A two and half hour drive from Colombo takes you to the latest lap of luxury and relaxation set up in a private tea and rubber plantation – the Rosyth Estate House in Kegalle.
This evergreen property which has been a planter’s bungalow from 1926 is now transformed to a boutique house to cater to a clientele that looks for a green, silent and mountainous surrounding for their next travel destination. The architecture of the building has not changed and the interior (floors and roof) has been retouched with comforts of modern furniture and linen. There are five rooms in the house and very recently they constructed a duplex (which is why they closed the property for 8 months last year) with two rooms at the back along with a new dining area (completely made out of wood, jack frames and timber with 5 and half inch windows), sitting room and verandas giving breathtaking views.
Speaking to travel agents and media at a small preview of the place, “it’s the view at the front of the garden, when we started going there 20 years ago, which was absolutely stunning that made us fall in love with the place. This was a property we loved and we loved vacationing here and which is why we said that we got to do something with this property and share it with others”, Proprietor Neil Dobbs said.
They are a working estate and it’s very much what they are promoting. They have their own ladies who pluck the tea for them along with an Estate Manager, a superintendent who has been with the estate for 30 odd years.
Guests who stay they can not only relate with the tea and rubber people but also with the people who live near the estate. And also Neil added they have their own gardener and with plenty of King Coconut around the area, if a guest wants to drink some, they send a guy up the tree to pick one, break it and give it to them. Then there are the monkeys who are also part of the surrounding area.
Speaking of the other indoor leisures, there is a library with satellite TV available only in that room – Neil stressed that they want to keep it that way as coming here is not about spending time in the room watching TV, it’s about spending time with the atmosphere outside.
Their rooms are separated into 3 Classics and 3 Deluxe rooms. The Classics include Cardomom, Clove and Mango rooms which are located in the main house include double, triple and extra bed options. The Deluxe rooms include Lime, Cinnamon and Coconut with each of them having an unique feature. Lime is located at the garden terrace with a super king size bed and a sofa bed, with showers inside and outside too. Cinnamon and the Coconut rooms have king size four poster beds perfect for couples and families too.
Moving on to the cuisine their Exectuive Chef prepares some authentic Sri Lankan dishes with fresh ingredients from the garden and the market downtown in Kegalle.and for the ones who love to work in the kitchen can get some cooking lessons on the local dishes by the chef and take some recipes back home.
For the adventurers and hikers there is the cultural city Kandy where the Temple of the Tooth Relic is, then there is the Victoria Golf Park, and if one dares to go a little further there is Adam’s Peak, Sigiriya, Dambulla Caves, Minneriya Safari and there is also the Estate walks.
The property, which has been family owned for the past 35 years, today offers a stunning Estate Experience. The current proprietor of the estate Farzana Marikkar Dobbs explained “in developing the Estate House we have made sure that we combine the 1926 heritage of the property with fantastic new facilities and great food to provide a unique experience. Whether guests wish to relax by the pool, hike through the estate or take a cooking lesson with our chef, we ensure an authentic estate experience for all our guests”.
“The Estate House is the articulation of a dream which I have developed over the past twenty seven years working in the travel industry and having visited hundreds of hotels around the world. I am proud that we have been able to do this in Kegalle, Sri Lanka. For the future, we plan to feature some exciting activities including yoga retreats, fine art classes and cooking weeks”.
Source: http://www.dailynews.lk/?q=features/luxury-rural-setting
Sri Lanka Travel Feneteko