Uga Bay by Uga Escapes celebrates first anniversary in style
- Luxury resort completes 12 months of operational success
Uga Bay, the Uga Escapes’ luxury beach resort located on the east coast, is celebrating one year of successful operations. On 20 October 2012, Uga Bay was ceremonially opened by President Mahinda Rajapaksa and its first guests were received by the Uga Bay team on 1 November 2012.
Located in Passekudah, Uga Bay is a luxury beach resort that blends tropical and Mediterranean architecture to create a stunning masterpiece on the beautiful bay. The unique resort is blessed with the best beach front on the crescent shaped Passekudah Bay. The resort is designed to provide an unobstructed ocean view from all of the 46 rooms, as well as from the private bay suite and beach villa.
To celebrate the 1st anniversary and to give back to the people of the area, the team at Uga Bay organised several ceremonies. A community project to commence a vegetable garden at Valaichenai Hindu College together with the school’s agriculture students was initiated by the Uga Bay Sports and Welfare Society.
The project, which will be run by the society, focuses on bringing back gardening basics and emphasising the importance of home-grown food to the students. An overnight “pirith” ceremony was organised where 14 Buddhist monks were invited from 14 different local temples spanning a 50 kilometre radius. In addition to this, an almsgiving was arranged at Valaichenai Good Shepherd Convent for 26 orphans.
Community employment
Speaking about Uga Bay, Uga Escapes Managing Director Priyanjith Weerasooriya stated: “Passekudah has one of the most stunning beaches in Sri Lanka. Uga Bay was conceptualised with two objectives in mind. The first to create a property that would stand out amongst its competitors on the bay and second a property that would add to and blend with the breathtaking beauty that is the Passekudah beach.”
Commenting further, Weerasooriya added that almost 50% of the staff of the hotel are from the region. “This is a positive trend that we always strive to achieve at all Uga Escapes properties. We believe in creating significant employment in the local community and thereby helping individuals to uplift their lifestyles. The rural youth employed here have been trained and given exposure to the finer points of the hospitality industry,” he said, adding that all of them have shown drive, ambition and positive work ethic.
In addition to Uga Bay, Uga Escapes owns Ulagalla, an eco-friendly luxury hotel that consists of 20 villas on a 58 acre property in Anuradhapura. Ulagalla was awarded the prestigious “Best Sustainable Hotel” Award at the “Asia Pacific Hotel Awards Winners 2013-2014” earlier this year. Uga Escapes also owns Jungle Beach, in Kuchchaveli, Trincomalee that is set on 10 acres of pristine land located between the Indian Ocean and lagoon.
