Cinnamon Life at City of Dreams Colombo
Colombo, Sri Lanka
Location
Colombo (waterfront)
The hotel stands on the Colombo waterfront at No. 1 Justice Akbar Mawatha, in the heart of the city, with Indian Ocean and city views and the City of Dreams mall and entertainment quarter at its foot. There is no beach — this is downtown Colombo — and it works as the modern arrival or departure base for a wider Sri Lanka tour.
Transfer
A Colombo transfer
Fly into Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB), about 45 minutes by car. Cinnamon Air can fly you on by light aircraft to the tea country, Yala or the south coast.
Villas
Around 687 rooms & suites
Around 687 rooms and suites in the tower — most on high floors with Indian Ocean or city views — from Premier Life Cityscape and Oceanfront rooms through Life Suites to the top suites, with the separate ultra-luxury Nuwa hotel in the same complex.
Best For
Who it suits
Business travellers, event guests and leisure visitors who want Colombo's newest landmark as a modern, well-connected city base — the polished start or finish to a Sri Lanka trip, not a beach stay.
Board Basis
B&B
Booked on bed and breakfast. With more than a dozen restaurants and bars across the complex — all-day dining, specialty seafood, a wine bar and a rooftop bar — dine-around needs no planning.
About the Resort
Colombo’s new landmark gateway
Cinnamon Life is Colombo's newest landmark — the centrepiece of the City of Dreams complex on the waterfront, opened in late 2024 and already the city's defining modern address. Designed by Cecil Balmond, its 687 rooms and suites look out over the Indian Ocean or the city, above an entertainment quarter of restaurants, a rooftop bar, a shopping mall and an adjacent casino. This is Sri Lanka's first integrated resort, built for arrivals and departures, business and big events — the country's largest event space sits within it — with more than a dozen places to eat and drink, an ocean-view pool, a spa and a gym. It is a city hotel, the polished urban bookend to a Sri Lanka trip; Cinnamon Air can lift you from here by light aircraft to the tea country, Yala or the coast. With the ocean on one side and the city on the other, it is the most modern way to begin or end the island.
Accommodation
Rooms & suites
Around 687 rooms and suites fill the tower, most on high floors with Indian Ocean or city views and a clean, contemporary finish. They run from Premier Life Cityscape and Oceanfront rooms through the Life Suites to the top suites, with the separate ultra-luxury Nuwa hotel alongside in the same complex.
Entry
Premier Life Cityscape View
Sleeps two. A modern, contemporary room with city views — the entry into the tower.
ModernCity view
Ocean
Premier Life Oceanfront View
Sleeps two. A Premier Life room with Indian Ocean views.
OceanfrontOcean view
Suite
Life Suite
Sleeps two to three. A Life Suite with a separate living area and ocean or city views.
Separate livingOcean/city view
Apex
Top Suite
Sleeps two to four. A top-floor suite with panoramic ocean views — the signature address.
PanoramicOcean view
Food & Drink
Dining
More than a dozen restaurants and bars across the complex, from all-day international dining to specialty seafood and a rooftop bar. Quizine handles the all-day menu, Cloud Wine is the wine bar, Bistro Des Marées and Seafood Cove cover the catch of the day, and the rooftop bar takes in the city and the ocean.
International
Quizine
All-day international dining — buffet and a la carte across global cuisines.
Wine
Cloud Wine
A wine bar pouring labels by the glass and the bottle.
Seafood
Bistro Des Marées
French-leaning seafood and brasserie cooking.
Seafood
Seafood Cove
Fresh Sri Lankan seafood by the water.
Rooftop
Rooftop bar
Cocktails and city-and-ocean views from the rooftop.
Wellbeing
Spa & wellness
A spa and wellness floor brings treatments and a fitness centre to the heart of the city, and the outdoor pool looks out over the Indian Ocean from the tower. For wider exploring, Cinnamon Air flies guests by light aircraft to the island's tea country, parks and coast.
Spa & wellness
A full spa and wellness floor, with treatments, sauna and a fitness centre.
Ocean-view pool
An outdoor pool with Indian Ocean views from the tower.
