• The Lakeside’s Darshana Gallage on city tourism and the future

The bigger Colombo becomes, the more vital it is for city hotels to step up and carve their niche within it. The Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo, or as it is more commonly known, the Lakeside, is one of Colombo’s biggest and arguably oldest (excepting of course, the old greats that are over 100 years old), city hotels. Earlier this month, the Lakeside welcomed a new General Manager, Darshana Gallage. 

With 30 years of experience behind him, Darshana has played a critical part in pre-opening luxury hotels, resorts, and iconic theme parks and attractions in the UAE, an international tourism and leisure hub that offers an impressive range of destinations and attractions. Over his career, he has built entire teams by involving, developing, and recognising each of his teammates and of course by training them to meet the stringent operating standards and systems that come with being a hospitality provider in one of the world’s most competitive tourism markets. 

At the start of his tenure with the Lakeside, The Sunday Morning Brunch sat down with Darshana for a chat on how he sees the Lakeside leading among city hotels and what it has to offer and what Sri Lankan tourism needs most to thrive in this uncertain time. 

Driven by a deeper need 

Darshana’s interest and passion for hospitality came from his childhood – his father was a diver who would travel around a lot, giving Darshana the chance to observe tourism and hospitality up close. This led to him studying hospitality management after completing school and then to his move to the Middle East. 

Now, 30 years later, Darshana has made the move back home, partly to spend time with his parents, but also because he is now able to give back to the Sri Lankan tourism trade, especially after its rough ride these last few years and in the face of the brain drain the industry is currently facing.

“I have not come back looking for financial opportunity but to make opportunities for our people,” Darshana said of the decision to return to Sri Lanka at a time when the tourism industry is facing one of its biggest brain drains. “I want to share my talent and give opportunities to train people and teach them what hospitality is all about. There are so many opportunities for those working in tourism to move forward in their careers.” 

How the Lakeside fits in

The Lakeside is one of Colombo’s biggest city hotels and has been around in one iteration or another for about 40 years and for Darshana, what makes the Lakeside most unique is its location and views. It forms a quiet oasis within the city that allows for rest and relaxation. Its location within the city also gives it a powerful role to play in boosting the economy and this can only happen through value addition.

“The last three years have been challenging but when you look at Colombo, it doesn’t have good city resorts and that is what the Cinnamon Lakeside is – a resort within the city with stunning views and rooms and beverage offerings that can all take it to the next level, which is what I hope to do.” 

The key to this is developing teams, Darshana noted. The standard of Sri Lankan service has always been of the highest quality and this needs to continue. “People always think of hardware when it comes to tourism – the location, the building, the amenities – but I also like to think of the software – the people and the delivery of service,” Darshana explained. “We need to uplift our service and these are the gaps I’m hoping to fix immediately.” 

What new-gen hospitality needs

Through this laser focus on uplifting service, Darshana will be focusing on growing and strengthening the teams at the Lakeside. It is his hope that through this focus on growth, he will be able to instil the values that will define a new generation of hospitality and service. 

“For the next generation of hospitality to grow, we need to open up different platforms for development. There are so many different segments in tourism and hospitality. The field is huge but people need to be trained and shown the different opportunities available to them,” Darshana said. 

To this end, each of Darshana’s employees has a development plan with targets for what they want to do and where they want to be, and Darshana and the team at Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts will be working with these employees to hold them accountable to their growth and show them what opportunities are available to them in Sri Lanka, especially in the long term. 

“We have to look at long-term goals,” Darshana explained. “People are looking at the financial aspect and there’s nothing wrong with that. I know this is a difficult time, but if you are staying here in the long term you will be able to double your growth (and money). There is a light at the end of the tunnel.” 

Outside of developing teams, Darshana will be focusing on making the Lakeside synonymous with good service and a good time. The Lakeside is already popular for large events like musical shows and concerts because of the crowd it can accommodate. In terms of food and beverage too there’s lots to do and the Lakeside has just opened a brand new poolside restaurant called The Pool Bistro and its famous Chinese restaurant Long Feng is also due for a culinary revamp with a new specialist Chinese chef taking over the restaurant. 

Some key events coming up over the next few weeks include a celebration of the Chinese New Year on 22 January followed by a food festival to celebrate the new Chinese chef taking up residence. 

A day in the life of a GM

So what does a GM do? What’s a day in their life like? Here’s what a typical day looks like for Darshana. 

7 a.m. – Report to work. For Darshana, this means a walkthrough of the hotel looking for any issues, looking at the event schedule for the next few days to work out a plan of attack, spending time with the front office team, and chatting with clients to get feedback. 

9 a.m. – Get to work. This point in the day is for emails, meeting management teams to discuss the day and anything important for the next few days, and having one-on-one meetings with department heads and other members of the team. 

12 p.m. –  Meeting the hotel’s regular guests to check in with them on any issues, working with the hotel’s different teams to make sure operations run smoothly, and meeting with the finance team on the hotel’s business goals. 

5 p.m. – Fitness is always important, and Darshana takes an hour out to hit the gym before spending the evening meeting guests to learn about their experiences at the hotel, finally wrapping up around 10 p.m.

“My favourite part of the job is being able to connect with guests and learn about their needs,” Darshana shared. “Sri Lankan customers are unique because a lot depends upon the relationship you build with them. Once their needs are identified and met, they will always come back. They are very loyal and this loyalty needs to be built with them. I’ve learned a lot from [Cinnamon City Hotels Area Vice President] Kamal Munasinghe. He knows so much about the Sri Lankan market and I am thoroughly thankful to him for teaching me.” 



The Lakeside’s newest poolside experience

Brunch was also given the chance to try out the Cinnamon Lakeside’s newest restaurant The Pool Bistro. Located by the Lakeside’s pool, it is the perfect spot to relax in the afternoon or to stop by in the evening on your way to one of the Lakeside’s other dining venues. 

Boasting a bar and menu that focuses on pizza, salad, and snacks, The Pool Bistro is the perfect place to pregame before an evening out. 

We sampled the Pizza Quattro Formaggi (the four-cheese pizza which featured parmesan, ricotta, blue cheese, and mozzarella), the Pizza Affumicata (smoked salmon, mozzarella, and tomato), and the Calzone (a folded pizza with ham, artichokes, spinach, mozzarella, and tomato). 

Our runway favourite was the Calzone which was deliciously gooey, though the Pizza Affumicata came a close second. 

PHOTOS SAMAN ABESIRIWARDANA