Staff, location, food.

Amazing hotel away from crowded touristy areas. Incredible foods, amazing staff and an amazing hotel. Wish we had stayed longer!

Stayed in August 2025

The rain

Everything

Stayed in June 2025

Nothing! It was amazing!

Everything was amazing! The location of this property, service, food, and how beautiful the area is unmatched. The staff were top notch and attentive to every need we had. Every detail of the property exceeded our expectations and was truly wonderful!

Stayed in June 2025

A Very satisfying experience at a fabulous location amidst tea plantations and overlooking a reservoir , excellent food and fantastic service and attention to detail

Stayed in May 2025

Nothing.

Everything about our stay was incredible. Location, rooms, staff and food, couldn’t fault anything. A very special place to stay.

Stayed in April 2025

Beautifully appointed , excellent food and service with an old world charm demonstrating the lifestyle of a senior Tea Planter up until the late 1960’s .

Stayed in March 2025

Great food and tea, beautiful scenery, and very attentive service

Stayed in February 2025

Nothing

Food was of a very good standard. Staff were excellent

Stayed in February 2025

Our experience at Tientsin Bungalow didn’t quite match the charm and exceptional service we enjoyed at Summerville. Unlike Summerville, the butler service was noticeably absent—we only interacted at check-in and occasionally thereafter. While the staff were kind, attentive, and accommodating, there seemed to be a lack of service presence throughout our stay. The Garden Suite at Tientsin was lovely, but the service there didn’t quite match the warmth and charm at Summerville. This was particularly evident upon checkout, where no staff was in sight to attend to us. We had to find our way into the kitchen to order drinks and even helped ourselves with our luggages until someone eventually noticed and stepped in to help. While this is not an issue at all for us, it’s one example how the service we received at Summerville was absolute GOLD. While the staff did their best, the service at Tientsin fell short of the exceptional hospitality we experienced at Summerville.

We stayed in the Garden Suite at Summerville and the Tientsin Bungalow during our honeymoon at Ceylon Tea Trails, and it was an absolute treat. Both bungalows were lush, beautifully designed with colonial charm, and equipped with top-notch facilities. The service at Summerville was truly exceptional—100/10!!! Our exceptional butler, Sanjaya, was incredibly kind, warm, and genuine, going above and beyond to make our stay special. The entire Summerville team also exceeded our expectations, delivering quite possibly the very best hospitality we’ve ever experienced. The chef prepared outstanding Sri Lankan and continental dishes, with every meal executed to perfection in both taste and presentation. Sanjaya made our stay even more memorable by setting up a beautiful poolside breakfast with mimosas and bubbles at 9 AM 😂. We were also introduced to the delightful tradition of “bed tea”, and he truly spoiled us throughout our stay! 🥹 We also appreciated the all-inclusive rates, which made the experience seamless. After six days of traveling through Sri Lanka, we were grateful to have our laundry done effortlessly as well. In terms of location, Tientsin sits higher in the mountains and doesn’t offer quite the same magical lake views as Summerville. That said, the T2 Tea Trail there was a highlight, adding a unique touch to our experience. We’d highly recommend it, though it’s best enjoyed in the morning or late afternoon to avoid the heat! While both properties have their own charm, Summerville set an incredibly high bar, making it the standout of our honeymoon at Ceylon Tea Trails. We would love to return to Summerville and perhaps experience the Castlereagh Bungalow next time!

Stayed in February 2025

Hmmm

We got what we verbated.

Stayed in January 2025

Nothing it was 5* luxury

We stayed in Dunkeld bungalow in the owners cottage for 5 nights during unexpected rain and then later beautiful sunshine. In all weather this is a fantastic place to stay. The real star of our stay was the staff - as you’d expect service was outstanding. Priyantha, Samantha, Krishna and Verun were exceptional at anticipating our needs and supporting us moving around the different bungalows as well as surviving rainy days. The chefs led by Ravi are amazing! We appreciated having a shadow menu that we could tailor to our dietary preferences and these were remembered throughout our stay.

Stayed in December 2024

Amazing staff who were so kind and attentive

Stayed in November 2024

We loved this hotel. A delightful property, in a beautiful setting. The food was superb. However, it’s the staff that make this a great stay. In particular Piya, the butler/ manager. What a delightful man. Nothing is too much for any one the staff. I thoroughly recommend staying here.

Stayed in November 2024

Amazing service and amazing location. Priya & Sathsara did a great job at treating us like royalty recently at the Dunkeld Estate. Fantastic experience!

Stayed in October 2024

Staff needs a bit more training and warning for leeches would be good.

The place is beautiful and all bungalows are very different from each other. Staff makes a lot of effort and the chef Yapa was amazing.

Stayed in May 2024

It being the beginning of the rainy season, there were more bugs in the rooms than I would presume would be the case during a cooler season. Also the lake level was low and thus the view was a bit less picturesque than it might have been.

