Marari Beach

If you enjoy natural lush green surroundings with beach side along with luxury and safety, this is the place to be. There are private villas and villas with private pools also. The entire property is green with different variety of trees, ponds and butterfly garden. You would enjoy bird watching here with the very talented naturalist Shibu. He knows where to find which bird, is an excellent nature enthusiast and photographer as well. I really enjoyed watching owls via telescope :) . The staff is friendly, food is also very good with a number of local dishes. One thing to note while giving a natural and earthy surrounding they have provided an open bathroom which may intimidate some. The place is also near to Alleppey and the staff will help you in booking boat tour for you if you like. Overall great experience. Highly recommended.

We loved our stay, the hotel, it’s grounds and staff are superb. We loved it all. It’s so well run and they really can’t do enough for you. The swimming pool is one of the best we’ve found, it was rarely busy and the pool staff were great, especially Eldo. You can get some lunch and beers or cocktails round the pool. Make sure you find time for the naturalist tours with Vishnu, Arun and Shibu - they are brilliant, we saw so much wildlife with their help; it’s clear that they love what they do and they are full of knowledge, they are an asset to the hotel. Our housekeeper Lijamol looked after us, leaving lovely plants and flowers at turndown. It was great to come back to our room each day and for it all to be tidied. The rooms are spacious and comfortable, the beds are huge and we slept well. We also loved the outside/inside bathroom, it’s unusual. The hotel has remembered two important aspects of a room for travellers, these are often missing and it always annoyed me: towel hooks in bathroom and mirrors with well placed lighting. The laundry service was also good, we’ve never had such well ironed clothes. The breakfasts were lovely, beautiful omelettes and lots of choice. We are from the a la carte and it was always lovely. We sampled a cocktail or two at the beach shack where the barman is charming and friendly. We also had pizza there which was lovely! We used the push bikes to go to the village, it’s worth it just to speak to the locals who are keen to have a conversation . We also walked to the beach shacks nearby for lovely food at lunch. We could have stayed at the hotel for two weeks, 5 was not enough and we can’t wait to return. It was a joy!

A little piece of paradise, I wish we could have spent more time here. Swimming in the Arabian sea in the morning was awesome and we even saw dolphins. Sunset walks on the beach were so photogenic. A highlight was the time we spent with Shibu the resident naturalist whose professionalism and passion for wildlife was infectious. Don't miss his owl walk in the mornings. We also visited his garden (after a tuk tuk ride) and enjoyed an amazing time with so many different birds. Another memorable experience was lunching with local housewives who are working on a new project to share local food with guests. Try eating with your fingers from a banana leaf, it's delicious! This is a large complex and there is plenty of space so you never feel crowded. There is a big pool but we actually had our own so didn't use it much. The food was excellent, you could choose from a buffet or a la carte. Our only gripe was the price of the rather indifferent wine by the glass which was more expensive here than in the sister hotels.