Kagehitokiri

wow, pics of every property and available room - very informative and appreciated ^

(when you only stayed at 1 property, and visited the other 3)

aa213bb

We were there in early December, for reference, and the mornings and evenings could be cool, but were never cold. When we would hike in the afternoons - especially the S1 trail - we found ourselves converting our hiking pants into hiking shorts. So, it can certainly warm up.

The reasons we were so keen on fires are: 1) we enjoy them greatly for ambiance, and 2) having spent the months prior in LA, Thailand, and Australia (Spring into early Summer), and being big cozy/winter-y fans, we really enjoyed them making us really feel like winter/Christmastime.

I meant to ask if the pools are heated, but totally forgot. I hope someone else will chime in to clarify. We never did bother trying to lounge by the pool - on the one hand, it seemed a touch too cool (for us), and on the other, we had just spent 6 weeks on beaches, and knew with Amanwella up next we would lounge around there.

You are too kind, thank you.

Thank you very much; it was lovely meeting and spending time with you, too.

As for the trains, I believe each day the ordering varies between Exporail and Rajadhani (e.g. Tuesday: Expo @ 0555 and Raj @ 0955, Wednesday: Raj @ 0555 and Expo @ 0955).

I absolutely concur with this. The bungalows and rooms all have character, and are lovely, but not luxurious in a true, hard product sense.

But TT is truly a 5* experience, and one I would urge others to book. In fact, I would specifically plan a trip to Sri Lanka in order to experience Tea Trails.

Thank you, please do.

As I mentioned, I believe Palmer and Tate to be the best two rooms, with the former slightly ahead of the latter. Of course, this is based on some speculation, as I did not see the rooms.

You are welcome.

This is high praise indeed, coming from such a prodigious and esteemed FT'er.

FT has been so revelatory, and while I feel I don't bring much new to the site, I definitely want to give back and help where I can.

aa213bb

I thought I'd write just a few words in closing on Tea Trails ...

While I would not say the Bungalows are "luxury" - at least as we tend to define luxury here on the board - the Tea Trails experience is absolutely luxury, and not to be missed.

The staff are genuinely warm, welcoming, and both eager and happy to please. While they do not have the refinement or polish one expects to find at Amans, Four Seasons and the like, their generosity of spirit and genuineness overcome any small service flaws.

The food is quite good; in fact, shockingly so, given one is in the heart of Sri Lanka. As a couple who specifically plans many trips around meals, we were quite happy. We did not really challenge the chefs, in terms of asking them to deviate from their menu - we really have no dietary restrictions - and I am sure this helped ensure everything going so smoothly.

The pools at each bungalow seemed lovely, but for us this is an unnecessary feature, given all there is to see and do, and considering we were soon to be headed to the beach at Amanwella. I felt the ones at Tientsin and Summerville offered the most privacy, with the location at Summerville being the best given it is down the hill with views over the reservoir.

Lastly, I spent a little time and worked out a sort of ranking system for the bungalows, as I know choosing one can be very difficult -- we struggled for weeks trying to decide.

While my methodology is hardly scientific, I'm hoping it helps give a starting point and easy quick reference for others looking to book.

Here we go ...

I decided to rank each bungalow within four categories: Bungalow (Interior Spaces & Overall Layout), Grounds (Gardens & Outdoor Amenities), Location (Setting, Views & Proximity to "Attractions"), and Privacy (Quietness & Tranquility, both internal and external).

I then simply assigned points in the inverse of rank (e.g. 1st place receives 4 points), and summed them for an Overall ranking.

BUNGALOW
1: Castlereagh 3.5 pts
1: Summerville 3.5 pts
3: Norwood 2 pts
4: Tientsin 1 pt


GROUNDS
1: Tientsin 4 pts
2: Castlereagh 3 pts
3: Norwood 2 pts
4: Summerville 1 pt


LOCATION
1: Castlereagh 3.5 pts
1: Summerville 3.5 pts
3: Norwood 2 pts
4: Tientsin 1 pt


PRIVACY
1: Summerville 4 pts
2: Castlereagh 2.5 pts
2: Norwood 2.5 pts
4: Tientsin 1 pt


OVERALL
1: Castlereagh 12.5 pts
1: Summerville 12.0 pts
3: Norwood 8.5 pts
4: Tientsin 7.0 pts

The funny thing is, my personal rankings don't match up with these ... I'd rank them Summerville, Castlereagh, and a toss-up between Norwood and Tientsin, depending on wants/needs.

