Hapu Tales Holiday Villa  

Hapu Tales is a very good place to linger. Tea in the garden. A swim in the sun. The sort of cooking that deserves a second night. The view is magnificent. Obviously. And the personal touch is wonderfully literal.

Munira, known as Muni, bought this former tea plantation land in 2016 and oversaw the construction of the three-bedroom villa and standalone one-bedroom cottage. She planted tea, coffee, spices and fruit trees, and lives on site for much of the year welcoming guests into the place she made. Here, the lower Haputale hills stretch into the distance, sometimes vanishing behind the mist entirely. Swim when the sun’s out; take a book or board game to the covered verandah when it’s not. Nobody is keeping score of how much you’ve done. 

The in-house chef serves string hoppers, coconut rotis and curries at the villa’s eight-seater table, in the garden, by the pool or under the pergola. If you're staying for two nights or more, ask for the Bohra Thaal, a shared meal rooted in Muni’s food traditions. Dishes arrive on a communal platter as guests sit together on the floor. 

The villa has a shared sitting and dining room, pantry, kitchenette and mountain-view verandah. Ruby Ridge has a jacuzzi. Emerald Valley is the separate cottage in the garden.