I have to agree with the previous reviews - this place is quirky and charming and is indeed living history! For that reason, I recommend it. However, it was more expensive than similar hotels in Kandy (although we negotiated a lower rate) and the restaurant set dinner was also pretty expensive by Sri Lankan standards. The food was English comfort food style which I do actually quite like but it wasn't gourmet by any means. We dined in the "casual" restaurant, for which you don't require a jacket and tie. Read the memo on the notice board about their whole decision to have two dining rooms - it's very amusing!
Nurawa Eliya is a cold place on the whole but we had a modern heater in our room (pity the fireplaces weren't used) and a hot water bottle in our bed on our return from dinner was lovely!
One note about Nurawa Eliya: it's not really a destination in itself if you're travelling independently, although you can take a wonderful tuktuk journey from Kandy and stop at a tea estate on the way etc. There are no restaurants in town (the Grand Hotel has an Indian restaurant at the entrance but it was closed for renovation when we visited) and the Heritance Tea Factory, which offers gourmet dinners in a disused railway carriage, is half an hour's drive away – so not convenient for dinner. You're stuck eating at your hotel, basically, and prices at all the hotels seemed higher than average for Sri Lanka. It's a generally poor area, with not much foreign tourism, that could be why, or all the proprieters have made a joint decision!
- Hill Hotel Nuwara Eliya
- The Hill Hotel
