Ceylon Tea Trails

Ceylon Tea Trails consists of five bungalows scattered across the tea estates of the Bogawantalawa valley at around 1,250 metres, each first built for a British estate manager between 1888 and 1925 and each still run as a private house. Tientsin, the oldest, keeps its clubroom character and sits highest; Castlereagh stands on the lake shore with a jetty for kayaks; Summerville looks straight over the water from an infinity pool; Dunkeld is closest to the tea factory; Norwood looks down the eastern end of the valley. Guests book a room, but they live in a house with its own chef and butlers, and meals are made to order rather than chosen from a menu.

The resort was conceived by the Fernando family behind Dilmah tea and belongs to their Resplendent Ceylon group, with the plantation still at work around the bungalows. Mornings begin with a walk through pluckers' rows to the Dunkeld factory, where the resident planter explains withering and rolling before you taste the result. Afternoons are for the lake, the croquet lawn or the walking trails between bungalows.

The pace is what people remember. Nothing is scheduled unless you ask, tea arrives on the veranda at four and by nine the valley is dark and quiet. Condé Nast Traveller readers placed it first among resorts in the rest of Asia in 2024.