Ceylon Tea Trails

Style

Peaceful plantation

Setting

Sumptuous haute hill-station

Relive the Raj at Ceylon Tea Trails' quartet of elegant boutique villas in lakeside Bogawantalawa Valley in the Hill Country. Each boasting a distinctive character – and we don’t mean the butler – these restored planters' bungalows befit a Somerset Maugham lifestyle, with timbered ceilings, panelled libraries, claw-foot baths and bay windows. Feast on tea-inspired cuisine and rustic views before exploring the surrounding tea estates, ravines and waterfalls. The early tea barons knew a thing or two about decadence but they never had it this good.

Facilities

Rooms

Twenty-seven rooms, all suites.

Checkout

11am, but a room for late-flight-exits is offered when available. Check-in, 2pm.

More Details

Rates include morning tea, full cooked breakfast, daily three-course lunch (or picnic) and four-course dinner, high tea, pre-dinner cocktails and canapés, all soft drinks and selected alcoholic alcoholic drinks, laundry, taxes and service.

Also

Guests get a free tour of the tea factory and fields with the hotel's resident tea planter, including a tasting session. Between February and mid April, the valleys come alive with the annual Sami Komadu (Hindu temple) festivals: expect to hear drumming, dancing, singing and other sounds.

Free Internet Access

Laundry

At the Hotel

A butler for each house, library of books and DVDs, free WiFi throughout, gardens, clay tennis court, croquet lawns, guest bikes, picnic baskets to order. In rooms: wood fires, waffle-linen robe and acupressure flip-flops, organic bath unguents including green tea soap.

Our Favourite Rooms

Ceylon Tea Trails is made up of five colonial-era tea-planters' bungalows, scattered around Castlereagh Lake. Flaunting heritage style, each features graceful top-tier Master Suites, Garden Suites and Luxury Rooms, and comes with its own manager, chef, butler and house boys. Rooms are allocated according to availability, so you can't guarantee your first choice, but the charm of the place means everyone will claim 'their' bungalow is best. Cottage-cosy Summerville (1923) is the quietest, perched above the lake with uninterrupted views of the water and verdant hills. Glamourpuss Castlereagh (1925) is set right on the lake's edge with extensive gardens, two summerhouses and fab views. Closest to the Norwood tea factory, Norwood (1890; rebuilt 1940) feels more modern, with sensational valley vistas. Classic Tientsin (1888) enjoys the highest altitude (4,600ft) and the best pool.

Poolside

Each of the five bungalows boast refreshingly au naturel outdoor pools: mountain spring-fed and unheated, fringed by cushioned teak loungers aplenty. Breezy Tientsin's stylish infinity pool can be bracing, but is the best of the bunch, set in a clandestine upper-terrace garden for maximum privacy and minimum mozzies. Norwood's pool comes with the most expansive views for sublime swimming. Castlereagh has the smallest pool, flanked by a Scottish 'loch' and tea hills, so suits dilettante dippers who prefer plunging and lounging.

Packing Tips

Raincoats are provided but a pashmina will be invaluable for cooler evenings. No need for wellies: in the tropics, the free bathroom flip-flops can substitute. A sketchpad for recording the ravishing vistas won't go amiss.

Also

A peak season supplement of US$200 a room, each night, including tax, is payable direct to the hotel for stays from 20 December–10 January. Alcohol cannot be served on the Poya bank holiday, which occurs once a month during the full moon.

Children

Welcome; each child stays fully inclusive for $120 a night.

Gallery

Food & Drink

Top Table

At Norwood, Castlereagh and Summerville, ask for your table to be set in the summerhouse overlooking the lake, illuminated by flaming torches. At Tientsin, nab the side veranda for the best garden view, most privacy and least breezy brekky.

Dress Code

A wee bit of cashmere will take the chill off evenings (temperatures may drop to 10°C from December–February), but if you possess your own family tartan, squire, no need to be shy about flaunting your sporran. Absolutely anything's allowed underneath it.

Hotel Restaurant

Each house has a formal dining room (great for groups) though we preferred the intimate tables à deux on the alfresco terraces: picture-postcard by day, amateur astronomy by night. The skilled chefs work on such a personal note that you’ll be hard-pressed to glimpse a menu, so let them consult with you each morning to discuss your heart's desires. All-inclusive rates include an English or Sri Lankan breakfast, three-course lunch, a lavish afternoon tea and four-course dinner. Staff will also prepare impeccably well-furnished picnic baskets with freshly baked bread, scones, croissants and pastries for excursions. Organic herbs are grown in the gardens and teas are used to fragrance fresh local vegetables, poultry and fish. Almost anything goes, from roast chicken marinated in Yattawatta tea to a tastebud-blasting 12-dish curry banquet: the plantain flower and jackfruit curries are standouts.