Cinnamon Air
Cinnamon Air light-aircraft excursions to the tea country, Yala and the coast.
Activities & Experiences
Signature Experiences
A modern city base with the island a short flight away. Take in the integrated-resort entertainment, fly out with Cinnamon Air for the day, explore Colombo's arts and heritage on foot, and admire Cecil Balmond's architecture before or after the rest of your trip.
Integrated-resort entertainment
Dining, a rooftop bar, a mall and the wider City of Dreams entertainment quarter, all under one roof.
Cinnamon Air
Cinnamon Air light-aircraft excursions across the island — tea country, Yala and the coast.
Colombo tours
Colombo's arts, markets and colonial heritage on guided city walks and tours.
Cecil Balmond architecture
The landmark architecture of Cecil Balmond, who shaped the building.
Ocean-view pool
An ocean-view pool high in the tower, for the city heat.
Getting There
Location & transfers
By road
About 45 minutes from CMB
About 45 minutes by car from Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB).
In the city
Waterfront
On the Colombo waterfront, in the heart of the city within the City of Dreams complex.
Guest Reviews
What Our Clients Say
★★★★★
“The most extraordinary place I have ever stayed. Nothing prepares you for the depth of the silence, the beauty of the reef, or the sheer generosity of the experience.”
✓ Verified via feefo
★★★★★
“We’ve stayed here three times now. The house reef has no equal. The stargazing was, genuinely, one of the most moving experiences of my adult life.”
✓ Verified via feefo
★★★★★
“I had stayed at Four Seasons, One&Only and Velaa before visiting Cinnamon Life at City of Dreams Colombo. They are all magnificent. But this is different in a way that is hard to articulate.”
✓ Verified via feefo
Good to Know
Good to know
Board basis
- Booked on bed and breakfast, with more than a dozen restaurants and bars across the complex.
Setting
- On the Colombo waterfront within the City of Dreams complex — a mall and an entertainment quarter with an adjacent casino, and a city hotel, so an ocean-view pool but no beach.
New-build
- A brand-new landmark, opened in late 2024 — the modern Colombo arrival and departure base, and the country's largest event space.
Getting there
- About 45 minutes by car from Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB).
Book This Property
Start Planning Your Cinnamon Life at City of Dreams Colombo Stay
Your HighStreet specialist will respond within 2 hours with a personalised quote and the best available rates — guaranteed.
1
Your holiday
2
Your details
3
Review
Step 1 of 2
Tell us about your stay
Dates, party size, villa preference and budget.
Destination
Dates & party
Date flexibility
Adults
2
Children
0
Budget & accommodation
Budget per person (flights + hotel)
£4,500
£500£50,000+
Villa preference
Flights
You Might Also Consider
Other Sri Lanka hotels you might consider
Sri Lanka
Shangri-La Colombo
An established Galle Face waterfront city-luxe in Colombo’s business district, between Beira Lake and the Galle Face Green promenade. Around 541 rooms, suites and serviced apartments, a fourth-floor ocean-view sun-terrace pool, Kaema Sutra modern Sri Lankan dining by Dharshan Munidasa, CHI Spa Ceylon-tea-and-spice rituals and direct access to One Galle Face Mall. The established Colombo arrival base.
Sri Lanka
Water Garden Sigiriya
A Channa Daswatte-designed water-garden resort beneath Sigiriya Rock in the Cultural Triangle, inspired by the 2,000-year-old garden atop the fortress. 30 freestanding villas — reed-fringed or over-water, most with plunge pools — across 35 acres of lotus ponds and streams, a large infinity pool, an overwater spa and excellent reduced-mobility access. The heritage-and-wildlife touring base.
Sri Lanka
Cape Weligama
A Relais & Châteaux clifftop village over the Indian Ocean on Sri Lanka’s south coast, 30 minutes from Galle Fort. Around forty suites and villas with butler service and in-villa spa, clustered around shared infinity pools, crowned by the crescent cliff-edge Moon Pool — one of the island’s great sunset pools. Whale-watching, surfing, PADI diving and two beaches. The south-coast finale.