Demi Perera shares the comforts of her stay at a boutique bungalow in Nuwara Eliya.
During my time in Nuwara Eliya I stayed at Ferncliff, a colonial period family home built in 1832. It’s an entrancing, historic place. For a romantic such as myself its poise was a distraction. Each morning here I spent the early hours of dawn lucidly dreaming of the very place I was staying only woken when the butler gently knocked on my door with breakfast.
Location
This period home is well placed for experiencing all that encompasses the highlands. Arrive at Nanu Oya train station and any taxi waiting outside will take you to Wedderburn Road, Nuwara Eliya around winding roads past neatly pruned tea bushes.
From Ferncliff I was able to walk into town in about seven minutes. The market, the oldest pharmacy (1844), the post and telegraph office (1894) and Victoria Park (formally named in 1897 to mark Queen Victoria’s Diamond jubilee) are all within walking distance. So if like me, you’re the type to explore by foot, it’s a perfect location. I also hired a taxi to explore a little further outside the town. Taxis are inexpensive and happy to stay with a single passenger all day.
Rooms
The property has four original double rooms within the main house and two newer rooms added later. They are spacious and comfortable. I couldn’t help feeling that they cater to languishing in bed all day.
The rooms at the front of the house are typical of the colonial period and have perfectly preserved original features, dressers and wardrobes. The new rooms compete with this authenticity by offering spectacular views of the gardens on both sides. The last room in particular offers a remarkable fish-eye view of the gardens and the Pidurutalagala mountain range as a backdrop. Wake up at dawn and you will witness the first translucent rays of the sun hit the mountains.
Food and Drink
Ferncliff’s head chef Dinesh offers a menu which astutely ties the heritage of Ferncliff with the spirit of Nuwara Eliya. My order of a ham and cheese sandwich was the best I’d ever had with local cheese and Sri Lankan bread decorated with herbs and flowers freshly picked from the garden. I also highly recommend the afternoon tea and scones. The scones were far superior to any that I’d tasted in England. The butter, jam and cream are all local produce and the cream is freshly whipped with every order.
The dinner menu is a similarly simple yet perfectly executed affair offering both Sri Lankan cuisine and alternative choices of western dishes. Ferncliff’s traditional highland black pork curry is an exceptional dish and one which didn’t escape the notice of award winning chef Jon Lewin of The Local’s Cookbook fame.
Overview
With only six rooms in the property I barely saw another guest at Ferncliff; the highest form of luxury in high end travel. Staff that cater to personal requests with discretion is another. Also true of Ferncliff. With privacy being the greatest luxury in bespoke travel it was refreshing to find it in Sri Lanka where the collective drive appears to be towards commercialised mass tourism. At a destination where its full steam ahead Ferncliff appears to be paving the way in slow tourism placing itself way ahead of the game.
Prices at Ferncliff start from US$212 for a double room per night including breakfast. For more information visit ferncliff.lk.
More in this series about Nuwara Eliya to come.
