We stayed here for just 1 night, to break the journey from Sigiriya to Tangalle, but you could stay 2 nights instead. The hotel has a fabulous location, away from town, atop a hill surrounded by tea plantation and a local village where the pickers live. You feel as though you are away from it all - no traffic, no hawkers, just serenity and tea, tea, tea - it's very relaxing. The hotel is heritage stuff with memorabilia and attentive staff hovering about but not intrusively. Our room, 112, was larger than expected with a large terrace but a bit chilly to use. Wifi was great.

Food in the restaurant was hit/miss with great entree let down by ordinary main but it's all subjective, of course. Wine list needs work!
I recommend you stroll among the tea bushes, don't just admire them from afar - the whole point is to experience a new environment so get into it. We were the only foreigners down in the local village and everyone was so kind and generous and great photo opportunity - of course, offer them some recompense (pens for the kids and monetary for adults). The tea-pickers I chatted with were welcoming and full of humour.

I would not suggest driving yourself as the roads were narrow, ever-winding and you would miss the scenery concentrating. We hired a driver from Colombo - Millenium Elephant Foundation - Dambulla - Sigiriya - Nuwara Eliya - Tangalle - Colombo and it made for a hassle-free holiday. He suggested another tea factory en-route for a tour of tea production and that was so very worth it! I sourced our driver from other traveller recommendations so thanks for people's feedback! I can recommend highly Sujith Liyanage - very friendly, good english, punctual and he share insightful advice that made the trip have a more 'local' flavour. You can reach him on sujith.liyanage@gmail.com or +94 717252722 or you can contact me for more details