Hotel Bar

In keeping with the easy weekend party atmosphere, the bar is a groaning antique butler’s tray set by the fireplace in each living room. All soft drinks and a select range of wines, beers and spirits are included in the room rate. A range of reliable Chileans are kept at correct temperature: wines, not guests. But don’t fret, French champagnes, adventurous Australian tipples and vintage scotches are on hand at additional charge. And the bar will stay open till you drop.

Last Orders

As late as you like, King Farouk-Smith! Your butler is at your beck and call, but will appreciate some warning.

Room Service

All rooms have garden tables for breakfast and almost anything you fancy, on or off menu, will be delivered dawn to midnight.

Planes

Sri Lankan Airlines is the only carrier that flies direct to Bandaranaike International Airport, 30 kilometres north of capital Colombo, from Sydney and selected European destinations. One-stop operators include Emirates, Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific. From the airport it's a four-hour drive to Ceylon Tea Trails in the Hill Country. Alternatively, splash down in a seaplaneon Castlereagh Lake – only a 30-minute flight from Colombo or helishuttle to Norwood in an hour by Bell Jetranger. Call our Smith24 Team on 03300 376 891 to arrange flights and transfers.

Trains

Taking the train from Kandy, in the north of the Hill Country, to Hatton, further south, is unreservedly picturesque but distinctly reserved on the luggage space. Gear up for your hedonistic life at Ceylon Tea Trails by getting your to driver to ferry your bags and meet you at other end.

Automobiles

Four wheels are the simplest way to reach the Hill Country. Drivers are easy to locate or Hayleys can arrange tours and transport around the country.

Worth Getting Out of Bed For

There isn't a standalone spa at Ceylon Tea Trails, but you can enjoy in-room treatments in absolute privacy. Indulgent aromatherapy baths are a must: try green tea for jetlag or cinnamon for an immune-system boost.

Trekking between the hotel's five bungalows offers jaw-dropping views of lakes, mountains and tea-strewn slopes, and you can stop off for a cuppa or meal along the way. Trail maps are provided free or opt for a guide for stiffer prowling. From Tientsin it's 15 kilometres to Norwood, then 12 kilometres to Castlereagh – a good downhill walk – with a further 5.3 kilometre hop to Summerville. You can also take a 90-minute train ride passing waterfalls and unbelievable vistas, picnic en route and coast home on mountain bikes to your bungalow (between 40 and 50 kilometres). The tea estate roads are perfect for cycling.

Alternatively, get a fisherman to row you across Castlereagh Reservoir on his outrigger canoe for a fish-eye view of the surrounding hills and forests. Or up the stakes with some whitewater rafting: Kithulgala's Kelani river, about a 75-minute drive north of the hotel, will tax your thrill-o-meter but is scenic enough to have starred in David Lean’s epic movie The Bridge on the River Kwai.

Play genteel games of tennis on the hotel's clay court. Afternoon tea-tasting in your villa – originally home to the plantation managers – brings a rainy day alive: savour white, green and Orange Pekoe teas so chock-a-block with antioxidants you'll feel as pure as the high-altitude hill-country air. For another kind of tee for two, the highest links in Asia can be found at Nuwara Eliya Golf Course, then unwind at the quintessentially colonial Hill Club, probably the last bastion of the Raj. This rose-garden-dotted hill station has been dubbed 'Little England' on account of its colonial roots. The fogey is not dead.

Spoilt for choice? Pick one bungalow as a base and then savour the others' distinct charms. Bike to Castlereagh and lunch in a lakeside summerhouse. Anyone for Tientsin? Take high tea there after a game on the clay court. Then catch the best sunset views with cocktails and canapés at Summerville, before returning 'home' for Port by your log fire. You can bag just one room, take over a whole bungalow exclusively or stay at several and trek between them.

Earn or Redeem Points with World of Hyatt

This Mr & Mrs Smith hotel participates in the World of Hyatt loyalty program. As a member, you can earn and redeem points and enjoy exclusive benefits for qualifying nights. .