Ceylon Tea Trails - Relais and Chateaux

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 spent three nights in the Norwood Bungalow, one of five bungalows in the Tea Trails. We also had lunch at two other bungalows: Castlereagh and Tientsim. All of the bungalows are impeccably presented - beautifully presented, well-maintained with polished floors, crisp linen, hot water, lovely gardens, breathtaking views, a swimming pool…. and most of all, wonderful staff who are professional and courteous. The food is outstanding in both quality and variety. We toured the nearby Dunkeld Tea Processing Centre and were looked after by Bernard, who explained the history of the tea trade and the processes for making tea, from growing the bushes through harvesting the crop, sorting and rolling the leaves, producing the loose leaf tea and pancaking it for auction. Fascinating.

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.