The Hill Club is the most atmospheric relic of British colonial Nuwara Eliya — a large mock-Tudor building on the edge of town that operated as a gentlemen's club from 1876 until independence and has been preserved, more or less intact, as a heritage hotel. The building is filled with hunting trophies, old photographs, wood panelling, and the accumulated furniture of a century of colonial club life.
You do not need to be a guest to visit — the dining room serves meals to non-residents and there is a bar where you can sit among the stuffed animal heads and think about empire. Dinner requires jacket and tie; blazers are available to borrow if you have not brought one. The food is competent English cooking, which fits the setting perfectly. Even if you do not eat here, a walk through the public rooms is a strange and interesting experience.