The golf buggy that collects you from reception doesn’t go fast. It doesn’t need to. The track winds uphill through tea bushes in both directions, and the view that opens on the left, as you rise above the estate, is enough to make a person stop speaking mid-sentence. The Ella Gap, that famous cleft in the hills through which the southern plains stretch away into a distant blue haze, is simply sitting there. No viewpoint platform, no sign pointing at it. Just the buggy, the tea, and the gap, and a driver who has clearly watched this reaction a thousand times and still seems quietly pleased by it.
98 Acres Resort and Spa takes its name from the colonial-era tea estate it occupies above the town of Ella, a working plantation known in earlier times as the Southerland Tea Estate. The resort’s founders chose to build into this landscape rather than clear it, and the result is a property that wears its setting without effort. The chalets are cantilevered into the hillside in rows, each one angled to face the Gap, each one made almost entirely from materials that were used before: old railway sleepers form the decking and walls, illuk grass thatch keeps the interiors cool, and rough-hewn granite gives the bathrooms and exteriors a texture that belongs to the landscape rather than imported from somewhere else.
The Chalets
There are 46 chalets in total, ranging from standard rooms to suites, and several include private heated pools, which in Ella’s hill country climate is a genuinely thoughtful touch. Inside, the rooms are warm and uncluttered, with king-size beds, private decks, and a sense of proportion that feels generous without being excessive. The furniture has been crafted by local artisans from widely available timber, and the overall feel is rustic in texture but comfortable in every practical sense. You sleep well here. The cool air, the altitude, and the quiet tend to handle that.
Select suites have two bedrooms, which makes the property work as well for families as for couples. The views from the decks are consistent across the property, though the higher chalets have a slightly wider sweep of the Gap and catch the morning light first. If you’re staying a few nights, the early mornings from those upper decks, with mist still sitting in the valley and the tea catching the first sun, are worth planning around.
Food and Drink
The restaurant sits at the top of the estate, positioned for maximum exposure to the panorama, and the menu moves between Sri Lankan and international dishes with genuine range. The culinary team works with estate produce and local ingredients, and the signature dishes lean into this: tea soups, tea-infused sauces, and preparations that make the plantation context feel like part of the meal rather than a decorative detail. Sri Lankan breakfasts are worth requesting when the option is available.
Bar 98 is the property’s social hub, built from recycled railway timber and stocked with an extensive wine and spirits list alongside the resort’s own range of Tipsy-T cocktails and mocktails. The tea menu is taken seriously here, which is as it should be on a working Uva tea estate. Sitting at the bar at dusk with a cup of something local and the Gap turning gold below is not a hardship.
Spa and Activities
Spa 98 specialises in treatments drawn from the estate itself, using locally grown tea and other hill-country plants in its formulations. The treatment menu covers the usual range of massages and body treatments, but the estate sourcing gives it a specificity that distinguishes it from a standard hotel spa. The spa is open to both resident and non-resident guests.
On the activity side, the resort offers guided tea tours of the estate, birdwatching walks, archery, and access to hiking trails, including the path to Little Adam’s Peak that begins essentially at the property boundary. The Pekoe Trail, one of Sri Lanka’s long-distance walking routes, passes through this section of hill country, and the resort’s naturalists can arrange guided stages for guests who want to walk rather than tuk-tuk between attractions. The Nine Arches Bridge, one of the most photographed railway viaducts in the country, is a short drive or a longer walk from the property.
Getting There from Katunayake Airport
Katunayake International Airport is roughly 220 kilometres from Ella by road. The most direct option is a private transfer via the Southern Expressway to Ratnapura, then up into the hills through Balangoda and Haputale. The journey takes around four and a half to five hours depending on traffic and the mountain road conditions. It’s a substantial drive, but the hill country approach from Haputale is one of the more rewarding stretches of road in Sri Lanka, and arriving in Ella after it feels earned.
The train from Colombo Fort to Ella is the other serious option, and for many travellers it’s the main event. The journey takes around six hours and includes the celebrated stretch between Nanu Oya and Ella that passes through mist-covered highlands, past Horton Plains, and through a landscape that changes every twenty minutes. Observation carriages fill quickly, and advance booking is advisable. A car or tuk-tuk from Ella town to the resort takes about five minutes. From Kandy, the scenic mountain railway to Ella runs via Nuwara Eliya and takes around four hours, and is equally worthwhile if you’re travelling the hill country circuit.
Find out more at the resort’s official website, or follow the property on Instagram for a sense of what the light looks like up there on a good morning.
