Brisk Ella Retreat

The views, the food, the comfort and atmosphere

The road to get there was very tedious, you cannot take a car easily, buses go on it but not advised to drive up, a 10 minute drive of bumpy and dangerous road with close encounters, since there is a famous temple upwards.

As mentioned this property gives stunning views. Getting to it gave us problems when our experienced driver missed a turn and called the property for directions. He was told that it was not possible for our van to get there and that a tuk tuk would be sent. This meant that we had to hurriedly pull out a few essentials and leave most of our gear in the van. Five of us so three tuktuk trips. Once we arrived we saw buses driving up a decent road [not the narrow, muddy bumpy tracks the tuktuk took] We called the driver and he easily brought the van up. We were charged for the tuk tuk rides - we declined to pay in the circumstances. This is a kind rough it place, best for those who like the wilderness and to take courses at the Buddhist monastry at the top of the hill. The steps to two of the rooms are treacherous- mossy and slippery. We were asked to have dinner in our rooms [ we had booked all four rooms] and obviously the previous guests had agreed with that as there were small bits of food on the bed. The dining area needs a lot of work to make use of its potential. Even considering how difficult it is to keep up with maintenance in such a climate I believe that this place needs be be far better presented and cleaner. The young man who cooked breakfast for us was doing his best with what he had available.

Sorry. The beds were reasonably comfortable and bed linen clean. The rest was disappointing. Strangely, a couple of weeks after our visit, I received two WhatsApp messages asking how I had paid the bill. 'punch" or cash. I responded with an image of the invoice clearly showing paid in LKR.

Only the view and the bed was fine

Bad rooms Bad shower I took about an hour to get breakfast

Nice view, good breakfast

Beautiful location and very helpful staff.

Beautiful location and exceptional view. Comfortable beds. Basic rooms but largely functional.

Not sure why the staff were unable to communicate to our driver how to get our large minivan up the hill with proper directions. This resulted in a very stressed transfer to tuktuk and an hour wasted. The road is actually in great condition, wide even on the hairpins and we saw many buses going up and down. Also limited food choices and staff were not so welcoming or very attentive.

The view

The view

Great views, excellent and kind staff and overall a very relaxing way to spend a few days in the mountains with a book! Bed was comfortable.

The traffic up to the hotel is a challenge as there is a big temple on top of the road and there are lots of big buses trying to navigate up and down the little road.