Ceylon Tea Trails - Relais & Chateaux

Ceylon Tea Trails is a collection of five colonial era tea planters bungalows owned Dilmah Tea Company, each bungalow has a unique history and location scattered around the Castlereigh Reservoir. All share period details and nostalgia, have beautiful grounds and incredible pools but each retains a unique DNA! We stayed in the Norwood bungalow for 2 nights but we had the pleasure of visiting 4 of the 5 bungalows, which are all equally wonderful. Our stay at Norwood was particularly special because of the wonderful staff. Nesa, the cottage butler and manager is an incredible hospitality professional and human. Nesa was kind, patient and went out of his way to make us feel at home, anticipating our needs and offering us the best hospitality you could dream of. We could not be more thankful. Simply the best! Virag and Kaesavan, attended to us, always with a smile making our stay very special. During our stay we had a tour of the tea factory, which was very interesting and something I would recommend, but the highlights were our boat tour of the lake and the most incredible high tea experience we could dream of. The setting was magical, the food incredible and of course the tea was second to none. Our room at Norwood Bungalow had a lovely private garden, a beautiful bathroom with period details and was very comfortable. Thank you again for making our stay so special!

Ceylon Tea Trails is indeed our second home, as they say when you arrive! Such a peaceful and beautiful place! Everybody is so nice, great experience to learn about the tea factory process. But for sure the high point is the food!! All the meals we had were fantastic! We were on our honeymoon and they made some surprises that we will not forget!

We had a magical family vacation at Dunkeld and Tientsin Bungalows. Both are very different - Dunkeld perched high above Castlereigh reservoir, affording panoramic views of the beautiful surroundings - and Tientsin stately and grand, with breathtaking English-style gardens which were a riot of colours. However, what is common between them is the warmth, kindness and professionalism of the staff. Samantha, Krishna, Priyantha and Nilantha at Dunkeld, and Ajith, Chamara, Priya and Chandrasurya at Tientsin. Mr. Clement Anthony, the general manager was welcoming and extremely professional while managing our transfers and other requests. Chauffeurs Thilaka, Vasantha and Kulin were extremely skilled and navigated the winding terrain with consummate ease. From the initial welcome, the feeling at these bungalows is one of utmost comfort, relaxation and luxury. All meals are customised and the chefs go out of their way make everything perfect. Chef Samantha at Dunkeld and Chefs Sunira and Jenish at Tientsin pampered us to a fault. Sri Lanka, Indian, Italian… each meal was a delight. The activities are wonderful as well. We enjoyed kayaking on Castlereigh reservoir, but the undisputed highlight of the Tea Trails experience are the trails that connect or encircle the different bungalows. We walked the D1 trail around Dunkeld, and the T2 trail around Tientsin. Both had panoramic views and afforded us a deep sense of peace and tranquility. Seeing a peacock flying around the valley while we were walking the T2 trail was magical to say the least. These are special places, cared for with love and affection. It was a privilege to spend a week here and our family will be back for sure.

This beautiful property located in the middle of this picturesque scenery amongst the tea trails. The people are lovely, very kind and the food excellent. We felt directly at home. We had the spacious Alston suite, with a private garden and a nice bed. I even had 2 spa treatments in the comfort of our own room. We went for a tea tasting experience at the tea factory and thanks to all the lovely information of Bernard we appreciate our cup of tea even more! Great experience! The property is absolutely gorgeous. From the swimming pool and the jacuzzi you can (almost) privately enjoy the mountains, sunrise and sunsets. We would absolutely recommend this place to everyone! The best home away from home experience we have ever had. We did not want to home haha!

We last stayed in Ceylon Tea Trails 14 years ago and always wanted to come back. This time we stayed 3 nights at Castlereagh bungalow. Although the weather was less than perfect, we had a delightfully restful time. Chef Ravichandran conjured up perfect meal after perfect meal. We love Sri Lankan food and he was happy to oblige with a series of meals showcasing different aspects of the cuisine. A gastronomic tour de force. Thanks also to Philip, Aruna n Teek for their warm hospitality and service

This was a very special place to visit and worth the long drive and up the mountain from where we had been staying. The staff were lovely, the colonial houses were stunning, the tea factory tour and their sustainability efforts were very interesting. The amount of wildlife around this area was wonderful. The drinks, wine and food were all very good, too good! As the pool was a little chilly, we used the hot tub every afternoon and enjoyed the stunning views. The staff organised for us to have lunch in different houses during our visit, which was worth doing, as we saw two of the other colonial houses this way and more of the area. On arrival, we took a short boat trip across to our location. We did walk to the tea factory one day, but we had a lot of rain whilst we were there, so did not walk more. We did also get a few items washed, which was helpful as it was a little chillier up in this area. We would have liked to have done the boat trip and some kayaking, but the weather was not in our favour. Practical advice: take a warm jumper or wrap; lots of insect repellent, as they were vicious bites here; stick to the paths, as whilst walking on the grass, we picked up leeches - they are harmless and don't pull them off, the staff said salt water solution will get them off and they would help if needed,