Colombo Courtyard voted as ‘Best Hotel Interior’

By Shabiya Ali Ahlam

Contributing to uplift the standards of tourism in Sri Lanka, Colombo Courtyard recently brought recognition to the country by winning the prestigious Asia Pacific Hotel Awards for ‘Best Hotel Interior’.

Winning the award in the Asia Pacific region by competing with 500 hotels from 19 countries, the much sought after award presentation was held at the Shangri-la Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where a total of 94 awards were presented to participating countries in the region for a range of hotels from small to large and general to specialty.

Receiving an international award just one year after commencing operations, the 32-room urban art boutique hotel certainly impressed the judges who had visited the hotel without revealing their true identity to the management and staff of the hotel.

“We had no idea they were here. We thought they were our guests but they were actually the judges of Asia Pacific Hotel Awards who came in to look into the details of our hotel and how we treat our guests,” said Colombo Courtyard Managing Director Arun K. Thapar.

Highlighting what made the hotel beat the competition, Interior Designer for Colombo Courtyard Sunela Jayawardena pointed that using recycled materials into the interior of the hotel was certainly the x-factor that bagged the award. “I brought in an environmental aspect by using recycled material. This stands out in a luxury boutique setting since the hotel gives an awareness of the environment in an urban area,” expressed Jayawardena.

Since the hotel was put up by renovating five buildings that were architecturally different from one another, Jayawardena stated that bringing a unified theme was a challenge that she faced while conceptualising the interior for Colombo Courtyard.

“The four buildings of the hotel resemble varying architectural periods. By creatively using recycled railway sleepers for the ceiling and column cladding, we managed to reinforce the historical and original structure while maintaining its old charm,” she said.

Jayawardena added that the use of sustainable environmental friendly materials and recycled components such as brick floors, doors, and planters, help differentiate this boutique hotel as one that encourages its visitors of care for the nature. To this, Thapar added that the Colombo Courtyard promotes the creativity of Sri Lankan artistes.

“On display are art by Mika Tennakoon and Asvajit Boyle. We also feature contemporary art collections by Prageeth Manihansa where one of his unique creations is a tree which is three storeys high, made with scrap metal bicycle spare parts,” he said.

Thapar noted that the creative approach towards arts, elements, and environment was the key that earned the best interior recognition for the hotel. Meanwhile, Tahpar shared that the winners of the Asia Pacific Hotel Awards will go on to compete in the International Final ‘World’s Best’ Hotel Awards, where the gala event will be hosted in London, UK, in November 2013 to coincide with the World Travel Mart, a leading travel industry exhibition.