Kosgoda Beach Resort, one of the oldest hotels down south will be repositioned as a luxury boutique hotel, targeting the top end market with value additions next year.

The owners of the resort, Mirama Hotels Ltd , has invested Rs 160 million for the value addition said Lalin de Mel, veteran hotelier and Consultant to the hotel.

The elegant new look resort with a character of its own, will have 42 luxury rooms with all the modern comforts, open air bathrooms, jaccuzi, plunge pool, mini bar and IDD facilities. Fourteen of them will be Duplex suites and the rest will be villa type luxury rooms.

The resort offers the services of three different restaurants and a spacious modern bar.

The airconditoned lounge area upstairs with Pool table could also be used for small meetings.

Fine dining for two on the pond in a secluded area in the could be another unique expreience and service that is enjoyed by the discerning clientale patronising the reosort.

Ayurvedic Spa housed in a building which takes your mind back to the colonial times offers the best of Ayurvedic treatment.

"Keeping in mind the type of clientale who patronize the hotel, a unique feature to be introduced in the resort will be the service of a butler for each of the Duplex rooms as well as the pool butler service," De Mel said.

The resort is just two hours drive from Colombo and the property lies in a sleepy village in a serene atmosphere, flanked by the sea and the lagoon he said adding that its setting is definitely a unique selling point.

"We are expecting an increase of around 25% in revenue after re-positioning as a result of the higher rates charged with the introduction of additional facilities," he pointed out.

The clientale we are looking at once the hotel is re-positioned is those in the top echelons of the corporates both here and overseas and other high spenders."It will be a high turnover,low occupancy hotel," De Mel noted.

The Managing Agent for the resort Sanath Kumarasignhe, a pioneer in the hospitality industry in the country said that the hotel is enjoying an encouraging occupancy because of the high standards maintained, Hence there are many satisfied clients who have become repeat guests.

Kumarasinghe,a graduate of the Ceylon Hotel School,who counts nearly 40 years in the industry said that the resort maintains a very cordial relationship with the community and 70% of the staff has been recruited from the area.

"We want the community to benefit from the hotel and most of the produce required by the hotel are purchased from those in the area.The villagers have been allowed to operate boat rides, taxi hires etc," he said.

Training plays an integral part in the industry and those recruited from the village are given in-house training regularly he said.

Asked how the Managing company hopes market the resort overseas Kumarasinghe said that already the company has contracted Tim Swallow,an Australian, who has expertise and specialize in marketing this type of hotels.

"Swallow also owns similar properties in Queensland, Europe and America he explained.

Kosgoda Beach is very popular among the honeymooners and its unique setting provides the right ambience for the newly weds as well as those who want to enjoy a quiet holiday said the resort’s General Manager Gemunu Karunaratne, himself a graduate of the Ceylon Hotel School.

Guests could take canoeing trips and boat safaris in the lagoon which winds across the mangroves and the boat safari’s take the guests to a distance of 10-15 km Karunaratne.said. We are quite concerned about preserving nature and no mechanized boats are allowed in the lagoon," he added.