Kerala heritage accommodation
| country: | India |
| location: | Kottayam, Kerala |
| price: | From US $30 - US $50 per double room per night. Rates depend on season. Extra person US $15 each |
description
Enjoy the ambiance of a traditional Kerala house in the banks of the cool and calm backwaters.
This homestay is a 120 years old traditional Syrian Christian family house located near the river bank. The recently renovated house is surrounded with small canals and rich lush evergreen trees, flanked on the opposite river bank with a traditional Hindu temple. The property is designed in unique Syrian Christian Architecture, consisting of the 10 guest rooms, Ayurveda centre, dining area, reception, shop and children play area.
The area offers exotic sightseeing, boating and fishing experiences. The Bird Sanctuary here is spread across 14 acres of marshy land in the shore of Vembanad Lake, a natural habitat of migratory birds and an ornithologist’s paradise. Egrets, darters, herons, waterfowl, cuckoo and migratory birds like Siberian Stork, wild duck, etc live in flocks are fascinating sight for the visitors. The nearby village is situated in a mixture of mangrove forest, emerald green paddy fields and coconut groves inter spread with waterway and canals adorned with wild lily. This enchanting backwater destination has its leisure options like boating, fishing etc.
This homestay is a 120 years old traditional Syrian Christian family house located near the river bank. The recently renovated house is surrounded with small canals and rich lush evergreen trees, flanked on the opposite river bank with a traditional Hindu temple. The property is designed in unique Syrian Christian Architecture, consisting of the 10 guest rooms, Ayurveda centre, dining area, reception, shop and children play area.
The area offers exotic sightseeing, boating and fishing experiences. The Bird Sanctuary here is spread across 14 acres of marshy land in the shore of Vembanad Lake, a natural habitat of migratory birds and an ornithologist’s paradise. Egrets, darters, herons, waterfowl, cuckoo and migratory birds like Siberian Stork, wild duck, etc live in flocks are fascinating sight for the visitors. The nearby village is situated in a mixture of mangrove forest, emerald green paddy fields and coconut groves inter spread with waterway and canals adorned with wild lily. This enchanting backwater destination has its leisure options like boating, fishing etc.
rooms, food and facilities
River side location with boat jetty and close to the lake Family & baby friendly accommodation: We welcome families with children & babies. We have a children's play area and babysitters are available on request.
how to find us
By air: 85 km from Cochin (Nedumbasserry) Airport.
By train: 13 km from Kottayam railway station.
how this holiday makes a difference
|
We employ local people for all jobs inside the property such as property supervisors, house keepers and cooks. We have a shop inside the property where we display and sell handicraft items and paintings made by local villagers. All the transportation and sight seeing arrangements for our guests are carried out by local people on a sub contract basis. We support charity projects run by the Churches. The Churches have charity projects to for medical aid, housing and education for the deserving people in the villages.
We use fire logs (available from our property) as an alternative energy for cooking purpose. We also use LPG for cooking. We don’t use electricity for cooking or heating water. We use a solar system to produce hot water in the guest bathrooms.  We purchase locally grown fruits, vegetables and other utilities. We have about 3 acres of land surrounding the homestay. There are coconut plantations, jack fruit trees, mango trees, banana plants and other trees and lawn. We don’t use any chemical manures or pesticides on our grounds. Instead, we use bio fertilizers and organic manure. We use compost methods for waste disposal inside the property and a rain Water harvesting scheme is in planning. All our staff are given guidelines about conservation of bio diversity, good environmental practices etc. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |