SRI Lanka’s Browns Group is developing two properties in the Maldives, including the transformation of the iconic Nasundhara Palace, one of the oldest hotels in Male.
Browns Hotels and Resorts CEO, Thilak Selviah, said the 34-year-old Nasundhara Palace, closed earlier this week for reconstruction, will be converted into a four-star hotel with 150-rooms and 100 apartments.
The 31-room, previously government-controlled hotel was a popular convention and meetings place in the city.
Last October the company signed an agreement with Nasundhara’s owner, Alpha Kinam Holdings and NPH Investment, under which Browns’ is investing US$9.5 million in the development and eventual control of the property.
Meanwhile, the company will also develop Bodufaru Finolhu in Raa Atoll to develop a resort, which it acquired from Bodufaru Beach Resort in a US$1.5 million transaction in January. The Maldivian company has a 50-year lease for this island.
Browns, relatively new to the Sri Lankan leisure sector, has three properties in Sri Lanka, totalling 308 keys. This includes an agreement with Starwood Hotels and Resorts to manage the five-star, 172-room Sheraton Kosgoda Turtle Beach Resort property on the southern coast, due to open later this year.
