Hill Safari - Tea Estate Villa

Our stay here was the perfect end to a month's backpacking round Sri Lanka. Eomal, owner of Hill Safari, has been here 40 years, and was kind to recommend lots of walks, and tell us lots about the area. He kindly picked us up from Ohiya station, and also drove us to Horton Plains. Hill Safari is perfectly placed for beautiful hikes through stunning scenery. Nice places to sit out in a beautifully-tended garden. Breathtaking views. Lovely staff and great food. We were very sad to go! Thank you, Eomal.

About 10 KM to Horton Plains NP, exceptionally lovely scenery. Proximity to the NP is marred by the abysmal road conditions, driving on which can be bone crushing- even though this is not the fault of the owner. The manager and the staff are excellent, they try to serve you with full attention and to the best of available resources. Description on the website is accurate and the owner writes promptly and clearly without fanfare or lies. Food is excellent, although they tend to limit the portions- say one small piece of chicken per dinner plate!! Even so, food is excellent and they make what you order. Rooms are well appointed. Bathrooms are not very clean. Again, this is not due to lack of staff or resources but carelessness, which is a shame. Rooms are otherwise well appointed. Overall though one should expect more for the price you pay for the room and board. By local standards this place is expensive. Given the poor road condition, proximity to the park is not that meaningful and staying in other places may be better. Make sure that you take cash, because CC don't work neither here and certainly not at the main gate of the Horton Plains NP which attracts many tourists but has no facilities for the money you pay as a foreigner, which is also a shame for a country struggling with financial hardships.

This is in the middle of a tea plantation and close to Horton plains. Rooms are as in the pictures, hot water, linen all available. Dinner and breakfast provided with limited options but tasty. Very rural area with fresh air and full of natural beauty. The last 1 km of the road to the hotel is bit difficult but can manage even with a small car.. Well maintained hotel and the manager Mr. Claude was so helpful and tried very best to fulfil all our needs. Good place.. value for money.. Recommend to visit.

Local, reasonable and beautifully situated as a pivotal part of our daily hikes and exploring the mountains and tea plantations of Sri Lanka. Claude and Raseka looked after us so well, they were attentive and friendly and provided us with endless cups of tea. The rooms were simple but clean, the shower pressure is low but the water is hot and the local food was delicious. A lovely spot to recover after a long day of walking.

We stayed at this guest house in 2018 and enjoyed our stay. We had the same great experience this time in 2022. We did not see the same great manager this time, but the gentleman who was in charge this time was just as friendly, helpful and efficient. He seemed to be attending to all activities except for cooking. This time we had a bigger room and it also had a nice view. The bed was comfortable and there was hot water in the bathroom, which was very much needed in that cold climate. Meals provided by the guesthouse were very good. We had traditional Sri-lankan food and the manager was very flexible with our meal requests and times they were served. The guest house did not serve alcohol, but we came prepared with our drinks and the nice manager was ready to preserve our drinks in the kitchen fridge. Staying close to the Horton Plains allowed us to go climb the second highest mountain in Sri-Lanka, Kirigal Potta and return in good time to a great dinner. The only annoying thing was the loud Tamil music coming from the village in the evening and early morning. We had to use ear plugs to avoid waking up too early. The guesthouse, unfortunately, could not do anything about it because the Tamil community in the valley was celebrating Thai Pongal, the Hindu harvest festival. We enjoyed our two-night-stay at this guesthouse. We highly recommend this little guesthouse to trekkers and climbers and also suggest making the reservation well ahead of time because the lodge seemed to fully occupied both days we were there. It is also good to find a suitable way to reach the guest house because the access is very difficult.

We had a lovley stay at hill safari. Claude took good care of us. Although it was rainy we enjoyed it! Amazing view and great food. Also the the room was very clean and nice with the glas front! Thanks again to Claude and the staff! We will come back any time