Secrets of Ceylon now represents 13 four-star properties, each with eight or fewer guest rooms, and all offering a unique local experience included in the cost.
Peacock Hill Sigiriya is the latest addition, and opens this month in a peaceful lakeside setting a 30-minute drive from the famous Sigiriya rock fortress.
Jean-Marc Flambert, who was UK director of the Sri Lanka Tourist Board from 2005 - 2008 and later the Antigua & Barbuda and St Lucia tourist boards, is the founder and managing director of the hotel group.
He said he developed the brand after recognising a growing number of owners of small, characterful homes in Sri Lanka that were now looking to tourism to help preserve the houses’ heritage.
“We have so many beautiful houses that might be 100, 150 years old - but the next generation that inherit them can’t always afford to keep them up, so turning them into guest accommodation is a way to preserve them,” he explained.
A strategic focus on cuisine means that guests combining different Secrets of Ceylon hotels will not be served the same dishes time and again.
“Sri Lankan cuisine is incredible but many hotels offer a similar menu, so guests are offered the same dal and string hoppers everywhere they go. We’ve coordinated menus across the group so that guests can experience the full breadth of what Sri Lanka offers,” Flambert explained.
Sustainability is also key, with every property following the “Bee” philosophy: striving to buy locally, employ locally, and enrich the local community. Complimentary experiences offered by the hotels range from cooking demonstrations and a traditional thaal dining experience to an audio guided walking tour of Nuwara Eliya and a train ride to tour a remote train station and its local community.
The hotels’ locations around the island enable guests to explore the island’s biggest cultural and natural attractions while also minimising drive-time and avoiding some of the more over-touristed places to stay, he said.
Indus Experiences is the latest tour operator to partner with the collection, joining Transindus, Experience Travel Group, Travelpack and Gold Medal. The brand is also keen to work directly with agents building their own packages.
Tour operators are increasingly interested in creating itineraries only within the Secrets of Ceylon collection, Flambert noted. However, combining his more affordable portfolio (typically £150 - £220 per night) with some of Sri Lanka’s very high-end hotels has also proved to be a popular solution for agents with clients on a more modest budget.
“Agents tell me not every customer can afford $900 or $1000-per-night hotels, or certainly not for every night of their Sri Lanka trip, but by starting in our properties and building up to one or two nights at Santani or an Uga hotel, suddenly it’s possible,” he explained.
Flambert has already hosted three agent fam trips, and is looking to take more later this year.
