Hill Country, Sri Lanka Ceylon Tea Trails
Between tea fields and lakes
Ceylon Tea Trails is the world’s first tea bungalow resort. Perched at 1,250 metres in Sri Lanka’s tea-growing region, bordering the UNESCO World Heritage Central Highlands, it is the island’s first Relais & Châteaux property. Five restored bungalows of former tea planters offer period furnishings, a personal butler and gourmet cuisine. The bungalows lie four to fifteen kilometres apart, each with its own character: Summerville, Dunkeld and Castlereagh by the lake, Norwood and Tientsin amid emerald valleys with views of mountains and tea estates. Trails connect all five, and every stay includes meals, drinks and the tour of tea fields and factory.
Location
South of Hatton in Sri Lanka’s hill country. Hatton is 20 to 45 minutes from the bungalows and has a railway station with services to Colombo, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya and Ella
160 kilometres and about 4.5 hours from Colombo Airport
Trails connect all five bungalows, for a visit to another bungalow for a meal or cream tea
Highlights
Five historic tea bungalows with 27 rooms and suites in total
A personal butler and gourmet cuisine in every bungalow, meals included
A daily tea tour through fields and factory
Arrival by train, floatplane or helicopter
Amenities
27 rooms & suites · 5 bungalows
Butler service · Pool · Heated jacuzzi · Tennis court · Boat and kayaks on Castlereagh Lake · Dunkeld Tea Factory · Owner’s Cottage · Helipad · Floatplane dock
Impressions
Cuisine
Included in your stay are an English or Sri Lankan breakfast, a three-course lunch or rice and curry, the traditional afternoon cream tea, cocktails before dinner and a four-course gourmet dinner. Wine, premium spirits, beer, juices and soft drinks complete the offering. Tea shapes the kitchen: there is a dinner with tea in the dishes and a tiffin lunch in the style of the tea planters.
Wellness
The treatments combine ingredients made from tea with herbs from the surroundings and draw on traditional healing methods. Aromatic baths open or close the day, and treatments take place in your own room on request, for instance after a hike or bike ride.
Experiences
Every day, the Tea Planter in Residence leads a tour through the tea fields and factory, from picking “two leaves and a bud” to a manufacturing process unchanged for a century. Further options include a private tea tasting, hikes and bike rides along the trails between the bungalows, kayaking on Castlereagh Lake, rafting, excursions to Adam’s Peak and the Horton Plains, and heritage excursions to Kandy and Nuwara Eliya.
Room categories
Ceylon Tea Trails offers 27 rooms and suites across five bungalows, with period furnishings, a butler around the clock and morning “Bed Tea”. Rooms have no key unless you request one. Children are welcome, and the resort asks parents to consider the tranquil atmosphere when booking.
The Luxury Rooms (approx. 40 sqm) feature antique furniture and a king-size bed. The room includes an elegant bathroom with a bathtub and shower. The period furnishings, the butler service and the setting in tea country make them a quiet retreat within the bungalow.
The Garden Suites (50 sqm) benefit from a four-poster bed and a private garden. Here the day begins among greenery, with the garden as an outdoor space of your own. The suite offers more room than the Luxury Rooms and joins the furnishings of the plantation era with the comfort of a guest house.
The Master Suite (approx. 70 sqm) has a spacious living room and an elegant bathroom with twin sinks, a bathtub and a walk-in shower. The living room makes it the most generous room type in the bungalow, where a day is well spent without leaving.
The Owner’s Cottage (approx. 120 sqm) at Dunkeld Bungalow, one of the lakeside bungalows, is a house of its own with one bedroom. It comprises a living room, a master bedroom and a spacious terrace with a private heated hot tub. It offers the most space and seclusion of the room types.
The Two Bedroom Estate Suite combines the Master Suite with an adjoining Luxury Room and offers two bedrooms with king beds and two bathrooms. A living room and private garden complete the suite, which suits up to four adults and two children or six adults.
Your journey in best hands.
Ceylon Tea Trails – Amid the Tea Fields
Ceylon Tea Trails combines five historic bungalows with a stay centred on tea, trails and butler service. A retreat in the hill country that suits couples as well as families.
Let us help plan your dream trip to Ceylon Tea Trails – get in touch for a no-obligation travel enquiry.
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