The food was outstanding at all meals. Soups and breads, including a wide assortment of gluten free breads, were excellent. Main courses, including wonderful seafood, were consistently top notch. The wines were very good as well.

Stayed in May 2024

Nothing but praise.

Many friends had recommended Ceylon Tea Trails (CTT). Our three night stay in the Baker garden suite of Castlereagh bungalow was simply outstanding. We booked a CTT taxi from Colombo (and later to our next hotel) and enjoyed our comfortable, safe and informative journeys, courtesy of expert drivers Kithsiri and Uditha. Welcomed to Castlereagh by Butler Kasun and operations manager Chaminda, we immediately felt at home and dived into the daily rhythm of discussing our excursion and meal requirements for the following day with Kasun and head chef Ravi, pre-dinner drinks, superb dinner, brilliant night’s sleep in our wonderful suite then breakfast to suit all tastes and out for the day. We particularly enjoyed the hike to Norwood bungalow, 12-14km rewarded by lunch, and the 6km circuit through villages around Castlereagh. The complimentary tea factory tour was very worthwhile and luckily lunch was available at Dunkeld bungalow on completion. An in-room, deep-tissue massage was expertly delivered and set us up for the rigours of the rest of our Sri Lankan visit. Much has been written about CTT’s world-class environment, design, curation and organisation – and this can be seen on the BBC TV programme ‘Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby’. We simply endorse everything that has been said in the warmest terms but wish to focus on the heart of CTT’s appeal – its people. The extraordinarily flexible, friendly, perceptive, unobtrusive and willing service of CTT’s family – Castlereagh Butler Kasun and his team of Aruna and #Dashan, chef Ravi and his team, our hosts at Norwood and Dunkeld and all their unseen supervisors and supporters – will live long in the memory. In sum, Ceylon Tea Trails thoroughly deserves its reputation as one of the premier hospitality experiences in the world, we are very grateful to have been able to sample it, and we recommend CTT to others in the strongest terms.

Stayed in February 2024

Nothing

What’s not to like! This hotel is exceptional, run like private residences, each bungalow has its own character, we stayed in Summerville, amazing views, personal service from the butler Sanjay and his team, menus for the day discussed in the morning with chef and you can literally have anything your hear desires, exceptional top restaurant quality, beautifully presented.!

Stayed in February 2024

Nothing, there was nothing we could fault!

We were taken in to a wonderful drawing room on arrival and told to treat it like our own home. The staff were so friendly and helpful, a few days of being truly spoilt. The facilities and rooms were all magnificent.

Stayed in February 2024

We had booked a road transport from and to Colombo. On the way back, the driver was driving at snails pace. We were wondering why. The brakes of our vehicle failed when we were about 45 minutes from Colombo. I think there was an issue with the vehicle to start with. Luckily we came down safely from the mountains. Our luck was good. I dread to think what wouldve happened if the brakes had failed during the mountianous journey. They had to change the vehicle for us. We were dead tired since it took us a little more than 5 hours to reach back to the city. I had planned some shopping after returning to COLOMBO which I had to cut short due to the delay in reaching back. The following day was SL's independence day and most of the shops where I wanted to shop were closed.

The food was exceptional and the location was beautiful and serene with stunning views of the lake. The staff was friendly and always smiling.

Stayed in February 2024

On a totally personal view. Bed not soft enough. Pillows could be better.

Breakfast superb. Location difficult to get to but well worth it.

Stayed in January 2024

Wonderful landscapes, lake view is fantastic, well-organized service with excursions to Tea factory and Kandy, "Haut" cuisine, the Team in Dunkeld bungaloo always are at the guests service

Stayed in November 2023

Nothing - we had very high expectations having seen Tea Trails on TV and it met every one!

Beautiful setting, incredibly kind, thoughtful and attentive staff, great range of activities and excellent dining

Stayed in October 2023

After a lot of thought the only minor criticism I have is the toilet seats aren't soft-close and just drop down. Not that it really matters. Due to the location of the hotel the drive takes hours and the final stretch is incredibly windy without any straight roads, pack sea sickness tablets or something similar (it's worth it when you eventually reach the hotel, don't worry).

It had been a dream of mine to stay at Tea Trails since 2019 and I couldnt be any happier with the experience. It will always be one of the most special moments of my life as I proposed to my girlfriend here. Huge thanks to the staff for recording our moment. The hotel is flawless, service and food could not be any better. Purely by coincidence we stayed here as the Hotel was featured on BBC "Amazing Hotels, life beyond the lobby". We were lucky that on our second day we were the only guests at Dunkeld bungalow so could enjoy everything to ourselves. The view from the infinity pool is probably the best I will ever see. Sure it's an expensive hotel but if you have the opportunity to stay here you wont regret it.

Stayed in September 2023