Ceylon Tea Trails - Relais and Chateaux

英式別墅，衞生間太漂亮了！獨享優美的風景，泳池景觀非常好，熱水泡池很舒服！管家式服務非常值得稱讚，每天跟客人商量美食，去哪裡玩也儘可能好好安排，每一環節都讓人滿意！

太完美的一間酒店了，必須再次回去多住幾天才能表達我對這家酒店的熱愛，在茶山和碧湖之間營造了一個避世之所，餐食也不愧為羅萊夏朵的經典出品

This was our first visit to Sri Lanka, which we were looking forward to as part of our winter tour including Maldives, Sri Lanka, Thailand and a return to the cold UK through Oman and Quatar. Ceylon Tea Trails comprise five individual tea planter bungalows situated in the very beautiful mountain tea plantation area south of Hatton in Central Sri Lanka. It can be either easy to reach, or difficult dependent upon how you travel. The easiest route is to take the floatplane from Colombo airport. The aircraft touches down on Castlereagh Lake at 4,000 feet above sea level after about 30minutes flight time. The most difficult alternative is via road, taking between 4 and 5 hours dependent on conditions. If the mountain weather prevents visual air operations, then the only option available is the road journey. We were luckily able to make the journey by air and its truly spectacular. Descending into the valley the green velvet plantation tapestry is strikingly beautiful, this added an exciting and dramatic feature to our visit. The planter bungalows are situated about 40minutes drive from one another, each with their own manager, butler, chef and service team. We had been assigned to stay at the Tiantsin bungalow, the original building of the five established in 1888 and named after the original town in China from where the first tea plants were imported. The area is steeped in colonial history from this period. During the journey from lake to bungalow we were fascinated to stop at the Anglican Christ Church of Warleigh and experience the original almost 200 year pipe organ being casually played by a fellow visitor, this brought quite an emotional sentiment. On arrival at the Tiantsin the gardens display an array of colour, layed out and manicured resembling a Thames Valley English summer garden. We were welcomed by our butler with a refreshing juice and introduced to our Chef who discussed our gastronomic preferences. The service here is all about providing a truly bespoke tailored experience. As the guest, you can set the time table and routine and the chef will volunteer the wide array of ingredients for the lunch and dinner, with afternoon tea in between should you wish. The rooms are traditionally furnished and generally spacious with access to garden terraces. Curiously for me they had a familiar “Scottish” ambience. Internet connectivity functions well, despite an amusing absence of room telephone, such apparatus being replaced by a bedside call button. Using this retro technology one press for a couple of seconds and our butler would be at the suite entrance in moments to meet our needs. During our three day stay we enjoyed walking along the plantation trails where we met many locals, we visited the Norwood Bungalow where their chef entertained us for a morning curry cooking course, and visited Norwood shopping street. We didn’t get time to enjoy the swimming pool and hot tub, but I did spend a relaxing afternoon with a Cuban cigar amongst the a

We were spoilt beyond our dreams by the team at Tea Trails. The accommodation (owners bungalow) was enormous and very comfortable with stunning views of the estate and lake. The food was world class and the staff the friendliest we have come across. Service was excellent and the estate is run in a truly professional and hospitable manner.

We stayed here for 2 nights in the Dunkeld plantation house. There are only 5 rooms and the service is personalised and exquisite. Nothing is too much trouble. The view over the lake and tea plantations is magnificent. The food is top quality and the chef comes in the morning to ask what you would like for dinner. There is also an amazing tea. There are plenty of walking trails and you can visit any of the 4 other plantation houses spread around the lake. We also had a free very informative visit around the tea factory. It is an effort to get here unless you come by float plane but it is well worth it. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

- to be caught in the rain. Castlereigh bungalow has only 5 rooms so the atmosphere is one of a house party. The tall figure from Birmingham, the military man, the Belgian lyricist (or is he a detective), the motorcyclist with a ponytail make quite a cast. All of us in a bungalow built in 1925 with a vibe of the 20s, 30s and 40s inside. The bedrooms without AC but a fan is enough at the altitude of the tea plantation. It really is all inclusive with a first class chef and staff, Singh stands out as really knowing his profession. If you stayed for 6 days as we did you could easily leave with a Michelin man physique. Food is Sri Lankan or European as you wish and jolly good. There is a pool and the pretty garden is well looked after. We went to 3 of the other 4 bungalows and our second choice would be Teitsen. Castlereigh though seemed the most authentic and comfortable. Let the rain pitter patter But it really doesn’t matter If the skies are grey Long as I can be with you It’s a lovely day