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Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts hotels

Sri Lankan heritage hotels, jungle lodges and island resorts trace a route into the Maldives.

Cinnamon brings Sri Lanka and the neighboring Maldives into one collection, with city hotels, beach retreats, wildlife lodges, and island resorts. Part of John Keells, its range includes Geoffrey Bawa architecture, a riverside walauwa in Kandy, stays near Sigiriya and Yala, and Maldivian lagoons with very different rhythms.

15 Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts hotels in 2 countries on the Luxury Hotels Atlas, each placed on the six LHA Tiers.

• Owned by John Keells Holdings
• Worldwide: 17 properties across Sri Lanka and the Maldives on the house site; the Atlas files 15
• On the atlas: 2 High Luxury, 4 Core Luxury, 9 Accessible Luxury

History

The buildings are older than the name. In 1967 Geoffrey Bawa finished the Bentota Beach Hotel, which the hotel record calls Sri Lanka's first purpose-built resort, a low Dutch-fort silhouette between the Indian Ocean and the Bentara Ganga, with Laki Senanayake's brass peacock, Ena de Silva's batik, and Barbara Sansoni's handloom. In 1975 the Lanka Oberoi opened on Galle Road. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill gave it a skylit atrium, about 120 feet by 120 feet and eight storeys high, and Ena de Silva hung giant batiks in it for the opening. It was Oberoi's first hotel outside India. Cinnamon Lakeside followed in 1985 on Beira Lake. The hill and dry-zone doors were already there: Habarana in 1980, inspired by the Ritigala monastery, and Channa Daswatte's Citadel on the Mahaweli in 1983.

Timeline

• 1967 — Geoffrey Bawa's Bentota Beach Hotel opens, later Cinnamon Bentota Beach.
• 1975 — Hotel Lanka Oberoi opens on Galle Road with an SOM atrium; it becomes Cinnamon Grand.
• 1979 — Keells Hotels Limited is launched, the company line behind the later brand.
• 1980 — Cinnamon Lodge Habarana opens, inspired by the Ritigala monastery.
• 1983 — Channa Daswatte's Citadel opens on the Mahaweli at Kandy.
• 1985 — Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo opens on Beira Lake.
• 1991 — Tari Village opens at Dhonveli, later Cinnamon Dhonveli Maldives.
• 1998 — Ellaidhoo opens as a dive resort on North Ari Atoll.
• 2003 — Oberoi leaves the Galle Road hotel; a spell as the Colombo Plaza follows.
• 2005 — Cinnamon is unveiled at World Travel Market in London on 14 November; Grand takes the name.
• 2007 — Chaaya Hotels & Resorts is introduced for the resort line.
• 2009 — Cinnamon Wild Yala opens beside Yala National Park.
• 2010 — Trinco Blu opens on Trincomalee's bay.
• 2011 — Cinnamon Bey Beruwala opens on the west coast.
• 2012 — Citadel moves from Chaaya Citadel to the Cinnamon name; Hikka Tranz is on the south coast.
• 2015 — The remaining Chaaya doors in Sri Lanka and the Maldives are consolidated under Cinnamon.
• 2018 — Hakuraa Huraa closes for a full rebuild.
• 2019 — Hakuraa reopens on 16 December; Velifushi opens; Bentota's record files a Signature Selection relaunch; the Grand's Taprobane room is attacked on 21 April.
• 2021 — The Sunday Times dates Bentota's refurbished reopening to November.
• 2024 — Melco and John Keells announce City of Dreams in April; Cinnamon Life's 687 rooms open on 15 October.
• 2025 — Kandy Myst opens on 12 February; Melco's casino and the 113-room Nüwa open on 2 August.
• 2026 — On 31 March the company that owns Cinnamon Citadel Kandy is sold to Lavendish Leisure; Cinnamon management continues for at least twelve months.

