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Bandarawela Hotel is a 33-room colonial hotel in the centre of Bandarawela, about 1,230 metres up in Sri Lanka's hill country, open to guests since 1894. Planned as a planters' club and guest house when the railway reached the town, it still keeps its bungalow-style wings, timber verandahs and old-fashioned lounges, and today describes itself as a Cargills hotel.
The hotel's 33 rooms are sold in four categories, all with a television, a fan, tea and coffee making facilities, a telephone with international dialling, free Wi-Fi and a bathroom with a bathtub and hot and cold water. The names below are the hotel's own.
Extra beds are available on request. At this altitude the evenings are cool, so the lack of air conditioning in most rooms is rarely a hardship.
The hotel opened in 1894, the year the railway was driven through the hills to Bandarawela, and was first conceived as an exclusive planters' club and guest house. It has changed remarkably little since: guests still come for the period lounges, the long glazed verandahs, the gabled timber porch and the gardens around the forecourt. Public areas include a lounge bar, open from 10am to 11pm, and a library, and there is a children's play area. Free Wi-Fi covers the public areas, room service runs from 7am to 10pm, and a laundry service, a safe at reception, foreign currency exchange and a doctor on call are available. Parking is free, with limited quarters for drivers. Check-in is at 2pm and check-out at noon.
Meals are taken in the Main Restaurant, a colonial dining room with views of the hills. The kitchen cooks both Sri Lankan and Western dishes from fresh local produce, from curries simmered in coconut milk to Italian classics, and the hill country around Bandarawela supplies strawberries, pears and, of course, Ceylon tea. Breakfast is served from 7am to 10am, lunch from 12.30pm to 3pm and dinner from 7.30pm to 10pm.
Bandarawela makes a convenient, cooler base for the southern hills. Ella is about 8 kilometres away in a straight line, with the Nine Arch Bridge and the walk up Little Adam's Peak. To the south-west, Haputale is the gateway to Lipton's Seat, the viewpoint over the tea estates once owned by Sir Thomas Lipton, and the nearby Dambatenne Tea Factory. A longer day takes you to Horton Plains National Park, and the hotel puts Badulla about an hour's drive away and Nuwara Eliya about an hour and a half.
Yes, and it is one of the best ways to come. Bandarawela Railway Station, on the hill-country Main Line, is about 300 metres away in a straight line; the hotel says it is a five-minute journey, and it stands in the middle of town between the post office and the Sri Lanka Telecom building. The line through the tea country is the famous Kandy to Ella train ride, and Bandarawela is one of its last stops before Ella.
The hotel gives the road distance from Bandaranaike International Airport as about 220 kilometres, a drive of around five and a half hours; from Mattala airport in the south it is about 94 kilometres, roughly two and a quarter hours. The simplest way to arrive is a private transfer from Colombo airport to Bandarawela Hotel, which takes you all the way to the door.
It suits travellers who enjoy character over polish: rail enthusiasts, history lovers and anyone who wants a quiet, cool base in a working market town rather than a resort with a pool and spa. Families can use the triple and interconnecting rooms, and couples wanting more space should look at the Presidential Suite. For more choice in the area, see our places to stay in Bandarawela.
British Colonial Hospitality is maintained . Food was good but the spread was very poor compared to what is was before , since its my third stay. Wash rooms needs improvement since many in our group was complaining including me a…
Wonderful Stay with Excellent Hospitality at Bandarawela Hotel We are Radisson Blu Resort Galle Finance Team, we selected Ella, Haputale, and Bandarawela for our annual team trip this year, and we chose Bandarawela Hotel for ou…
The Bandarawela Hotel is a charming heritage hotel located in the heart of Bandarawela. Although our stay was brief, we thoroughly enjoyed the experience and wished we could have spent more time there. The hotel beautifully prese…
Ratings and reviews provided by TripAdvisor for Bandarawela Hotel.
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