Colombo, Sri Lanka

Soon Kie
Mar 25, 2017
2 min read

The upcoming Shangri-La development located at One Galle Face. On the right hand side is the Indian Ocean. To the back or left hand side is Beira lake.

Spent a couple of days in Colombo.

Manage to take a few shots from my hotel room overlooking downtown and the Galle Face Promenade where the new Shangri La Development is coming up.

The development comprises the first ever international shopping mall in Colombo (There are smaller shopping centers, Odel, Majestic, not exactly malls), two tower blocks of high end residences, a 60,000 sqm. modern office block and of course a five star Shangri-La hotel.

Originally scheduled to be up and running in January 2017, I guess the project will be delayed for a while. An interesting side note, the Shangri-La development is one of the few sites owned freehold. The HK based group purchased the prime site before the laws were changed restricting foreigners to a 99 year tenure.

I am also a bit curious about whether there are are too many 5 star hotels in Colombo. Hilton (where I stayed), Kingsbury, Galadari, Grand Cinnamon, Cinnamon Lakeside, Taj Samudra and Movenpick are there. Another 5 star hotel, Hyatt is currently being built. The attractions of course are the casinos. Outside are the popular seaside resorts, Kandy and various must see nature parks. And of course the historical Buddhist temples. Sri Lanka is the birthplace of Theravada Buddhism which is practised in most of Indochina and South East Asia.

But most of all these attractions are outside Colombo. Colombo appears to be a hub and spoke destination. You come here spend a couple of nights, visit the casinos or perhaps dine at the expensive Dutch Hospital and then go outside Colombo.

Downtown Colombo overlooking the port. At the bottom left hand side, the low buildings surrounding a quadrangle is the old Dutch Hospital.

The old magnificent Cargills Building. The two tall towers at the back are the World Trade Centre currently the only modern office buildings in Colombo.

The old Chatham Street Clock cum Lighthouse Tower. It is no longer used of course as a lighthouse.

Other shots taken are of the old downtown towards the old port. The Victorian brick shaped Cargills building is being retained. In her old days it used to be an up market British styled department store. There is a small supermarket in it now and in one corner even a KFC outlet.

The old Chatham Street Clock tower cum lighthouse is still there. In the aerial shots overlooking the port, you can see the refurbished old Dutch Hospital where expensive F & B outlets are situated catering mostly to tourists.

Soon Kie