Photograph · AI-enhanced
Jetwing Hoffmann Bungalow, formerly Jetwing Uva Ben Head Villa, is a three-room 1940s bungalow on the 100-acre Uva Ben Head tea estate near Welimada. Built in the early 1940s and used as a family holiday home during the Second World War, it stands 3,481 feet (about 1,060 metres) up on the southern slopes of a tea valley, about 3 kilometres inside the estate from Welimada town. Jetwing Hotels has refurbished it and renamed it in honour of Thilo Hoffmann, a former chairman of A. Baur & Company, conservationist and pillar of the Ceylon Bird Club. It is run as a private house rather than a hotel, with a bungalow manager, butlers on call around the clock and a chef who cooks to order.
There are only three rooms, all with garden views. Every room has free Wi-Fi, bottled water, a bathroom with hot water, a hair dryer, Link Natural toiletries and a torch, and baby cots can be provided.
With three rooms, a family or a small group of friends can take the whole bungalow and have the house, the lawns and the staff to themselves.
There is no fixed menu card: the chefs prepare local or international dishes to suit your preference, using fruit and vegetables from the surrounding area. Breakfast and lunch are served whenever you like, and dinner until 10pm, in a dining hall that seats eight and opens onto the garden and patio, where another eight can eat outdoors. Meals can also be taken out of the house: high tea or breakfast on the lawn, an alfresco lunch looking over the estate and the mountains, a garden barbecue in the evening or a picnic out in the hills.
The Uva tea around the bungalow is the main attraction. The Uva Ben Head Estate Tea Tour, which lasts two to three hours, lets you hand-pluck organic leaves, follow them through to a golden brew and hear the story of Sri Lanka's tea heritage. Footpaths run all over the estate, so you can also walk the tea trails on your own and watch the pluckers at work. Jetwing records more than 100 species of birds on and around the estate, fitting for a house named after a stalwart of the Ceylon Bird Club. Indoors there is a common living room, a television lounge, Scrabble and other board games, and kitchen facilities.
On a clear day you can see Pidurutalagala, Sri Lanka's highest mountain, and Thotupola Kanda from the bungalow. Welimada sits between Nuwara Eliya and Ella, and both are easy day trips. Closer to hand, Bomburu Ella is one of the widest waterfalls in the country, and Horton Plains National Park makes a good early-morning outing. Walkers can join stages of the Pekoe Trail, the 300-kilometre path through the tea country, and Jetwing's sister house on the same estate, Olive Bungalow, is useful if you need more rooms for a larger party.
Jetwing gives the distance from Colombo as 191 kilometres, and the bungalow lies about 3 kilometres inside the estate, beyond Welimada town. From Bandaranaike International Airport, north of the city, the easiest way to arrive is a private transfer from Colombo airport to the bungalow, which takes you all the way to the door.
It suits families, friends travelling together and couples who want a quiet, cool hill-country base with personal service, tea on the lawn and walks through a working estate, rather than a resort with a busy restaurant. Temperatures range from about 14°C to 30°C, so pack a jumper for the evenings. Two or three nights leaves time for the tea tour, a waterfall and a day out towards Nuwara Eliya or Ella. For more choice in the area see our places to stay in Welimada, or the other Jetwing hotels around the island.
It was an excellent stay at Halfman Bungalow. Just feels like home. The staff is like family members. Great hospitality.
The fire crackles warmly in the fireplace while my family and I relax after a wonderful dinner, reminiscing the tea trail experience in the evening with Ragu. Warmly nestled in the cozy Hoffman bungalow in the hills of Welimada.…
Very relaxing , friendly staff
Ratings and reviews provided by TripAdvisor for Jetwing Hoffmann Bungalow.
Bookable activities, tours, and tickets within a 25 km radius.
from LKR 66,701
from LKR 9,000
from LKR 13,346
from LKR 1,530
from LKR 3,960
from LKR 4,950
from LKR 9,000
from LKR 20,368
Pre-book a private vehicle for arrival, departure, or onward travel.