Regardless, don't worry! Each and every one of the Tea Trails bungalows is wonderful in its special way. There is no real "right" or "wrong" choice ... only ones that better suit your particular wants and needs.

Up next ... Amanwella

aa213bb

As I mentioned, we arranged for our transfer from Tea Trails to Amanwella through Aman, and had the car pick us up at Summerville first thing in the morning.

A word of caution... this drive takes around 6 hours, and is one of the worst drives I've ever experienced. It's not so much that the roads are incredibly rough (though they are, somewhat, until you hit the highway), or even that they are really winding (though they certainly are for the first few hours) -- it's probably a combination of all these, boredom, and how S-L-O-W one goes that had me ready to pull my hair out by the end. Neither of us could ever remember wanting to be somewhere more than we wanted to arrive at Amanwella.

I know, rationally, I am making this sound much worse than it is; perhaps it was just that particular day.

Anyway, via Aman we had two options for vehicles: a Kia Sorrento or a Toyota Hiace. In emailing back and forth with Pietro Addis (Amanwella GM, and one of the BEST GMs with whom I've ever come in contact), I mentioned my wife can, at times, experience motion-sickness. Thus he highly recommended the Toyota Hiace, which I would absolutely recommend to anyone else.

There is much more room to spread out, and with two benches, one person can easily lie down and stretch out for a nap on the back seat. Too, there is PLENTY of room for luggage.


It is interesting to watch the scenery change as one winds down from the Tea Trails elevation to the coast, and you do pass through several towns should you need to stop. Thankfully, we finally pulled down a dirt track and into the tranquility of Amanwella.


We were greeted by several individuals, including Pietro, and given a traditional Sri Lankan welcome ceremony by Indika -- a small, but thoughtful touch.

Before I continue, let me add a quick note. Prior to arrival, I had, as I mentioned, emailed back and forth several times with Mr. Addis, with various questions and requests (e.g. transfers, small service requests, room, etc).

I was absolutely blown away by his responsiveness, caring, and thoughtfulness -- all traits that we continued to experience over the course of our stay. I know one of the hallmarks of Aman is their service, and that many of you do communicate with the GM of a property you plan to visit ahead of time, but this was simply revelatory to me -- I cannot imagine other Aman GMs are this responsive, personally. But I digress.

During these communiques, one of my requests was a quiet, privately located room. I am extremely noise-sensitive, due to the nature of my work, and when I travel - especially to resort/R&R locations - I relish my peace and quiet.

Pietro suggested a particular room in the 300s, a Suite, which is the room category we booked. However, he went on to say that he was very tempted to upgrade us to one of the newly renovated Ocean Front Suites. And, here my mouth dropped, he suggested he prepare both rooms for our arrival, and that he would happily show them both to us and let us decide which we preferred upon checking in.

And this is exactly what happened.

We first were shown nearby to one of the recently renovated Ocean Front Suites, 104. Then we were taken to the other room, Suite 306, which is a conjoined Suite with 307 ... though he had blocked off 307 and 305 to ensure our serenity and peacefulness (note: the resort was at low occupancy during our stay).

After some serious hemming and hawing, my wife and I debating the pros and cons of each, we actually passed on the renovated upgrade of 104 and chose 306, for reasons I'll outline in a later post.

I could tell this surprised everyone, as they had to get our Welcome Letters and Amenities from 104 -- I imagine it's probably a rare occasion indeed when a guest turns down an upgrade, so this just gave us a chuckle.

Before continuing, I'd like to provide a few photos to help orient you to Amanwella, as well as show you our room.


During our stay, 306 had not yet been renovated, though it was still perfectly nice. The renovated rooms have the exact same layout and design elements (even down to the switches) -- the only real difference is the newness/fit & finish, which is not trivial, but also not a "make or break" point of emphasis for us. Too, I would imagine that all rooms will be completed soon, now that we are past the holiday high point, if they have not been already.

Though we enjoyed our suite, we did not find ourselves in love with it, and actually find there to be some serious design flaws.

Chief among these is the plunge pool, which we both felt to be a nearly worthless affair. I'll elaborate more in the summation, but I'll quickly say that we only bothered getting in ours once, and even then more out of a feeling of obligation than anything else. There's just no point sitting in a cold pool buried inside of a courtyard - no views whatsoever - when a gorgeous beach is but a walk away.

Also, there is absolutely no privacy while in the pool. In a conjoined villa, especially, guests entering their pool area from the main walkway can easily look in and see part of your pool. Thankfully, Pietro knows this and is addressing it by having doors installed, eventually with electronic security so that they act as the main entry-point to your suite (you will see what I mean in a later pic).

