- A look behind-the-scenes at Cinnamon Life at City of Dreams
For hotels, sustainability has often become synonymous with polite towel cards asking guests to reuse linens or use glass bottles. But sustainability in hospitality means (and requires) so much more. On a small scale, achieving sustainability is somewhat less challenging. Operational decisions are easier to make, and customer behaviour is more easily guided. But the larger a hotel gets, the more complex it becomes to build in sustainability.
The polished marble floors, towering atriums and glittering skyline views at Cinnamon Life at City of Dreams make it easy to focus on spectacle. After all, Sri Lanka’s first integrated resort was built to impress – a sprawling destination where hospitality, entertainment, dining and lifestyle experiences sit under one roof. But tucked away behind the cocktail bars, banquet halls and infinity pools is another side of the property that guests rarely see: a network of operational systems quietly attempting to answer one uncomfortable question facing luxury hospitality worldwide – can a property this large genuinely operate sustainably?
For a property operating on the scale of Cinnamon Life, the challenges of sustainability stretch far beyond guest-facing gestures. It involves energy-intensive kitchens, round-the-clock cooling systems, massive water usage, waste management logistics and the reality that luxury itself is resource heavy.
The Daily Morning Brunch was recently taken on a tour behind the scenes of Cinnamon Life for a look at how large-scale hospitality can still strive for sustainability. Interestingly, the resort doesn’t claim to have solved the contradictions around sustainability. Rather, it openly acknowledges how difficult they are to manage. “Sustainability in a property like this is not one single project,” said Cinnamon Life at City of Dreams Director – Sustainability Sameera Ranasinghe. “It becomes part of daily operations. Every department contributes to it differently, whether it is engineering, housekeeping, kitchens or guest services.”
The hidden nerve centre behind the hotel
One of the least glamorous spaces in the hotel may also be one of its most important: the Building Management System (BMS) operation room.
Far removed from the carefully curated public spaces, the room functions as a command centre tracking energy usage across the property. Chiller systems, cooling operations and energy consumption are continuously monitored in an attempt to optimise efficiency in real time.
For a hotel of this scale, cooling alone becomes a major sustainability issue, particularly in Colombo’s humid climate. Public spaces with soaring ceilings and open layouts require enormous amounts of energy to maintain guest comfort.
According to the hotel’s sustainability team, energy conservation was considered during the building design stage, particularly within operational and public areas. But they are also realistic about the limitations. Guest rooms remain one of the biggest variables because consumption ultimately depends on individual behaviour – from air-conditioning preferences to water usage and appliance consumption.
“There are aspects we can control operationally, and there are aspects influenced by guest behaviour,” Ranasinghe explained. “Luxury hospitality is still centred around comfort, so the challenge is finding efficiencies without affecting the guest experience.”
That tension sits at the heart of sustainable hospitality: a hotel can build systems around efficiency, but luxury still depends heavily on unrestricted comfort.
Where the waste goes
Luxury hotels generate staggering amounts of waste every day, much of it invisible to guests. Multiple kitchens, buffets, housekeeping operations and events produce a constant stream of discarded material that has to be sorted, processed and removed.
At Cinnamon Life, waste segregation practices have been integrated across departments including kitchens and housekeeping. On Level 8, where one of the hotel’s kitchens operates at full pace, waste management is treated as part of the workflow rather than an afterthought.
Food waste, recyclables and operational waste are separated before collection, while recycling initiatives attempt to divert as much material as possible away from landfill. Waste collection by the Colombo Municipal Council takes place twice weekly, every Wednesday and Saturday, adding another layer of operational coordination to an already complex system.
The challenge, hotel representatives admit, is consistency. Maintaining sustainability targets across multiple functions and event spaces becomes increasingly difficult when the property operates almost like a small city.
“There is a huge amount happening simultaneously in a property of this scale,” Ranasinghe said. “You have restaurants, banquets, housekeeping, engineering and events all functioning at the same time. Sustainability targets have to work across all those moving parts.”
