A new month, a new installment of the Kuredu Celebrities series!

If you ask Google what the qualities of a good bar manager are, the hits will most likely include trustworthiness, passion, flexibility, excellent teamwork and continuing education. Now, if you ask us, there’s only one way to put it – a good bar manager equals Lalith!

Lalith Payu, a.k.a. Lala, first joined Kuredu in 1993, and is the resort’s well-respected Assistant Bar Manager. Many of you will know him for his attentiveness, good humour (if you don’t know what your favourite Kuredu cocktail tells about your personality, he does!), attention to detail, and overall inclination toward ensuring that guests are taken care of and that their glasses are always full. Lala is one resourceful man as well – when asked the cliché question ‘What 3 things would you take with you to a deserted island,’ his answer is a straightforward ‘6 cans of beer or 2 bottles of water, some fruit and a fishing rod.’ What he seems to lack in algebra, he surely makes up for with a generous portion of cheekiness.

Lala certainly lives up to his motto ‘Enjoy life today for yesterday is gone and tomorrow may never come’; when he’s not making sure everything at every bar is tip-top, you will see him play rugby or basketball, taking part in the resort’s clean ups, some of you may even remember him as your Master of Ceremonies at your wedding here on the island. Many of you may or not remember him from one of your crazy White Night Parties in Babuna Bar.

Like the rest of the celebrities that we’ve featured so far (Vinod, Fikry), Lalith can’t hide his satisfaction with life on Kuredu:

After Lala had left Kuredu for a longer break to see more of the world and expand his knowledge and skills at the Mövenpick Hotel Jumeira Beach in Dubai and in the UK (Buccaneer in Brough, Sheffield Tap Pub, and Wateredge Inn in Ambleside), he returned to the island in 2012. A year later, the management thought it would be a good idea to send him off the island, which we did – Lala attended the Asia Pacific Bartenders competition in Singapore and made it to the top 6!

Based on Lalith’s experience when Kuredu’s repeater guests came knocking on his door back home in Sri Lanka (now that’s the Kuredu family we’re talking about!), we feel we need to let you know that he will be moving over to Hurawalhi in a few short months, so make sure it’s the right door you’re knocking on.

If you’ve made it all the way to here, you must agree that he’s a good man, so please raise your glasses to Lalith and join us in thanking him for his high spirits and excellent job in the comment section on Facebook.