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. 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.

Rooms are named after tea planters who lived in the bungalow. They offer a taste of colonial-era luxury with solid teak furnishings, antique touches and plush beds. Master Suites with a separate living room, Garden Suites with verandahs to private gardens and Luxury Rooms of great character. A secluded Owner’s Cottage. Relax in immense four-poster beds, crisp white sheets. Twenty-six elegant and charming rooms and suites decorated each in a unique style, ranging from neo-colonial to classic English. A dedicated butler service will be available to guests from dawn to dusk to ensure that no request is too much trouble. Guests are treated to traditional morning ‘Bed Tea’ to start the day in style.

‘No Menus, Just indulgences’ is our philosophy. The island’s first Relais & Chateaux lodge brings a mix of delicate fine dining and the gastronomic passion of local cuisine to the charm of colonial tea plantation bungalows.

The day at Tea Trails starts with that wonderful colonial institution, Bed Tea. Served by your butler as part of a gentle wake-up call, this must be the most civilised way to start the day. The butler will also draw your bath. Then an early morning walk followed by an English or Sri Lankan breakfast. A unique aspect of Tea Trails’ cuisine is the use of fresh, home grown vegetables, herbs and teas from the surrounding estates. Basil, rosemary, thyme, tarragon, sage, parsley and mint inspire and enliven the chef’s menus every day.

Tea Trails is all about the time-honoured planters’ traditions: Roaring fires and the comfort of a single malt whisky while the mists roll in or a stiff gin and tonic after a long day’s walk in the tea gardens, accompanied by the spicy flavours of Sri Lankan nibbles to stimulate the appetite. Scrumptious afternoon cream teas in gardens curiously English and exotic at the same time. A four-course dinner that is at once contemporary and colonial with its garden-fresh ingredients married with choice wines, best shared in good company. Or a fabulously aromatic, authentic Sri Lankan rice and curry for lunch – a definite harbinger of the afternoon siesta.

Rates at Tea Trails are fully inclusive of gourmet meals and drinks, including select top shelf spirits and wines. Even service charges, taxes and limited laundry are included. We won’t bother you with bills.

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.

The complementary guided tour of Dilmah Tea’s Dunkeld Tea Factory is the quintessential tea experience in Sri Lanka. Our experiences are carefully curated to offer an authentic, intimate and exploratory journey into the heart, soul, history, and gastronomy of this magical island. We also offer activities with healthy doses of fun, adventure and pampering, along with a holistic wellness offering for guests to escape their urban life and soothe mind, body, and soul. A selection of engaging activities for families – with a special selection for kids – are on hand as well, to round out the perfect getaway.