Amaya Resorts & Spas

Amaya Resorts & Spas, trading as Hayleys Leisure PLC (formerly Amaya Leisure PLC), is a Sri Lankan hospitality company. The company is listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange on 11 March 1996 and Sri Lankan conglomerate, Hayleys owns a controlling stake of 61.66% of the company's stocks (40.32% directly and 21.34% via its subsidiary, Dean Foster (Pvt) Ltd).[3] In 2020, Amaya Resorts & Spas ranked 87th amongst the top 100 most valuable brands in Sri Lanka by Brand Finance.[4]

History

Amaya Leisure commenced operations in 1981 as Connaissance, a tour operator and then in 1994, built a chalet-type hotel adjacent to the Kandalama lake. The hotel has 106 rooms and has been upgraded to four-star class and rebranded as Amaya Lake in 2005.[5] Hayleys acquired Amaya Leisure PLC on September 1, 2011. Back then, the company consisted of only three resorts, Amaya Lake, Amaya Hills, and Amaya Langdale.[6] In 2012, Amaya acquired the Lake Lodge in Kandalama and was planning to add 400 rooms as expansion.[7] As part of Tripadvisor's travellers choice, Amaya Langdale, a luxury boutique hotel, was ranked amongst the Top 25 Luxury Hotels in Sri Lanka in 2014.[8]

In 2016, Amaya Leisure sold 84.3 per cent of shares of The Beach Resorts Limited to Dhammika Perera, the co-chairman and controlling shareholder of Hayleys, for LKR330.1 million in a related party transaction.[9] The Beach Resorts Limited is a freehold property located in Wadduwa. In the same year, Amaya Leisure ventured into the Maldives by acquiring a 51-villa luxury resort for US$23 million.[9] In 2017, Amuna Ayurveda Retreat won the Best Wellness Retreat at the World Spa Awards.[10] In September 2017, Amaya Hills celebrated its 20th anniversary and Yes FM sponsored the main event held at Le Garage, the hotel's nightclub.[11] In 2021, the long-term director/shareholder, Lalin Samarawickrama, who was the fourth-largest shareholder, quit the company and sold his stake of 9% to Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation.[12]

Properties

Currently, the company has a capacity of 439 rooms across its nine properties, while owning six of them and managing the other three properties on behalf of third-party owners.[3] Amuna Ayurveda Retreat is located in Kimbissa, Sigiriya. The retreat is built in a manner to represent a traditional village and built using recycled materials. The medicinal oil and food are grown in the village itself and the meals served to the guests are purely vegetarian.[10]

See also

• The Kingsbury, another hotel owned by Hayleys Group
• Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts, a rival hotel chain in Sri Lanka
• List of companies listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange

External links

• Official website