For decades, Sri Lanka has lived in the shadow of its big-brother neighbour, India. It has also had its fair share of strife, wars, coups, crises and change of heads. But all of that instability is in the past now. The island country is looking at a spectacular revival of luxury tourism. Palatial resorts, dreamy locales, tea trails and integrated destinations, from the beaches to the hills - this is Sri Lanka's moment in the tropical sun.
At the heart of this revival is a gargantuan glass-and-stone sphinx that looks out to the sea. This beast of a structure is called City of Dreams, and Cinnamon Life at City of Dreams is the newest luxury offering in the teardrop-shaped island.
Built over a decade at a cost of over 1.2 billion US dollars, City of Dreams has seen it all. It all began with a dream that Sri Lanka had, of being home to South Asia's largest integrated resort.
As the years rolled by, the resort saw delays, a political wildfire, and a country desperate to break on to the tourism scene. In October 2024, the John Keells group finally saw their dreams materialise at the City of Dreams: Cinnamon Life roared its arrival in Colombo.
The 'champagne bubbles'. Photo: Author
Situated in the Central Business District of the Sri Lankan capital, in New Colombo, the resort enjoys unparalleled views of, at once, the city, the Beira Lake, and the Indian Ocean. However, views of the Indian Ocean come punctuated with the twin towers of ITC Ratnadipa, a block from which there's no escaping when you're at the City of Dreams. Well, the blocking of the view is a story in itself.
When the world-famous British-Sri Lankan designer Cecil Balmond was entrusted with the architecture of City of Dreams, the team was promised views of the Indian Ocean that would never be obstructed. The land in front of the resort area was supposedly sacred. Nothing commercial was ever going to come up there. But, if an anecdote by veteran journalist Vir Sanghvi is anything to go by, a visit by former Indian Prime Minister, the late Manmohan Singh, changed the course of things on that coast of Colombo.
In August 2008, Dr Manmohan Singh visited Colombo and was concerned with the billions that China was pouring in into the island nation. Dr Singh wanted a stronger Indian influence in Sri Lanka. So, he picked up the phone and called the then chairman of the ITC, Yogi Deveshwar, and asked him if the Indian company would try and make an investment in Sri Lanka. It was a request too good to turn down. ITC signed off on its skybridge-linked towers, Ratnadipa, overlooking the Indian Ocean and spoilt the view for City of Dreams.
Cinnamon Life at City of Dreams. Photo: Author
But, much like the country itself, this integrated resort found a way to navigate through. They focused not only on looking out; but also on staying in. So, when a person visits Cinnamon Life at City of Dreams, they most likely don't even need to step out of the resort.
The weekend we are in Colombo to pay this destination a visit, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in town. Traffic restrictions are in place, Colombo has signboard after signboard announcing the arrival of the 'Pride of India', and April is just about stretching and gearing up for warmer days.
Colombo during PM Narendra Modi's visit earlier this month. Photo: Author
The weather in Colombo is still pleasant; and the sultry heat is still a few weeks away. The Indian Ocean plays its part. The location of City of Dreams is such that a breeze is always waiting for you if you were to step out of the air-conditioned glass-walled resort to the deck or one of the many open areas that the place boasts.
When you first see the City of Dreams, you are reminded of Maman, that gigantic spider-sculpture by French-American artist Louise Bourgeois. The car pulls up into the lobby, and the scene is a little less intimidating. Angular columns hold up a ceiling decked with champagne bubbles in sparkling steel. You're ushered in into the high life.
Sri Lankan motifs are everywhere. Photo: Author
As the elevator whisks you to Level 24, where the Reception is, it's a street in the sky. The floor-to-ceiling glass walls have the Indian Ocean on one end; and the Lotus Tower, the most colourful character in the Colombo skyline, on the other. You get an idea of what you're in for. It's the chaos of a bustling city; as well as the calmness of the sea. The waves of the sea inspire the horizontality of the City of Dreams, and its verticality represents the city of New Colombo. It's a symphony in itself.
