Just like the year, Colombo’s 31st night celebrations came down to the last minute. Hotels woke up on December 31st to see their events half-booked, and there was a looming uncertainty about how their biggest event of the year would play out.

Some hotels had scaled back their events this year, perhaps anticipating a low key holiday. Maybe papers were right, and economic worry would keep local revelers home for the night and holiday travellers out of hotels.

"Then that day it went crazy!" said Yasmin Cader, a public relations consultant with the Trans Asia Hotel in Colombo. "I think that people were not sure what they should do. Should they spend, should they not spend, but we sold out and, by the grace of god, the hotel did well."

The scene played out in five star hotels all over town. The Cinammon Grand, reputed, alongside The Galle Face as throwing the best party of the night, also faced low numbers on Wednesday morning, but by late afternoon their events and restaurants were also booked.

"Last year we had sold out the restaurants by December 15, and we woke up this morning with space available," said Rohan Karr, the General Manager of the Cinnamon Grand. "Now we’re sold out."

The staff preparing the ballroom of the Cinnamon Grand was still banging hammers and arranging flowers as guests arrived. The normal ecru walls were temporarily re-upholstered in pink. In the lobby the entryway was still being assembled.

``Originally we had thought of deep red for the ballroom,’’ explained Tharika Goonathilake, the hotel’s PR manager. ``But there was an issue with the red flowers so we went with this.’’

The room was glowing pink and empty except for a man on a ladder working near the ceiling.

Some Colombo hotels had been less ambitious with their plans for 2009, foregoing the standard ballroom party in favor of poolside parties and dances aimed at families.

"The events were scaled down in a sense," said Cader of Trans Asia. "We didn’t go for the ballroom dance per se. We had decided that in January of last year. For bands, this is the time they make their money, and to cover their costs the ticket prices go up like crazy. [A hotel] can’t make money on a dance, because the tickets cost more than normal, and customers may not realize that the cost has to cover the band. Plus, the Cinnamon has a reputation for having the best ballroom dance, so we can’t go near that."

Rohan Karr is thrilled by the Cinammon’s reputation. He considers their ballroom party, featuring two bands, Misty and Sohan & The X-periments, a bargain.

"For 12,000 rupees, what is that? 110 dollars, 60 pounds, for that you get champagne, drinks, red and white wine all night, music. It goes on until about 5:30, then we give them breakfast before they go home. It’s a great deal!"

And at the Ceylon Continental tickets to their dance featuring the band The Gypsies were still available until about 10 pm when, according to Rooms Division Manager R J Henricus, "we had to stop selling, it was full up."

Aside from the restaurants and parties, Cader saw people celebrating in their own ways, too. "We also had lots of people book rooms and have private things, say six couples who are friends, families with children, that kind of thing."

With the notably scaled down events this year, Karr was somewhat in awe of the Cinnamon’s endurance this season. "I never imagined that the Hilton wouldn’t be having a New Years Eve ballroom party."

Jerome Auvity, the newly installed General Manager at the Hilton, was, for his part, impressed with the events and the crowd that came out to their poolside dance party.

Auvity is new to Colombo, and considering the economic malaise, he was optimistic but uncertain what to expect. "I had heard that compared to last year, [this year] we had a booking pattern that was later than usual. Whether people were fishing around for what would be best for them or what, we were pl eased."

A crowd of predominantly locals came to the party at the Hilton. "I recognized many people from other social events in the city’" Auvity said. With a declining number of tourists coming to the country this year, the Cinnamon Grand relied on locals and loyal holiday regulars to fill out the mix.

"Some people booked for this year after attending last year. We have a lot of loyal people who come here for the holidays every year. The numbers are lower this year than they were last year, but compared to the market at a whole, we are doing very well,"said Goonathilake.

Cader did not deny that there was plenty to wonder about heading into the holiday. She said "we managed with what we had. Our patrons went off happy, and for us, it was satisfying in every sense."

However the number will add up, the tradition New Years Eve Colombo hotel parties seem to have met expectation. Minds all over town woke up confident in the spirit and strength of Colombo to party hard and invest in a good time.