Mar 03, Colombo: Sri Lanka's Kandy Hotels Company (1938) Limited which operates as a subsidiary of Ceylon Hotels Corporation have made a substantial investment to upgrade its two landmark hotels in Kandy the Queen's Hotel and Hotel Suisse.

Taking another step to support tourism in Sri Lanka, the Board of Directors of Kandy Hotels at a board meeting held on February 26 have decided to execute plans to embark on a major refurbishment of the Queens Hotel and Hotel Suisse at an estimated cost of 1.5 billion rupees.

In keeping with the government policy to increase the hotel room strength in the country to accommodate the 2.5 million tourists expected by 2016, the Kandy Hotels along with Sino Lanka Hotel Holding (Pvt) Ltd. has embarked on a new hotel project to construct a new facility consisting of 120 rooms behind the Hotel Suisse, the company said in a stock disclosure last week.

The project is expected to be completed by 2014.

The Kandy Hotels also have undertaken a project to refurbish the old Queens Hotel to its past grandeur. The famous hotel in the old days had only 54 operating rooms and only half of them had air conditioning. The refurbished hotel now has 77 air-conditioned rooms with other guest related facilities which will be further improved and increased, the company said.

The board has approved the master refurbishment plan and when completed Queens Hotel will maintain its unique heritage and ambience in keeping with the grandeur and heritage of its surroundings, the Company said.