Travel / Lifestyle

Elephant Corridor to open Beach Fronds Hotel in Pasikudah

by Surekha Galagoda

The developers of the luxury Elephant Corridor Hotel, the Tropical Group will invest Rs. 20-50 mln to open a small hotel in Pasikudah before the end of this year.

Named the Beach Fronds Hotel it will consist of 10 rooms in the first stage in different categories and will be for two, four or a family, said its chairman Prasanna Jayewardene.

Built on 10 acres of land, the hotel will consist of simple but very comfortable rooms in a beautiful location affording the visitors an opportunity to be in fine sand beaches not only with a tranquil atmosphere, but also with the people living and working in this area.

Some of the salient features of the hotel, according to Jayewardene are minimum or no landscaping, minimum usage of electricity, staff being mostly drawn from villages who will be given the opportunity to work half day to attend to the normal household work.

Refugees from the war areas too will be accommodated in the staff cadre wherever possible together with the few professionals needed to guide a very high standard of service, he said.

The architectural design will be that each room would have enough space around it to create privacy. The rooms will have a proper structure, but the roof will consist of palm leaves and have proper windows as well as bathrooms. The furniture will be inbuilt. All rooms and public areas will also follow the simple elegance in concept and style.

The hotel will consist of indigenous art forms, decor and architecture which are specific to the East. We received the full support of the Ceylon Tourist Board for the project which has already got off the ground.

The hotel is being built to support the 180-day development effort of the East undertaken by President Mahinda Rajapaksa after the East was liberated from the LTTE.

The staff attached to Elephant Corridor who have now gained experience will be the main consultants of the project and it is targeted at local and international tourists who love the East coast and the Pasikudah beach.

By undertaking to build the hotel in a such a short period, Jayewardene has shown his commitment to the development work undertaken by the government.

Explaining the reasons for undertaking the project at Pasikudah, he said that he wanted to support the 180-day development effort undertaken by the government as well as give the tourists an opportunity to spend a holiday in a natural and tranquil atmosphere of sea and Beach in one of the most popular beach regions for tourism with a barely populated region and therefore the least negative impact of people living in the area.

The location of this hotel development is close to the world-class palm lined beach of Pasikudah. It is a bay protected from the ocean. The significance of Pasikudah is that its bed is flat and sandy and has a pleasant effect on the feet. This can be experienced up to nearly 150 to 200 meters from the shore.

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Pakistani Food Festival at Cinnamon Grand

Cinnamon Grand Colombo in collaboration with Sheraton Karachi is holding a Pakistani Food Festival at the Atrium Cafe. The festival which began on August 9 will continue till August 18. The promotion is only for dinner.

The feast prepared by Sheraton Karachi's two Master Chefs Munir and Afzal, will consist of diverse cuisine from the country's four provinces with over thirty Pakistani dishes featuring salads, soups, biriyani, rotti, kebabs, curries, tandoori and over ten delicious desserts.

The ever popular Kata Kat- the Pakistani version of the local Kottu is also a novel addition.

Sheraton's Chef Munir who has taken the flavours of Pakistan all over the world, specialises in authentic Pakistan fare, whilst Chef Afzal specialises in the art of traditional sweet making and dessert preparations.

The menu bringing the best of Pakistani fare will feature dishes such as Tawa Hari Piaz Queema (minced chicken cooked with green onion fresh herbs and mixed spices) Mirch Baingan Ka Salan (Hyderabadi delicacy of sauteed brinjals and green chillie in peanuts and sesame seed gravy) Rajistani Mutton Korma (tender boneless mutton cubes marinated with ginger, garlic, lemon juice, yoghurt and special spices), Jhinga Curry (prawns cooked with onion and coconut curry sauce) Fish Lahori (Fish fillet marinated in traditional spices, coated with chickpeas flour flavoured with ajwain and deep fried) and many more spicy and mild-meat, fish and vegetable based dishes representing the great variation of the country's four provinces.

Master Chef Munir's own recipe for Dal Dum Pukth (artcal dal and dal masoor cooked with burnt garlic) is a must-try!