Five-star Galle Road, Colombo 03, Colombo
Cinnamon Grand
Five hundred and one rooms on the Galle Road, two pools, and a Sri Lankan village built around a banyan tree in the garden. The hotel opened in 1975 as the Lanka Oberoi.
Opens the hotel's own website. We have no arrangement with the hotel.
- Rooms
- 501, including 26 suites
- Opened
- 1975, as Hotel Lanka Oberoi
- Architects
- Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
- From the airport
- About an hour from CMB
The hotel
From the Lanka Oberoi to Cinnamon.
The hotel opened in 1975 as Hotel Lanka Oberoi, the first Oberoi outside India. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill designed it, on land where the Bishop of the Church of Ceylon once lived, a short walk from the sea on the Galle Road. Oberoi ran it for almost three decades for its owner, Asian Hotels, and the company still owns the building at 77 Galle Road today.
In 2003 John Keells Holdings took control of the owning company and the Oberoi contract ended. The hotel became the Colombo Plaza for two years, then Cinnamon Grand in 2005, under the group's own Cinnamon Hotels name. Today it holds 475 rooms and 26 suites, with ten places to eat and drink.
- Nuga Gama A Sri Lankan village under a banyan tree, with a paddy field, a rest hut and a village shop. Dinner is served every night, lunch at weekends.
- Two pools An outdoor pool by Breeze Bar and a second on the roof, with two gyms, a sauna and a steam room.
- Tea Lounge Sri Lankan breakfast and afternoon tea in the lobby, turning into a whisky lounge in the evening.
Rooms & suites
High floors over the pool and the sea.
Rooms share one plan of about 32 square metres with a king bed; the difference is the floor, the view and the lounge.
- Room Deluxe Room About 32 square metres on a high floor, facing the pool, the garden or the sea.
- Club Grand Club Room The same 32 square metres with a sofa and a coffee machine, and connecting doors on request.
- Suite Suite About 64 square metres, with a separate living room.
Dining
Ten places to eat and drink.
Venues as listed by the hotel and its tour operators. No MICHELIN guide covers Sri Lanka. Shown for information.
- Nuga Gama Sri Lankan home cooking Outdoors, around a banyan tree
- The London Grill Grill, French-leaning The hotel's fine dining room
- The Lagoon Seafood Cooked to order, Sri Lankan, Indian, Thai and Chinese styles
- Plates International buffet Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Breeze Bar Drinks and table barbecues By the pool
- Cheers Pub British pub Draught beer and sport
Good to know
Before you go.
- Location On the Galle Road in Colombo 03, south of Galle Face and close to the sea.
- Wellness NIJA, the hotel's spa, has Ayurvedic treatments as well as massages.
Getting there
Flying to Colombo.
Bandaranaike International (CMB) is about 35 kilometres north. Allow about an hour by the airport expressway, our estimate, more at rush hour. Private jets use the same airport, which runs around the clock.
- Malé 1 h 20
- Mumbai 2 h 20
- Singapore 3 h 55
- Dubai 4 h 40
- London 11 h 50 long-range jet
Questions
What guests ask first.
- How many rooms does Cinnamon Grand have?
- Five hundred and one: 475 rooms and 26 suites.
- What was Cinnamon Grand called before?
- It opened in 1975 as Hotel Lanka Oberoi, was renamed Colombo Plaza in 2003 and became Cinnamon Grand in 2005.
- How far is Cinnamon Grand from Colombo airport?
- About 35 kilometres, roughly an hour by car by our estimate.
- Can SkyCourtage arrange the flight to Colombo?
- Yes. We arrange Business and First Class seats on scheduled airlines and private jet charter to Colombo, with one final price, our margin included. The hotel is booked with the hotel or through our booking partner.
Also in Colombo
Other hotels worth the trip.
- Shangri-La Colombo Five hundred rooms on Centre Road at Galle Face, opened in 2017.
- ITC Ratnadipa Opened in April 2024 with 352 rooms, and classified five-star by the national tourism authority in January 2026.
- Cinnamon Life Six hundred and eighty-seven rooms in the City of Dreams complex, opened in 2024.
- Taj Samudra Three hundred rooms on Galle Face Centre Road, open since the early 1980s.
- The Kingsbury On Janadhipathi Mawatha in Fort, a hotel since 1973.
- Hilton Colombo Three hundred and forty-two rooms on Sri Chittampalam A. Gardiner Mawatha, opened in 1987.
- Cinnamon Lakeside Three hundred and forty-six rooms, opened in 1985.
- Sheraton Colombo On the Galle Road, rated five-star by Sri Lanka Tourism.
- NH Collection Colombo Two hundred and nineteen rooms, opened in 2017.
- Nüwa A hotel of 113 rooms and suites at the top of the City of Dreams resort, given its five-star certificate in May 2026.
- Sentido Heritance Negombo On the beach at Negombo with 139 rooms, some 13 km from the airport.
- Jetwing Blue The first Jetwing hotel, which began as a six-room retreat on this beach and now has two pools.
- The Blue Water Designed by Geoffrey Bawa, among coconut palms on the beach at Wadduwa.
Staying at Cinnamon Grand?
Book the room, then the flight.
Rates and availability come from the hotel itself. For the journey to Colombo, a Business or First Class seat or an aircraft of your own: tell us the date and we come back with one final price, our margin included.
Opens the hotel's own website. We have no arrangement with the hotel.