Olive Bungalow

Olive Bungalow is a four-bedroom planter's bungalow about 3 kilometres inside the Uva Ben Head tea estate near Welimada, surrounded by 100 acres of tea at around 1,060 metres above sea level. Small enough to take over entirely, it is run as a quiet country house with butler service, meals cooked to your taste and footpaths through the tea from the garden.

What are the rooms like at Olive Bungalow?

The bungalow has four deluxe bedrooms, each named after a grade of Sri Lankan tea. All are similar in size, at about 18.5 square metres, all look over the garden and each sleeps two adults. They are set up with twin beds, and any of them can be made up as a double with a king-size bed if you ask in advance.

• Pekoe Premium – a twin room of about 18.5 square metres with a garden view, named after a rare Sri Lankan tea.
• Orange Pekoe – the largest of the four by a whisker, at about 19 square metres, with twin beds and a garden view; it takes its name from the classic orange pekoe leaf grade.
• Pekoe Fanning – a simple, comfortable twin room of about 18.5 square metres overlooking the garden.
• Silver Tips – about 18.5 square metres with twin beds and a garden view, named after one of the rarest teas, made in very small quantities.

Rooms have a television with local and international channels, free Wi-Fi, bathrobes and slippers. A baby cot can be provided on request, one per room. Because there are only four rooms, a family or a group of up to eight can book the whole bungalow and have it to themselves.

What is the food like?

Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served in a small dining room in the bungalow. There is no fixed menu to work through: the cooks offer a curated choice and are happy to prepare dishes you ask for or to cook around dietary needs. On a fine day you can have your meal carried out to the bungalow garden instead.

What is there to do at the bungalow?

The estate itself is the attraction. Footpaths run in every direction through the tea, and on the Uva Ben Head estate tea tour you can watch the pluckers at work and learn how the leaf is grown and made into the full-coloured, full-flavoured Uva tea the district is known for. More than a hundred species of birds have been recorded in the trees and bushes around the bungalow, so bring binoculars. Indoors there is a shared living room, and the house offers 24-hour butler service, room service, daily housekeeping, laundry, parking and a doctor on call.

What is nearby?

Welimada town is a couple of kilometres from the estate in Uva Province. Within reach for a day out are Bomburu Ella, one of the widest waterfalls in Sri Lanka, the cloud forest and escarpments of Horton Plains National Park and the dairy pastures of Ambewela Farm. Nuwara Eliya is about 14 kilometres away in a straight line and Bandarawela about 11, though the hill roads make every journey longer than the map suggests. Walkers can also pick up sections of the Pekoe Trail, the long-distance path through the tea country.

How do I get from the airport to Olive Bungalow?

The bungalow is about 117 kilometres in a straight line from Bandaranaike International Airport, and the road climbs through the hill country, so plan on most of a day. The simplest way to arrive is a private transfer from Colombo airport to Olive Bungalow, which takes you all the way to the door along the estate road. There is no accommodation for drivers at the bungalow, so a chauffeur on a longer tour will need to stay nearby.

Who is Olive Bungalow best suited to?

It suits couples, families and small groups who want a few quiet days on a tea estate, away from the busier stops of the hill country, with walks, birds and home-style cooking rather than a pool and a bar. Booking the whole house makes it a good base for a family gathering. For more choice in the area see our places to stay in Welimada.