Where to stay in the hill country

Bandarawela Hotel is a colonial style mountain resort located along Welimada Road in Sri Lanka’s Uva Province. The hotel offers a restaurant, bar and a 24-hour front desk. Rooms at the Bandarawela Hotel come with air conditioning, a TV, radio and hairdryer. Accommodation and meals are free for hired drivers of in-house guests. Guests can enjoy recreation facilities such as tennis, badminton and billiards. A fitness room lets guests exercise. A currency exchange and tour desk is available. A variety of eastern and western dishes are served at the hotel main restaurant, which offers views of the surrounding tea plantations. A bar and lounge offers drinks and live music. Bandarawela Hotel is about a 3-hour drive from Colombo.

A holiday in the sweltering months in the middle of the year should ideally whisk you away into somewhere cool and pleasant. Nawalapitiya is perfect terrain, with a cool and mountainous setting where all your worries and stress will congeal with the mist and leave you soothed. Okwin Resort in this emerald land of tea is surrounded by mountains clothed with pines and swirling white waters that gush like white bridal trains, shimmering in goldenmorningsunlight. Okwin is equipped with four main categories of well-designed rooms as well as suites plus a sumptuous honeymoon suite. All rooms are fully air conditioned and modernly furnished with coffee and tea making facilities, private balconies overlooking the romantic Sudugala Falls or the garden, and luxury Jacuzzis. There is free Wi-Fi throughout the property. Okwin Resort is an eco-friendly hotel that blends harmoniously with the green mountainscape, and while you are snuggled in its cocoon, you are assured very personalised attention, whether you are there for business or pleasure. They serve continental and eastern made-to-order breakfast, lunch as well as dinner. The flavours in the dishes are carefully curated by the kitchen, which is headed by a gourmet chef to offer guests a blissful holiday. You can make Okwin your base for exploring the charming, mild-weathered hill country. Have a rendezvous with the beautiful, misty waterfalls of Devon, St. Clair’s and Kataboola Ella. The tea estates, English stone churches and,

Overlooking peaceful views of Lake Gregory just a 5-minute walk away, The Firs offers well-appointed rooms with air conditioning and free Wi-Fi access. Guests can also utilize the barbeque facilities. Located within a 1-hour drive to popular attractions like Horton Plains National Park and Hakgala Botanical Gardens, the property is also a 3.5-hour drive to Colombo city and Bandaranaike International Airport. The guestrooms at Firs feature warm décor and are fitted with a DVD player, a writing table and an en suite bathroom with a spacious spa bathtub and a hairdryer. A 24-hour front desk will be happy to assist with laundry services and airport shuttle services are available at a surcharge. Complimentary butler services are available upon request. The in-house restaurant at The Firs will serve local Sri Lankan, Indian and continental meals. Guests can also enjoy 24-hour room service options.

Situated 300 metres from Gregory Lake in Nuwara Eliya, Bungalow 1926 features a restaurant, bar and free WiFi throughout the property. The hotel has a barbecue and views of the mountain, and guests can enjoy a meal at the restaurant. Free private parking is available on site. Each room comes with a flat-screen TV. Some rooms include a seating area where you can relax. Enjoy a cup of tea from your terrace or balcony. Each room is equipped with a private bathroom fitted with a bath. Extras include bathrobes and slippers. You will find a 24-hour front desk at the property. You can play billiards at the hotel.

Heritance Tea Factory offers colonial-style rooms with views of the surrounding tea plantations and hills. It features a luxurious spa, tea-picking tours and a restaurant set in a train carriage. Cosy guestrooms come with a minibar, cable TV and free organic tea leaves. The en suite bathroom is fitted with a bathtub and a rain shower. Guests can work out at a fitness room or go for a tea plantation nature walk. Massage and other treatments are offered at the Misty Mountain Spa. Billiards and mini golf facilities are available. Dinning on Wheels Restaurant features Western and European meals. Kenmare Restaurant serves a selection of Eastern and Western dishes. Accommodation and meals are free for hired drivers of in-house guests.