Powysland Bungalow stands on a 150-acre working tea estate at Dayagama, in the Agrapatana tea country near Hatton. The Fernando family, tea planters for three generations, bought it in 2007; the old bungalow keeps its original living and dining rooms, heirloom furniture from the owner’s grandfathers is still in daily use, and guests are asked to treat the house as the family does. A new cottage beside it was completed in 2023.
Five bedrooms, each with its own bathroom, sleep up to 10 adults and 4 children across the two buildings. The Bungalow has a master bedroom with a dressing room and two deluxe double rooms. The Cottage has two family quad suites, each with a double bed and sit-out downstairs and two single beds and a balcony over the tea fields upstairs – two doors give parents their privacy. There are no TVs, kettles or minibars by design; fresh tea and coffee are served whenever you like, and Wi-Fi runs throughout. The whole property can be booked as an exclusive buy-out.
The resident chef cooks Western and Sri Lankan dishes, and his signature is lamprais, the Dutch-burgher rice parcel baked in banana leaf. Tea or coffee is served on the deck at the time you choose, vegetarian and vegan menus are available, and balcony dinners can be arranged, weather permitting.
On the second day the estate superintendent, forty years in tea, leads a complimentary walk through the fields. On a stay of two nights or more the idle estate factory can be switched on to make a personal batch of your own tea (charges apply). Powysland sits on the Pekoe Trail: Stage 9 ends at Dayagama and Stage 10 starts here, a difficult 15.5 km, five-hour climb from 1,421 m to 2,138 m at Horton Plains – ask for a picnic breakfast. The Dayagama entrance to the park is 7 km away; entry from Stage 10 closes at 2 pm, and the team can drop you there and have your vehicle waiting at Farr Inn. The Castlereagh seaplane base is about 42 km away.
Hatton town is about 30 km away, roughly an hour and a half by road; the last 2 km are unpaved, and a free transfer can be arranged for guests arriving in their own car. Check-in is from 2 pm and check-out by 10 am. Birds visit the deck each morning and leopards have been recorded at the forest edge, though sightings cannot be promised. Drivers are housed at a guesthouse about 30 minutes away, paid directly.
Bookable activities, tours, and tickets within a 25 km radius.
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from LKR 27,000
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Pre-book a private vehicle for arrival, departure, or onward travel.
