Sri Lanka’s most prominent tea producers and founders of Dilmah Tea have created a hotel collection.
Resplendent Ceylon has been formed by the Fernando family to create and manage a collection of small, luxury resorts offering a unique trail across Sri Lanka.
The family’s first venture into hotels was the opening of Ceylon Tea Trails in 2005 which remains Sri Lanka’s first and only Relais & Chateaux hotel. It consists of four colonial era tea planters’ bungalows connected by walking trails through the Fernando’s own tea plantations. A fifth bungalow will open in November next year.
Next month the company opens its first beach resort on the south coast 30 minutes from Galle Fort.
Cape Weligamam which overlooks the Indian Ocean was designed by Lech Bunnag who was the man behind Maia Seychelles, Ritz Carlton Phulay Bay, Oberoi Mauritius and Four Seasons Langkawi among others.
The resort will have 40 villas and suites, ranging from 130m2 to 300m2, on a headland 36 metres above the bay of Weligama set within 12 acres.
Dining options include a cliff edge Teppanyaki pavilion, an alfresco Sri Lankan restaurant and an ocean-view dining pavilion where guests interact with chefs to select fresh seafood.
Cape Weligama is less than two hours away from Colombo via the Southern Highway. A seaplane service will also connect Tea Trails and Cape Weligama in twenty minutes.
The Respledent Ceylon collection will also include two tented camps.
Wild Coast Lodge will open in November next year on a secluded beach in the Yala National Park which is a Leopard hot spot in south-eastern Sri Lanka.
And Red Rocks Beach Camp will follow in March 2016 located on a pristine sandy beach in Kuchaveli, near the seaport of Trincomalee on the North Coast of Sri Lanka.
Both camps will feature 28 custom designed air-conditioned 45m2 tented suites with 25m2 decks, offering the experience of a jungle camp with the luxury of a deluxe hotel room.
Managing director Malik J Fernando said: “We have two further locations at concept stage. When complete, we will be able to offer a trail of six distinctive properties around Sri Lanka that will pamper guests in a residential, non-hotel atmosphere with gourmet dining and authentic local experiences.”
resplendentceylon.com