Mr & Mrs Smith

Ceylon Tea Trails

Hill Country, Sri Lanka

Relive the Raj at Ceylon Tea Trails' quartet of elegant boutique villas in lakeside Bogawantalawa Valley in the Hill Country. Each boasting a distinctive character – and we don’t mean the butler – these restored planters' bungalows befit a Somerset Maugham lifestyle, with timbered ceilings, panelled libraries, claw-foot baths and bay windows. Feast on tea-inspired cuisine and rustic views before exploring the surrounding tea estates, ravines and waterfalls. The early tea barons knew a thing about decadence but they never had it this good.

Need to know

• Rooms 20, including 13 suites.
• Rates Double rooms from AU$387.31 (€300), excluding tax at 27 per cent.
  Prices have been converted from the hotel's local currency (€300), via XE.com, using today's exchange rate.
• More details All-inclusive room rates cover morning tea, full cooked breakfast, lunch, high tea, pre-dinner cocktails and canapés, four-course dinner, all beverages (except premium spirits), laundry service, taxes and service charge.
• Facilities 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. In rooms: wood fires, waffle-linen robe and acupressure flip-flops, organic bath unguents including green tea soap.
• Poolside Three of the four 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. Summerville guests can choose between all three.
• Check-out 11am, but a room for late-flight-exits is offered when available. Check-in, 12pm.
• Children Welcome: up to two under-12s can share their parents' room with an extra bed or baby cots supplied for free (supplement payable for food only). As this is a tranquil hideaway, children are asked to be quiet inside bungalows so as not to disturb guests. More...
• Eco-friendly There's a strong eco-friendly flavour here, with all three swimming pools fed by mountain springs, and in-room herbal and organic toiletries drawing on teas and essential oils grown in the local hills. Tea is also used in the hotel's cuisine, making the most of its natural antioxidant qualities.
• Also A peak season supplement of €119 a room a night, including tax, is payable direct to the hotel for stays from 20 December–10 January.

Food and drink at Ceylon Tea Trails

• Hotel restaurant

  Each house has a formal dining room (great for groups) though we preferred the intimate tables à deux on the alfresco terraces: picture-postcard by day, amateur astronomy by night. The skilled chefs work on such a personal note that you’ll be hard-pressed to glimpse a menu, so let them consult with you each morning to discuss your heart's desires. Fresh bread, scones, croissants and pastries are baked daily so picnic baskets are impeccably well-furnished. Organic herbs are grown in the gardens and teas are used to fragrance fresh local vegetables, poultry and fish. Almost anything goes, from roast chicken marinated in Yattawatta tea to a tastebud-blasting 12-dish curry banquet: the plantain flower and jackfruit curries are standouts.

• Dress code A wee bit of cashmere will take the chill off evenings (temperatures may drop to 10°C from December–February), but if you possess your own family tartan, squire, no need to be shy about flaunting your sporran. Absolutely anything's allowed underneath it.
• Top table At Norwood, Castlereagh and Summerville, ask for your table to be set in the summerhouse overlooking the lake, illuminated by flaming torches. At Tientsin, nab the side veranda for the best garden view, most privacy and least breezy brekky.
• Last orders As late as you like, King Farouk-Smith! Your butler is at your beck and call, but will appreciate some warning.
• Room service All rooms have garden tables for breakfast and almost anything you fancy, on or off menu, will be delivered dawn to midnight.
• Hotel bar

  In keeping with the easy weekend party atmosphere, the bar is a groaning antique butler’s tray set by the fireplace in each living room. A range of reliable Chileans are kept at correct temperature: wines, not guests. But don’t fret, French champagnes, adventurous Australian tipples and vintage scotches are on hand at additional charge. And the bar will stay open till you drop.

Also worth knowing

• Weddings This property is suitable for weddings. More...

Ceylon Tea Trails 46/38 Nawam Mawatha, Colombo, 2