Cinnamon Wild Yala

With a king sized bed and your own balcony to enjoy the view, the beach chalet is just a wooden staircase climb away. The location allows you to feel the breeze and spot birds from your room at treetop height. You will have a beach view and air conditioning as well as tea/ coffee facilities being included in your room to unwind on the balcony. The bathroom has complimentary toiletries as well as a hairdryer and bath and face towels.

Other facilities include a mini bar, safety deposit box, closet, an ironing board and laundry services. The porch table and chairs gives you more space to relax and cable TV allows for evenings in of entertainment.

The jungle chalet gives you complete views of the jungle vegetation to take in and you’ll be able to look out and spot elephants and wild boards from your window. Relax on the veranda of the chalet and you will be escorted to and from the chalet after 6pm and early in the morning for complete safety. With a king sized bed or twin beds you can also have an additional bed on request for more guests.

Complimentary tea and coffee can be enjoyed in your chalet and on your private porch as well as air conditioning, laundry services, an ironing board and complimentary Wi-Fi. The bathroom includes complimentary toiletries, bath and face towels and a hair dryer. Other facilities include Cable TV for nights in.

With panoramic views of the wilderness, ocean and lagoon that surround you, this is your best spot for views as well as drinks. This al-fresco spot allows you to immerse in the wilderness in style. With its own observation deck it’s the perfect vantage point for drinking and relaxing.

This restaurant is a buffet style dining experience with an elaborate menu of main meals and desserts. Located on the first floor it makes for the perfect spot for an encounter of a tusker as it passes by. It really is dinner and a show where you eat immersed with the wilderness.

Pugmarks is a semi-alfresco bar where guests can enjoy cocktails after a day of exploring in the wilderness and jungle. With its own big screen TV that plays international sports matches it’s a great spot to unwind.

Home to its own spa, Cinnamon Wild Resort offers massages and a host of treatments to unwind after busy days of adventuring and exploring. Also offering couple treatments, guests can relax and listen to the sounds of nature and forests in a comfortable spa room.

When visiting Sri Lanka, observing the array of wildlife should be at the top of your list. Home to 215 species of birds and over 44 diverse mammals, Yala National Park has the highest density of leopards in the world. On a guided tour guests can also witness elephants and wild boar, all in their natural habitat where they are free to roam and are protected under conservation. Guests are also welcome to hire camera gear and can be assisted in this endeavour.

Teaming up with National Geographic at Yala National Park, guests can take an Infrared Night Drive to witness wild animals and how they behave when it goes dark. With the use of night vision goggles, wildlife stays undisturbed to truly witness how they behave.

Known for its bird watching, this national park is a UNESCO designated biosphere reserve and hosts 197 species of birds. During this excursion guests may encounter reptiles, mammals, amphibians and butterflies doe to the many lagoons and feeding sites dispersed across the national park.

Built in the second century BC, Situlapawwa Rock Temple boasts over 2,200 years of history and is located in the middle of Yala National park. The temple itself houses a complex of canes, chapter houses and ponds, depicting rare murals inside. A walk around it is a calm experience amidst the wilderness of the park.

A guided nature walk will bring guests up close to boars, elephant and an array of flora and fauna at Cinnamon Wild Yala. Early morning walks will bring you to wild hares and lizards and you might even be lucky enough to see crocodiles and leopards. The premises are also home to birds such as storks and pelicans. As the naturalists point out the diverse wildlife on the property they will also show guests dunes that protected the resort from tsunamis.

The percentage of local suppliers is at 60% and the resort aims to increase this with a commitment to ensure that supply operations adhere to local and international regulations. All suppliers must ensure that procedures are in place to ensure social and environmental responsibility.

A significant amount of fresh produce is sourced from local communities that surround the resort and hotel staff are hired locally from surrounding areas as a priority. By sourcing and employing locally, the resort are uplifting the community that they thrive on.

Due to the majority of the labour and supplies for the hotel being provided by the local community, nurturing a meaningful and mutually beneficial relationship with the community is important to Cinnamon Wild. The hotel engage with the community as a part of their social responsibility agenda.

In line with the JKH group sustainability agenda the hotel focuses on four core areas; youth development/ education, community uplifting, health and environment. The Cinnamon Youth Empowerment programme is an initiative to facilitate skills development and enhance livelihood opportunities and employability opportunities.

This impacts over 1000 youth each year and the hotel carries out internships and IT programmes as a part of this. The hotel contributes to community with local employment and community initiatives. Health is a commitment to the hotel and they raise awareness on a number of health issues such as HIV AIDS and the hotel engage the community in initiatives that better the environment so that it is preserved for future generations.

Cinnamon Wild supports communities with donations. They have previously donated water purifiers to Kirinda Hospital and given a donation for the annual almsgiving at community elders home at Tissamaharama on Father’s day. This was followed by a cleaning, repairing and painting of the premises.

The resort actively engages in recycling water being used for gardening and washing requirements at the property and have installed an in-house control system to prevent water wastage in the washer/ extractors during power cuts. Reusing waste water after treatment is a priority opposed to using fresh water.

Low energy consuming equipment is utilised at the resort whilst employees and guests are encouraged to contribute towards conserving energy.

A state-of-the-art waste management system has been installed and enables the resort to segregate, recycle and responsibly dispose of waste in an eco-friendly manner. Wet waste is used to generate energy while the remainder is sent to local piggeries.

Recyclable material from dry waste is sent to recycle centres certified by the Central Environment Authority and garden waste is used to make eco-friendly fertilisers. The resort also has on-site composting and an on-site biogas plant.

Committed to conserving the wildlife and natural habitats for future generations, Cinnamon Wild has initiated several ground breaking conservation projects both in Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Many of these projects are carried out in collaboration with renowned conservationists and wildlife organisations. The training of expert naturalists enables the resort to pass on knowledge to both staff and guests.

This initiative supports the livelihoods of cattle farmers and protects the leopard population living in and outside of the national park’s boundaries. The project has been able to distribute 50 steel pens to cattle farmers to protect them from leopards in the area.

A collaboration between Cinnamon Hotels and the Centre for Conservation and Research formed the Cinnamon Elephant project. This initiative is ground breaking, developing the best practices in elephant tourism. The aim is to gather data that can help to understand the Human-Elephant conflict in the North Central Provence.

The research collects data on behavioural patterns, demographics and health status of elephants to predict their movements to better manage their land. The information is then shared with visitors while on safari to create a more informed experience of these beautiful creatures.

Having been involved in whale watching in the East since 2009, Cinnamon Nature Trails has been collating data to understand the changes in whales and their behaviour over the years.

Cinnamon Wild has a beach cleaning campaign in collaboration with the marine and coastal conservation authority to help preserve the natural environment and protect the marine life from plastics and debris.

The plastic management plan was launched in all of the company’s resorts across Sri Lanka and Maldives with the aim of reducing single use plastics. Plastic straws have been replaced with paper alternatives and plastic stirrers have been replaced with wooden alternatives. Plastic bottles have been replaced with glass water bottles at Cinnamon Wild Yala and the company hopes to introduce this to each of their resorts.

Programmes such as ‘No Bin Day’ and ‘Zero Waste Day’ are carried out to create awareness about plastic waste amongst staff.