Another complaint is that the bathtub takes FOREVER to fill. I am not joking when I tell you it is almost an hour. I'm not ashamed to say that I love my baths, and while Housekeeping are sweethearts and do a wonderful job filling the tub at turndown ...


... I much prefer to take my baths before going to dinner, so while this is lovely, it was a bit wasted on us. As always, YMMV.

Lastly, unless you have an Ocean Front Suite, the Balcony/Patio is a complete waste. For the life of me I cannot imagine why the plunge pools were not put here, facing the ocean, instead of in their depressing courtyards.

But, for me the main appeal of Amanwella is the beach ... and what a gorgeous beach it is!

Up next ... Amanwella public spaces, including that marvelous beach

sfoactuary

Anxiously anticipating the next couple installments. Thanks very much to the OP for all the detail put into the report - I'm planning a trip to Sri Lanka later this year and this thread will probably end up being my travel guide.

zigzag

Wow. Great trip report and it sure brought back memories for me. I did that trip in reverse after cutting my stay short at Amanwella to head to Tea Trails. It remains one of the most painful drives of my life. Just drove myself from Las Vegas to Amangiri this past weekend and it was 4 hours of joy, 75 mph, wide open spaces and just great.

aa213bb

Up Next … Amanwella “Color Commentary”

alpenrock

Great story Though I am a Sri Lankan. I never knew this places exist. I am pretty sure next time i will visit these places next time . BTW how you book these bunglows?

Pausanias

aa213bb - I can't tell you how grateful I am for your continuing report.

Kagehitokiri

http://www.srilankan.com/en_uk/flying-with-us/airtaxi
15 seat twin turboprop http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havi...C-6_Twin_Otter

scheduled >
tea trails - 1 hr 45 min drive - nuwara eliya (seasonal) - just saw <$70 for ticket - edit IIRC OW so $140 RT
galla - 25 min drive - Koggala
wella - 15 min drive - Dickwella

charter ($70x15x2=$2000?) > castlereagh (tea trails) $2K OW would match aman quote and be $1K/hr roughly

wella and kila are unique size
wella has better beach/etc, but public

aa213bb

Oh, I'm not disappointed at all. You need to make your travel plans as best you see fit, of course. We were already in that neck of the woods, so to speak, and with the phenomenal airfares from CMB I felt we most definitely ought to check these out.

That being said, I should have the whole thing finished by the weekend -- perhaps you want to wait and see my final thoughts on Wella, as well as Amangalla before making your decision?

And as Kage points out, private air charter is certainly possible, and something that GREATLY cuts down on your transfer time. We briefly - as in, for a split-second - considered it, but found it far too expensive for us.

Lastly, as I mentioned, these are our first Aman experiences, so unlike many of you, we have no other "Aman Memories" to which we might compare these. And while I won't name them, several other FT'ers have told me they consider these to be "Aman-lite", and not the full on Aman experience.

But I will say, again, that Pietro is phenomenal. He is also aware of the short-comings of Wella, and has some wonderful ideas to improve the property -- but of course those are decisions that I imagine involve people far above him as well, so we shall see.

Pausanias

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cakegirl

I want to thank you again for this thorough trip report. It is so helpful and timely. It will be our first Aman experience as well as while Sri Lanka may not have the best Amans, I am still very excited and looking forward to the experience.
It was great to hear about the Tea Trails-Amanwella drive so I can make preparations, rather than be surprised. Like your wife, I sometimes have a problem with getting car sick.
If you have any feedback on the food, and any excursions you took, could you include it? We are planning to visit Uda walawe National Park from Amanwella and may consider other excursions. I am a chef, so any information on food at the resorts or nearby would be appreciated.

Since behuman brought it up earlier, I am curious what is considered young on this board?

Looking forward to the rest...

anaggie

Quick questions, aa213bb:

How did you start emailing the GM? Did he email you or did you seek him out? I ask because so far all I have recvd are some emails from the concierge. Maybe as I get closer to the stay date, I might get something more definitive from them. My stay is planned for June 2013.

How was the beach for swimming? We are going with a 7yr old and a 1.5 yr old. Is the sea very rough? Not a deal breaker as the kids are just as happy in a pool as they are in a beach. I prefer swimming in a beach, of course.

How was the food? Pricey or worth it?

NYCMom

Pausanias-completely agree with your reaction. Not worth the trip. Many thanks for the excellent photos, wonderful to have although not painting a terribly flattering picture....