Impeccably SRI LANKAN
Our traditionally inspired, modern Tea Chalets sit in Sri Lanka’s lush, green countryside, just 8 kilometres from the city of Galle. You’ll be tucked away from the hustle and bustle, but the city’s amenities are within easy reach.
Relax. Rejuvenate. Rest.
The Tea Chalets resort, in Sri Lankan Vernacular architectural style, is a perfect example of Ceylon’s hidden tea estates dating back generations. Enjoy the seclusion of this exclusive, privately owned resort, where you can occupy one of just four chalets nestled among tea shrubs, each with a king-sized bed and all amenities. The chalets are set apart from the original, traditionally styled building, the centre of a former tea plantation, with views across acres of thriving tea plants on the estate—Camellia sinensis. If you prefer to stay in the main building, there are also two deluxe guest rooms in the house.
Join us for an authentic tea-plucking experience with the estate workers and visit a tea factory to experience the different stages of the tea production process. Become a tea connoisseur as you get back to nature in the world’s most famous quality tea growing country.
Pick herbs in the garden and taste them in our chef’s authentic Sri Lankan dishes, served in the heritage house, in your chalet, or in the garden. Then head off on the tea trails across the countryside, or into Galle, to see the old Dutch and British colonial architecture. While you’re there, visit the traditional mask-makers for a hands-on workshop, or just try a mask on for size, and taste the range of or sample ‘short eats’, the local street food.
Spoil yourself with a touch of luxury, Sri Lankan style. Come for a week, a fortnight, or just a day or two.
Our History
Ilukketiya began as barren land with little beyond Iluk plants. Planting with tea began in 1979, when a husband-and-wife team, inspired by their dream of a tea estate, bought the land and, plant by plant, gradually turned it into to the green, productive land you’ll find there today.
The main house is a courtyard hilltop bungalow built in 1979 by the estate’s owners. The building celebrates the unique Sri Lankan Vernacular architectural style, with low-hanging verandahs and a lotus pond courtyard. Inside, you will find original handmade flooring, warm lighting and the charm of mostly typical Sri Lankan furniture, including antiques. Some are more than 250 years old.
When you arrive, you will be greeted warmly, with traditional Sri Lankan gestures of welcome.
What’s
in a name?
Being together in one place where the Iluk grows. That is how we want you to remember your time with us.
‘Ilukketiya’, the name of the estate, comes from two separate words, ‘Iluk’ (speargrass) and ‘ketiya’. In Sinhala ‘ketiya’ is used to mean ‘cluster’ or ‘small land area’. So the name of the Tea Chalets Resort, Ilukketiya, means, in English, something like ‘Iluk estate’ or ‘the place of the Iluk’. But to us, it means ‘Being together in one place where the Iluk grows.’
