Ella, Kandy and the Tea Country, Sri Lanka

As its name suggests, this wonderful property stands on a scenic 98 acre tea estate at Ella, and few properties in Asia can boast of a view to rival those enjoyed by this boutique hotel. Its pretty chalets, thatched with local ‘iluk’ straw, cling to the steeply terraced mountainside opposite the Ella Gap and Adam’s Peak – one of the island’s iconic panoramas.

The rooms come in six different categories, but they are all designed in the same funky style, with polished cement floors, railway-sleepers walls, roughly hewn granite basins in the bathrooms and knobbly eucalyptus wood balconies. The effect is pleasingly rustic, blending beautifully with the scenery, which you can savour while downing endless pots of the estate’s refreshing orange pekoe tea.