Hotel Nippon reopens after Rs. 400 mn refurbishment

By Zahara Zuhair
After a Rs. 400 million two-year renovation, Hotel Nippon Colombo was re-opened to the guests last week.
Hotel Nippon Managing Director Vishnu V. Vethody said that with the investment they tried to bring the hotel to its old glory days.
“We have extended the rooms to 49, which was 30 before. There is a pastry shop now, earlier pastry shop was known as Greenland cafe, now it is changed to Kerala Cafe. Now we have a full-time housekeeping staff. We reopened the bar,” he said.
“Due to the war and stuff it was not managed very well, after the war ended our family thought it was a good time to invest and turn it around,” he said.
The different restaurants in the hotel include; The Kafe (Kerala Street Eats), The Bamboo Room and The Cabinet (bar).
The independently run hotel, built on 86 perch land, also includes a  meeting space, called Crimson 123 to host small scale events. 
Taking back to its 130-year long history, originally named as Manning Mansions, Vethody said that it was built as apartments for the British soldiers.

A noteworthy feature of the hotel to be seen was, which is a piece of Colombo’s history, they have been able to preserve its history while fusing with modern facilities. 
He said that their vision is to place the hotel in the market as a 3-4 star hotel. To move away from the old Nippon image and build a new image to suit the current era.
“For example, we want to add a swimming pool. We are focusing on the restaurant, trying to improve the quality, trying to give customers a better service,” he said.
When it comes to dishes, it was noted that they offer dishes from every region, specialising in Keralite and Sri Lankan cuisine.
Further, it was noted that this heritage property is protected by the Archaeological Department of Sri Lanka and the Urban Development Authority (UDA).