We signed the BOI deal for the US$ 40 million hotel in September this year.
Anantara in Tangalle is being built on what is likely to be the most beautiful piece of land in Sri Lanka. It is on a cliff by the sea, on tapering land. We are building a 152 room five-star resort; and have already started work there. This will be ready by April 2015.
Q: What other plans does Serendib Leisure have in terms of expanding its hospitality sector?A: We hope to buy some hotels as well as build new hotels. We like to build because some of the older hotels are not operationally efficient in the way it is built. So it is difficult to renovate. If you build a new, it is much easier.
We have already started three projects with Anantara Tangalle being one. We have another Anantara in Kalutara which will break ground in about two months, and an Avani in Ambalangoda which should break ground soon as well. Plans are all don for the latter but we are bidding our time as it is hard to manage three developments at once. Investment in all three comes close to US$ 85 million.
Q: Are you looking at destinations outside Sri Lanka for investment?A: Not at the moment. Our partner, Anantara has a large number of hotels around the world including Australia, Middle East and Africa. We do not want to compete with them. They are brilliant as partners. We originally tied up with them in 2006 but it was then dormant due to the war. They invested 20% in our Serendib hotels, but with the ending of the war they are really focused on Sri Lanka; and it is they who are really pumping in the money.
Q: Any plans to consolidate all hotels under one brand name?A: Looking at the brand pillars of Avani, it does not cater to a club concept hotel. What we have here is totally different – based on the concept of ‘fun’, whereas Avani is more contemporary. Here we want people to do things – kayaking, rowing; we have stables and horses, and an amphitheatre where we have shows in the evening. Club and Avani do not marry together.
Hotel Sigiriya also has been left out like Dolphin. It is a rustic place and again Avani is more contemporary and modern. But going forward, we may consolidate our brands.
Q: What are your thoughts on the tourism potential of the country?A: Once the roads and infrastructure come in place, and if we do some destination marketing which we lack as a country, the potential we have is enormous.
Sri Lanka has much more to offer than any other country. We can do better than Thailand. We are a small country and everything is easily accessible. Culturally, we are way ahead than anyone else. It is just that we don’t sell ourselves enough. We have immense confidence in the country as a tourism destination. We are going to be ready for it.
Q: How is the industry fairing currently?A: The summer was quite scary and everyone did suffer, especially down south. It is not that tourism is not happening but now tourism trends are changing. People are not coming into graded, classified hotels and are opting for what we call the ‘informal sector’. Guests today want to experience the country. They do not come to spend months here, to lie on the beach and get a tan.
In Bentota the average stay is five-six days, but here at Dolphin it is 14/15 days.
Pix by Sameera Wijesinghe
