Where else in the world can you stay in a converted tea factory, pluck your own tea and take it home with you as a souvenir. The views over the lush green organic plantations as the sun mingles with the mist are truly unforgettable. This hotel offers guests the ambiance of the Colonial times while providing one of the best services to make your stay worthwhile.

Accommodation

Heritance Tea Factory has comfortable rooms on four floors, converted from the former withering lofts (this is where the freshly plucked leaves were laid out on jute mats for some of the moisture to evaporate). The full-length windows that once helped to control the temperature for drying the leaves now ensure that the rooms are flooded with natural light, while providing spectacular views of the surrounding tea plantations.

Superior Rooms: Enjoy splendid views of the Hethersett plantation or the Randenigala valley from the comfort of the armchairs in your room while sipping a cup of tea made from leaves grown in the resorts’s own plantations.

Premium Rooms: Premium Rooms are larger and have a double aspect, providing even more spectacular views of the tea-covered hills and valleys.

Executive Floor Deluxe: The rooms on the top executive floor offer unparalleled views over the hills and valleys. Your every need is catered for, with butler service from 6am to midnight and canapés and fresh strawberries and cream in your room.

Junior Suite: Junior Suite offers a master bedroom and sitting area on the executive floor providing breathtaking views over the plantations around the hotel.

Flowerdew Suite: Named after the planter who founded the Hethersett estate in 1879, this is the highest elevated room in Sri Lanka, situated 2 km above sea level. It feels as if you are on top of the world, as windows on three sides of the bedroom provide a triple aspect of Ragala and Randeingala reservoir.

Dining

Traditional Sri Lankan food is a wonderful mix of taste, colour and aroma. The island’s location made it a popular stopping off point for foreign traders, indigenous spices such as cinnamon and cloves have been enriched by diverse culinary influences from around the world.

Kenmare Restaurant: Kenmare restaurant is the former sifting room of the old tea factory. Most of the original girders and ironwork remain intact, while the service stations are decorated with some of the factory’s packing cases. Buffet laid in the Kenmare Restaurant will give you the opportunity to try a wide range of Sri Lankan food, as well as international dishes. Or you can opt for the à la carte menu of international dishes.

Dining on Wheels: TCK 6685, a third-class carriage of the narrow-gauge railway line that used to transport tea has been converted to a fine-dining restaurant. The chef himself takes your order to discuss any particular preferences you may have. Then it’s time to sit back and enjoy the ride through six courses, or “stations”. With candlelight reflected in the gleaming teak and brass, it’s a delightfully nostalgic experience.

Hethersett Bar: This is the perfect place for an aperitif before dinner or a relaxing cigar and digestif. It’s the only public area of the hotel where smoking is allowed. The friendly barmen are always happy to whip up a cocktail – maybe a heady mix of old arrack, passionfruit cordial and fresh lime juice.

Goatfell Bar: You could try a different tea every day for three weeks and still not get through all the varieties offered by the specialist tea bar. Along with home-produced teas, they stock several kinds of flavoured tea, from melon and mango to raspberry and rose.

Experiences

• Other Dining Options: Apart from having the food at the restaurant the guests have other options as well.
  • Jungle Breakfast: A Truly Unforgettable Breakfast Experience in a Jungle at with Panoramic Views of the Lush tea Plantations and the Misty Hills.
  • Indian Breakfast: A Vegetarian Or a Vegan Feast, Including Fruit Juices, Rotis, Sambals & Sambar, Curries, Dosas and Wadais.
  • High Tea: After a Day’s Excursion, relax on the Terrace, in the Topiary Garden or in the Goatfell Bar with a Pot of Home-Grown Purely Organic Tea along with Samosas, Sandwiches and Scones, and for those with a sweet tooth, Fruit Tarts, Cake and Cookies along with local specialties.
• Tea Tasting: Tea tasting is the process in which a trained taster determines the quality of a particular tea. Guest can choose to have a tea tasting experience during their stay at Heritance Tea Factory.
• Pluck Your Own Tea: At Heritance Tea Factory you get the opportunity to wear the local attire – saree for the ladies, sarong for the gentlemen – and collect leaves from the organic tea fields and bring them back in the basket provided by the hotel.
• Excurions: Below excursions can be organised for the guests:
  • Nature Treks: You will be taken through the plantations, explaining how the bushes are picked once a week and pruned every five years. You will also hear the entertaining tales of the wild boar, buffalo and even occasional leopards that roam the area at night. You will be able to see different varieties of bird that can be seen locally. Finally, you’ll climb a ridge for wonderful panoramic views of the lush plantations and misty hills.
  • Horton Plains: The misty grassland plateau is a National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site. There is a strange and mysterious silence about the place, and it has some excellent walks. The dense forests are home to deer, jackal, the shaggy bear-monkey, sambhur (a large deer) and the occasional leopard. The plains are also popular with birdwatchers. The most amazing feature of Horton Plains is World’s End, where the southern part of the plains drops almost vertically for 700 m.
  • Sita Eliya Temple: According to legend, Sita Eliya Temple is believed to mark the spot where Sita, the heroine from the Indian epic Ramayana, was held captive by her abductor, King Ravana. Some people call this the only Sita temple in the world.
  • Mountains And Waterfalls: Sripada (sacred footprint) or Samanalakande (butterfly mountain) has been the object of worship and pilgrimage for centuries for all major religions. The British referred to this mountain as Adam’s Peak. Watching the dawn from Sripada is a rare experience. On clear days one can see the shadow of the peak cast on the surrounding forest canopy as the sun rises. The guests can also visit Pidurutalagala, the highest mountain in Sri Lanka, Kurundu Oya falls, the third tallest in Sri Lanka or St Clair’s fall.

Location

Address : Heritance Tea Factory, B39, Nuwara Eliya 22220, SRI LANKA