Guest User
February 29, 2024
The approach to this hotel is along a rough and steep track that wends through a massive working tea plantation. As you rise from the plains the temperature drops and the mist sets in around you. All of this sets the scene for this hotel of tranquillity and respite. The train journey from Kandy to Nuwara Eliya had set the tone is it slowly wound its way up the mountain revealing vistas across lush valleys and revealing waterfalls through the jungle and the tea plants. After all the travel, stepping out to revel this renovated bungalow of just four residential rooms feels like coming home to a colonial time. Ushered into a comfortable sofa next to an open fire from the moment you arrive you are made to feel like some sort of gentry. As with most of our travel so far we were once again the only guests in this home and it does feel like a home not a hotel. The rooms are softly furnished with warm throws to use against the nightly chill. The vista from the verandah across the infinity edge pool is breathtaking. The room opens onto a terrace and croquet lawn surrounded by agapanthus all dominated by a view from 2000 metres that feels like you are looking down upon the entirety of Sri Lanka. Is it any wonder that the early colonial people sort out this haven away from the heat of the coastal regions. All the staff were simply amazing, Indika was on hand constantly, serving food, making gin and tonic. Suraj checking in to make sure all was in order, organising tea tours and hikes, overseeing the smoothest of experiences. Chef makes excellent meals with the best croissants I have tasted in this country, tasty ice creams and a stunning seafood bisque. Turn down service has the lovely quirk of coming with a hot water bottle complete with a cosy knitted coat ready for you to tuck up for a fabulous nights sleep. In this extremely difficult time in Sri Lanka some wines and spirits are simply not available but it is of no matter as this experience is one of the best you will ever have.