The houses to know

1. Cinnamon Velifushi Maldives, Felidhoo, Maldives — Ninety all-inclusive keys on Vaavu Atoll, sixty-six of them over water.
2. Cinnamon Hakuraa Huraa Maldives, Hakuraa Huraa, Maldives — A two-island rebuild in Meemu Atoll, with an adults-only isle a short walk away.
3. Cinnamon Bentota Beach, Bentota, Sri Lanka — Geoffrey Bawa's 1967 beach hotel, 159 rooms between the ocean and the Bentara Ganga.
4. Ellaidhoo Maldives by Cinnamon, North Ari Atoll, Maldives — A divers' island since 1998, 112 keys and a house reef at the beach.
5. Cinnamon Grand Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka — The 1975 Lanka Oberoi, now 475 rooms on Galle Road, with an SOM atrium and the Oak Room.
6. Cinnamon Lodge Habarana, Habarana, Sri Lanka — 137 rooms in a garden estate inspired by the Ritigala monastery, a short drive from Sigiriya.
7. Cinnamon Dhonveli Maldives, North Malé Atoll, Maldives — The old Tari Village, 148 rooms, with the resort's hold on Pasta Point.
8. Cinnamon Wild Yala, Tissamaharama, Sri Lanka — Sixty-eight chalets from 2009 on the edge of Yala National Park.
9. Cinnamon Life at City of Dreams Sri Lanka, Colombo, Sri Lanka — A 687-room hotel on Beira Lake, opened 15 October 2024 inside the John Keells and Melco complex.
10. Hikka Tranz by Cinnamon, Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka — One hundred fifty rooms on Hikkaduwa's reef shore, formerly Chaaya Tranz.

Newest openings

• Kandy Myst by Cinnamon, Kandy, Sri Lanka, opened 12 February 2025: a partnership with Indra Traders, USD 40 million, 215 rooms on Katugastota Road, the largest inventory in the hill capital. John Keells Hotels holds 40 percent of the operating company. Grains Dining seats up to 500. Kosmos Skybar has a heated rooftop infinity pool. Lanka Business News carried the opening; the Sunday Times later noted LEED Gold, a first for a Kandy hotel on that certificate.
• Cinnamon Life at City of Dreams Sri Lanka, Colombo, Sri Lanka, opened 15 October 2024: the 687-room Cinnamon hotel inside the John Keells and Melco complex on Beira Lake, with fourteen restaurants and 160,000 square feet of meetings space on the hotel record. The Daily Mirror credited Cecil Balmond with the building. Melco's casino and the 113-room Nüwa hotel in the same complex opened on 2 August 2025. Nüwa keeps Melco's name.

Opening next

• No additional Cinnamon projects with a confirmed name, city, and opening year were identified in the sources reviewed. Nüwa at City of Dreams opened under Melco on 2 August 2025.

Every Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts hotel on the atlas

Sri Lanka

• Cinnamon Bentota Beach — Bentota · Core Luxury
• Cinnamon Grand Colombo — Colombo · Core Luxury
• Cinnamon Lodge Habarana — Habarana · Core Luxury
• Cinnamon Bey Beruwala — Beruwala · Accessible Luxury
• Cinnamon Citadel Kandy — Kandy · Accessible Luxury
• Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo — Colombo · Accessible Luxury
• Cinnamon Life at City of Dreams Sri Lanka — Colombo · Accessible Luxury
• Cinnamon Wild Yala — Tissamaharama · Accessible Luxury
• Hikka Tranz by Cinnamon — Hikkaduwa · Accessible Luxury
• Kandy Myst by Cinnamon — Kandy · Accessible Luxury
• Trinco Blu by Cinnamon — Trincomalee · Accessible Luxury

Maldives

• Cinnamon Hakuraa Huraa Maldives — Hakuraa Huraa · High Luxury
• Cinnamon Velifushi Maldives — Felidhoo · High Luxury
• Ellaidhoo Maldives by Cinnamon — North Ari Atoll · Core Luxury
• Cinnamon Dhonveli Maldives — North Malé Atoll · Accessible Luxury

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