A truly amazing experience at an uniqe place. Great service, good food, a room (one of only six) in a former royal summer palace, with antique furniture. And best of all: you had the best view you could ever want - overlooking Lake Periyar and all the wild animals such as elephants, deers, bisons in the National Park right outside your room!

We saw this location several years ago from a boat on Periyar lake whilst staying at Aranya Nivas and knew we had to try it.
It is an expensive place to stay but paid the extra 25% for room 44 as our retirement present to ourselves - we were not disappointed - and even had the whole place to ourselves for the 3 nights we were there.
The views from the verandah are fantastic - the lake being more than 8 metres higher than normal (we were there in February last time) meant that the grassed areas down to the water were flooded and thus less room for animals - saw no elephants just bison and deer, and lots of birds.
The staff are outstanding, as was the food, and could not be improved on as far as we are concerned.
Three tribal fishing canoes in the bay all night on one day meant that we saw nothing in the way of animals the following morning (they had been ashore cutting trees and having a fire aswell as fishing so things were quite disturbed)
The setting is outstandingly beautiful and peaceful whether you see animals or not and according to the guest comments we were unlucky not to see elephants in the lake.

Great place, value for money and enjoyed it absolutely. Food was great, rooms, service and overall experience fantastic. The boat ride and the special treatment when you book the lake palace which is in the center of the lake is worth spending the money. Wonderful view of the lake and surrounding forest, and of course enjoy the palace itself....

Lake Palace is a small and beautiful forest Resort in side the Periyar Lake, Thekkady Kerala. This was the summer palace of King Sri Chittirathirunnal of Travancore. It has only 6 well equipped rooms with antique interiors, hence it is necessary to reserve in advance as you may not get the rooms, especially in the peak seasons. The best time to visit is from November to May and if you are a lover of Wild Life it will be best to select the month of April-May and you can spot lot of animals just sitting in the resort itself. The resort gives you the beautiful view of the Periyar Lake and the lush green forest which is soothing for your eyes.
The service provided is excellent and the food served is delicious and it can be done according to your choice and taste. They also serve authentic Kerala food both veg and non-veg. You may feel the rate is a bit on the higher side but it is quite worth for a person looking for complete relaxation. They also arrange free boating in the lake, Jeep Safari and trekking. This is truly a home away from home.