Need to chase away the winter blues? For plenty of peace, quiet and sunshine, Sri Lanka offers a variety of escapes. Harking back to Sri Lanka’s British Colonial days when it was founded in 1876 as a private gentlemen’s club by a group of British coffee planters, the Hill Club overlooks both the town of Nuwara Eliya and Sri Lanka’s highest point, Pidurutalagala Mountain. The town itself is known as the country’s “tea garden,” and produces the highest grade of tea, served in the hotel’s restaurants.

Along with sleeping accommodations, the club includes a formal dining room where white-gloved waiters serve dinner; a reading room filled with a rare book collection; two billiard rooms — one smoking, one not — featuring tables that date back 136 years; separate men’s and lady’s lounges; a chalet equipped with gym; conference and meeting facilities; and the Casual Bar. The Hill Club also grows all its own vegetables and herbs. Located 30 minutes from the railway station in Nanu Oya, it’s positioned directly across from its 18-hole golf course and club house, and a scant five minute’s walk from seasonal horse racing at the Turf Club.