There is also the unpredictability of modern hospitality. Spaces are frequently repurposed for events beyond their original design function, leading to unexpected spikes in energy usage. A lounge may suddenly become an event venue. A public area may host a large gathering requiring additional lighting, cooling and operational support.
“We also have to work within the original design of the building,” he added. “Sometimes spaces are used differently from their intended purpose, and that can create additional energy consumption that was not initially planned for.”
Sustainability at this scale is not static; it becomes a constant process of adjustment.
The quiet move away from plastic
Perhaps one of the hotel’s most tangible sustainability initiatives is its in-house glass bottled water plant.
Instead of relying heavily on disposable plastic bottles, the property uses reusable Nordaq glass bottles that are cleaned, sterilised and refilled on site. The bottles are reused repeatedly for as long as they remain in good condition, significantly reducing single-use plastic consumption across the property.
The initiative forms part of a broader move toward reducing single-use plastics in guest rooms and selected event operations.
In Sri Lanka’s hospitality sector, where bottled water remains deeply embedded in guest expectations, eliminating plastic entirely is not always straightforward. Hotels still need to balance hygiene standards, convenience and operational practicality. Glass bottling systems offer one alternative, though they come with their own logistical demands involving washing, transport and storage.
Still, visually, the shift says something important. Sustainability here is not framed as rustic minimalism or eco-austerity. Instead, the hotel attempts to integrate lower-waste practices into a luxury setting without dramatically altering the guest experience.
“For guests, the experience still feels premium,” Ranasinghe said. “But operationally, it helps us reduce a significant amount of single-use plastic over time.”
Asking guests to participate – carefully
Hotels walk a fine line when encouraging guests to participate in sustainability efforts. Push too hard, and it risks feeling like cost-cutting disguised as environmentalism. Say too little, and guest engagement disappears entirely.
Cinnamon Life appears to be taking a softer approach. Guests can opt out of daily linen changes to reduce water and energy usage, while restaurants encourage portion awareness in an effort to reduce food waste. The property also provides EV transportation facilities, reflecting the gradual growth of electric mobility infrastructure in Sri Lanka.
“We try to make sustainability participation simple and voluntary for guests,” Ranasinghe noted. “Small decisions – whether it is linen reuse or reducing food waste – can collectively make a measurable impact.”
None of these initiatives are revolutionary on their own. But sustainability experts increasingly argue that meaningful change in hospitality often comes from layering multiple operational decisions rather than relying on one headline-grabbing initiative.
Sustainability as an operational mindset
The hotel currently operates under an ISO 14001-certified Environmental Management System while also working toward the globally recognised EarthCheck sustainability certification programme.
Its ESG initiatives are aligned with the sustainability KPIs of John Keells Holdings, focusing on energy, water and waste reduction alongside community engagement.
Leading much of this work is Sameera Ranasinghe, who has over a decade of experience in sustainability within the hospitality sector, including eight years with Hilton Sri Lanka. He holds a Master’s Degree in Sustainable Business Management from the University of Bedfordshire.
For Ranasinghe, sustainability within hospitality is no longer optional.
“The industry is changing globally,” he said. “Guests, investors and operators are all paying closer attention to how hotels manage resources and environmental impact. Sustainability is becoming part of long-term business resilience.”
That distinction matters because sustainability within luxury hospitality increasingly risks becoming aesthetic – something marketed through leafy imagery and carefully chosen buzzwords. At Cinnamon Life, the more revealing story lies not in polished ESG terminology, but in the operational realities happening behind service corridors and mechanical rooms.
The truth is that a massive integrated resort will never resemble a minimalist eco-lodge tucked away in the wilderness. Its environmental footprint will always be substantial. But perhaps the more relevant question is whether large-scale hospitality developments are willing to actively reduce harm within the realities of their business model.