Cinnamon Lakeside celebrates 27 years

Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo celebrated twenty seven years with a host of activities taking place throughout the hotel.

To mark this milestone Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo carried out an annual blood drive, encouraging associates of both the hotel and the John Keells group to donate.  Since 1990 Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo has been running a blood drive that has served towards collections of large quantities of blood for those in need. This year saw 110 associates from the hotel and Mackinnons Travels participate in the blood drive, an upsurge in contributions towards the cause, compared to the previous year’s count of 53 associates.  

Along with the blood drive the hotel joined forces with the International Eye Bank to encourage associates to pledge to donate their eyes and human tissue.

To commemorate the special occasion, the hotel organised religious ceremonies throughout the day. Associates from all religious backgrounds attended various religious ceremonies, strengthening the unity and community feel throughout the hotel.

The morning saw the beginning of the religious ceremonies starting with the Hindu ceremony and followed by an Islamic ceremony conducted by Maulavi Anas from the Slave Island mosque. The Hindu ceremony was conducted by the Tamil Priest Ramachandran from the Wellawatte Temple.

The religious ceremonies carried on throughout the day with Venerable Olande Ananda from the Pagoda meditation centre, which was attended by 325 associates of the hotel. Venerable Olande Ananda, born in Amsterdam has been residing in Sri Lanka since 1975. He has been practicing meditation since 1975 and teaches meditation around Europe, USA, Australia, Canada and South Africa.

Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo conducted a Catholic mass attended by 150 associates and was lead by the Auxiliary Bishop of Colombo, His Lordship Rt. Rev. Dr. Emmanuel Fernando of Archbishop’s House, Borella.

The hotel encourages associates to build a strong working community and this was ever present with the support shown across all religious backgrounds supporting one another during the celebrations. The religious ceremonies brought the entire hotel together to acknowledge the importance of unity and team work when working towards maintaining five star standards.