Galle Face Group wins Best Heritage Hotel 2011 award

Galle Face Hotel established in 1864, received the Best Heritage Hotel 2011, while Chairman of the Galle Face Group, Sanjeev Gardiner received the Tourism Entrepreneur of the Year award and Most Outstanding Contribution to Tourism was won by CEO and Vice President Chethiya Perera at the fifth Annual Sri Lanka Tourism awards ceremony held recently.

Galle Face Hotel was awarded the Best Heritage Hotel award and the Hall of Fame Award for winning the title thrice consecutively in 2009, 2010 and 2011 at this event.

The hotel won the only Presidential Award in 2009 for best heritage hotel and subsequently the Sri Lanka Tourism Award as the Best Heritage Hotel in 2010 and another International Award - the first ever PATA (Pacific Asia Travel Association) award for Best International Heritage Award in 2011.

"Galle Face Hotel which was built in 1864 was adjudged the winner of the Heritage Hotels on comprehensive evaluation criteria comprising revenue generation, innovation, history and culture," a Galle Face Hotel spokesman said.

"Today, Galle Face Hotel has come to be known as the Heritage Hotel in the heart of Colombo under Galle Face Group Chairman Sanjeev Gardiner's guidance and leadership. He won the Entrepreneur of the Year award at the fifth Annual Sri Lanka Tourism Awards 2011", he said.

"Sanjeev Gardiner has expanded the Galle Face Hotel Group and has improved the hospitality trend in his other venture, the Ceylon Hotels Corporation. Hotels coming under the Ceylon Hotels Corporation have been refurbished and re-modified to satisfy the people of the 21st century and also to please the crowd of yesteryear," he said. The hotels that have been refurbished are Surf (Bentota), The Safari (Tissamaharama), The Lake (Polonnaruwa), Heritage (Habarana), Heritage (Dambulla), Heritage (Weligama) and Heritage (Ambepussa).