This Sri Lankan hotel's women-only staff is a female solo traveller's dream

A Sri Lankan hotel has set a new benchmark in South Asia’s hospitality industry, by virtue of being entirely run by women. The Amba Yaalu Hotel in central Sri Lanka’s Kandalma has 75 staff members, and each member of its staff, from the chef to the chauffeur, is a woman. Located near Lake Kandalama and surrounded by green hills, its unique selling point is definitely grabbing attention.

A dream for solo female travellers and girl groups

How many times have women planning trips looked forward to going somewhere and then backtracked because of doubts about the destination’s safety? Properties like The Amba Yaalu Hotel are the ideal solution in such situations, be it for a group of girlfriends taking a trip together, or female solo travellers seeking some peace and quiet. While the hotel is open to guests of all sexes, it’s still reassuring to know that those working at and managing the property are all women.

According to AFP, this hasn’t gone unnoticed by customers. A Canadian tourist’s review on a booking website read: "I felt like I could speak up and answer questions ahead of my partner without them looking to him for confirmation."

Why the owner opted for an all-female crew for The Amba Yaalu Hotel

The owner of the hotel, Chandra Wickramasinghe, while a man himself, recognised the importance of giving women opportunities, and the gap in the tourism sector, where men hold up to 90 per cent of hotel jobs. Explaining this to AFP, the owner said his move aimed to promote women in this field: "Unfortunately, in Sri Lanka in the hotels, there is no gender equality."

He also attempted empower locals and give a chance to women who want to take up jobs traditionally given to men. "In our society, when it comes to women working in hotels, it's one nice girl in the reception and housekeepers to clean. I wanted to go a little bit further."

The hotel’s manger, Jeewanthi Adhikari told AFP how this was a huge deal for a lot of women in the staff: "We have single mothers and mothers with two or three kids," Adhikari said. "Here, they don't have to suppress what they want to do in their life."

Is having an all-female team like The Amba Yaalu Hotel’s, easy?

In large sections of South Asian societies, women are trained only to do domestic work. So, there was a learning curve when they were tasks with jobs many think are reserved for men. The hotel’s manager, Jeewanthi told AFP, "Our experienced staff were used to working around male colleagues. They waited for someone else to do things, because that is how they had been trained."

The owner, Chandra Wickramasinghe also had to deal with naysayers who didn’t believe in his vision and scoffed at the idea of an all-women team.

But with proper training, things changed, and now, the women handle all the work at the property, be it maintenance, driving, the front desk, and security. None of the tasks are seen as meant only for men, anymore.

Maintenance worker Hansika Rajapaksa told AFP,"People think it's difficult for women to be involved in maintenance. But after coming here and undergoing training, we also can carry out the work that is expected of us without any difficulty".

Security officer Dilhani told AFP she was more than up to the task after being in the army: "I have experienced war... I have manned roadblocks. With that experience, it is very easy to do our work here."

Even the hotel’s 23-year-old chef Upeka Ekanayake feels this setup will serve as an important example of women’s talents. She told AFP, "This a good opportunity for women to demonstrate their talents, as to showcase our skills and courage to the new generations as well as to the world."

Underestimating women and undermining the value of female labour

Welcoming the initiative, activist Nimalka Fernando praised the initiative but also added that it’s key that women’s labour be recognised. She told AFP,“It is important to encourage those women to be the symbol of power in the tourism industry, at the same time, bring fame to Sri Lanka, they’ve brought fame to Sri Lanka. But at the same time, sustainability is important, and I hope we’ll be able to walk the talk there as a Sri Lankan. But the important thing is to give dignity to the female labour,” adding, “Women are treated as an exploitable commodity," she said. "The important thing now is to give dignity to female labour."

Somebody who did recognise the value of women’s work is the hotel’s owner, who credited his mother for his initiative. "I'm inspired by my mother... she became a single parent with eight children. She was working in a hospital at the same time and she managed very well. So, I realised the power of a woman... that they can do wonders."