Cinnamon Life boasts 687 keys at the City of Dreams. A new casino hotel is opening its doors sometime in mid-2025. That will add another 113 rooms to the City of Dreams, and take the count to a mind-numbing 800 in the heart of Colombo. It is the largest private investment in Sri Lanka, after all. The resort has a team of over 1,500 people, and 250 chefs who help run its 12 restaurants, pubs and bars.
The Oceanfront rooms. Photo: Cinnamon Life at City of Dreams
The F&B options at Cinnamon Life range from a charming French bistro done up in muted white and black, to a Japanese restaurant that is Japanese minimalism and elegance rolled into one, like a lip-smacking salmon roll. The restaurants and pubs alternate between expansive views of the ocean or the city; so, while you look out at the Lotus Tower while downing your sake and sushi, you can soak in the sea-breeze while you're lounging by the infinity pool. The resort has all cuisines to pick from. Don't miss its maddening array of sambals at the Lankan counter at Quizzine, where you go for breakfast.
The view from Yoroko, the Japanese restaurant, with the Lotus Tower in the background. Photo: Author
The resort, global in its character, is every bit Sri Lankan at heart. Take the numerous art pieces that are strewn all over the floors of the hotel. A large upturned steel bucket catches your attention the moment you get out of the elevator to walk to breakfast.
The bucket, on the outside, is a vision of idyll. It's got lush tropical drawings and Jaffna's palm trees under a cloud-streaked blue sky painted on it. It's when you peek into the upside-down bucket that you notice the deep red of blood. Blood that was spilled in July 1983, Sri Lanka's Black July, when a civil conflict tore through the Jaffna peninsula.
Before Nineteen Eighty Three, by Gayan Prageeth. Photo: Author
The bucket became a racial-profiling shibboleth. It was the tool of discrimination by the majority Sinhalese government of the minority Sri Lankan Tamils. The Sri Lankan Tamils pronounced their buckets "valdiya". The Sinhalese way was "baldiya". The v/b difference was exploited to segregate the Tamils from the Sinhalese. Dialect determined who died. The bucket lived to tell their tale. Sri Lankan artist Gayan Prageeth calls his bucket "Before Nineteen Eighty Three".
Art is omnipresent at Cinnamon Life. The hotel commissions artwork, as well as uses gallery pieces on rotation. The artists on display range from younger millennials to older, more famous names from Sri Lankan art. So intertwined is art with the resort that your room key cards too have a piece of one of three artworks on display. Mine was a microcosm of development of Sri Lanka, its stunning urban floating cities in the sky, and the enormous toll it took on the land. It was a piece of Chathurika Jayani's "Dreamscapes"; quite the apt artwork to form the centrepiece at the Cinnamon Life lobby, the street in the sky.
Dreamscapes, by Chathurika Jayani. Photo: Author
This key opened the door to a suite, one of the Oceanscape ones at the resort, that made me gasp. The travertine marble, the mind-bending furniture, the play of light and shade were all a lesson in grace. The ocean streamed in through the glass walls of the room. Outside, the sun was just beginning to set into the sea; a glowing ball of fiery orange against a tranquil grey ocean.
Out on the promenade, the crowd was lean. Their weekend plans had to account for road closures since the seafront belonged to the Indian Prime Minister's cavalcade that evening. A bit of that shadow of the big brother. For one sunset, Colombo didn't mind.
FACT SHEET
Where: Cinnamon Life at City of Dreams is located in New Colombo, a 45-minute drive from the Colombo international airport. The resort offers private helicopter transfers, as well as luxury limousine or car pickup.
What to do: At the resort, you are spoilt for choice. There are 12 food and beverage destinations to choose from, depending on your taste. From French, to Japanese, to Indian fusion and Sri Lankan local fare, you can pick from an array of cuisines. Don't miss a drink during sunset at the infinity pool. Cinnamon Life at City of Dreams also has a world-class spa, the Kurundu Wellness Spa, which offers a bouquet of treatments.
Currency: 1 INR translates to 3.5 Lankan Rupees.
Flights and visa: For Indian passport holders, Sri Lanka is visa-free. Visitors need to fill out an Electronic Travel Authorisation form online before visiting the country. Colombo is well-connected by flights from Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai.
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