By Cecil V. Wikramanayake


Up to recent times the five star hotel has been considered the last word in comfort for the visitor from abroad who has come to see what he can see in Sri Lanka. But even in the best of hotels, the most discerning and fastidious guest has to follow certain rules laid down by the hotel management about, for instance, when to eat and where to eat.There have always been tourists who would love to have the 'home comforts' in whatever country they visit. And they are prepared to pay well for that privilege.

Well, now in Sri Lanka is the "Privilege", the first all-suite hotel in the country, the brainchild of Mr. and Mrs. Susil de Alwis, which caters exclusively to the up-market tourist.I was privileged to visit "Privilege'
in the company of its Marketing Manager, Ranjaka de Mel. Let me tell you about it.

Designed by Vinod Jayasinghe, a pupil of the famed architect Geoffrey Bawa, 'Privilege' is just a 45 minute drive from Colombo, at Wadduwa, and is the most eco-friendly hotel I have seen. It does not have rooms for its guests, but has 25 suites, each of them giving the guest everything he or she needs
for a pleasant, comfortable and really relaxed holiday. Each suite has three telephones, two TV sets, and VCD player, a mini-bar, spacious toilets and living room and comfortable bedrooms.There is, in fact,
everything one can ask which money can buy.

What is most unusual about the 'Privilege' is that the word 'buffet' does not exist there. There is a five course lunch and a seven course dinner with this proviso: the guest decides at what time he will eat and where. If he chooses to have his lunch beside the swimming poor, the table will be laid just where he wants it.

All this special attention is paid to each and every guest who comes to 'Privilege'. And at the long weekend just over, it was fully booked up. I spoke to two female guests who had come from Switzerland and Germany for a holiday, and found they went into raptures over their choice of a holiday in Sri Lanka.

There are many trourists who are prepared to pay for the special privilege of "Privilege" Susil de Alwys told me. Like diplomats and others who do not want to spoil their holiday by rubbing shoulders with the hoi polloi.

In addition to all these special privileges, the 'Privilege' also boasts a swimming pool, Jacuzzi, an yurvedic centre and a gymnasium.

And every night, to keep the privileged guests in the right mood, there is the special privilege in the form of Nihal Corea, that maestro on the piano who really belts out 'jazz' the way it really should be played.

A BOI project the "Privilege' facilities are for in-house guests only