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Merry making - at a price

By Shezna Shums

With the festive mood in full swing and three more days to celebrate the dawn of a new year, exorbitant sums of money are being busted to make merry on one single night.

December 31 is a night many would like to remember, and how much they spend on this exercise seems to be as important as where and how the eve is celebrated.

Dancing the year away

The Sunday Leader contacted several leading hotels in Colombo to find out how much the tickets for the single night, December 31 would be and the prices quoted and the bookings so far indicate that nothing could dampen the spirit of some people when it comes to dancing the year away.

The Colombo Hilton has their new year's eve ticket prices ranging from Rs. 1,800 to Rs. 6,000 allowing a considerable range for revellers to choose from.

A dinner at the Hilton's Sri Lankan restaurant, Curry Leaf, will cost Rs.1,800 while, a Coffee Shop booking will set one back Rs. 2,100. A booking at the Emperors' Wok costs Rs. 3,800 while the Il Ponte Italian restaurant charges Rs. 4,000. Rs. 6,000 is charged for the dinner dance at the Hilton Ballroom.

Meanwhile, the Galadari Hotel is charging Rs. 1,700 for the dinner dance at the Crystal Ballroom. The new year's party at the Lobby, which is meant for the entire family, costs Rs. 3,500 per adult and Rs. 200 per child. Rs. 5, 000 nett is being charged by the California Grill restaurant.

For those with a liking for the Indian flavoured thing, be it dance or dinner, the Taj Samudra Hotel is organising a major do at the hotel premises with six different new year's eve parties planned. The prices range from Rs. 1,500 to Rs. 4,900.

The hotel's Mix Bar charges Rs. 1,200 for only a drink and a Mauritian band will provide music. The offer excludes dinner.

The hotel's Golden Dragon restaurant will have a cover charge of Rs. 1,950 for guests while the poolside international buffet will cost Rs. 1, 650 for adults while kids would be charged Rs. 900.

The hotel's ballroom dinner dance will cost some Rs. 4,900 per head.

All sold out

The Colombo Plaza too has organised several new  year's eve dinner parties with the top do going at Rs. 4,800. One of the oldest hotels in the city and known for its colonial atmosphere is the Galle Face Hotel. The popular venue is selling their tickets at Rs. 4,500 per head and this package includes dinner, dance and breakfast.

Meanwhile, the Ceylon Continental Hotel has tied up with Gold FM to give revelers a different experience with a variety of music to keep everyone happy. The hotel charges Rs. 2,300 for their Golden Ball party while another hotel-organised party will charge Rs. 4,000.

Despite the high prices that are being charged by these five star venues, most claimed their tickets for the dinner dances have already been sold out.

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