We stayed at this hotel for two weeks and found it really relaxing. The food was excellent and the staff brilliant, they could not do enough for you. We cannot believe that some reviews said the staff were rude, all we can say is we did not come across one member of staff who was less than helpful. We both had birthdays out there and had our rooms decorated with balloons and a cake made for us both and flowers for my wife. The location is great & anyone that moans obviously didn't read the brochure or do there homework. This is a three star hotel so if you want five star stay somewhere else and pay five star prices. This was the best three star hotel we have ever stayed in and would not hesitate to go back.

ignore all bad review estuary island hotel is not as bad as they say we was there for 2weeks we was a party of 6 , 3 couples yes we did have a few issues but minor , the main issue is with mercury direct and the rep (waste of time ) hotel management sorted our issues , hotel is clean and our rooms clean to, we had a very quiet 2 weeks which at time was very relaxing the staff were brilliant and yes there is a slight language barrier, maybe in a few yrs time it will be catered for europeans, a very scenic hotel, we met some lovely people at estuary hotel ,, carol and pete if you read this ive lost ur e.mail address would love to get in touch with you x

It is hard to review of this hotel because of many good aspect, some really bad. My mate and I stayed there for for night in B&b.
Location. Excellent views toward sea, because hotel is located on an island in front of a wide river, and further on there is the ocean. Very nice. The location is however a limit, because boat transfer to mainland is from 7,30am to 6pm. Further transfer must be arranged. Never tried to, however.
Rooms. Some real troubles. Nice seaview, but no real separation between inside and outside, because windows are normal doors, so all noise come in all days and night long. Hude problem with kingfishers singing from early morning, people in restaurant shouting. Better to choose an internal bungalow. Cleanliness is in line with indian standard, so enough low for western standard.
Food. Both lunch and dinner have buffet and a la carte food, and variety is ok, but quality sometimes lacks. My mate and I had stomachache because of restaurant. No other place where to have food, so the hotel restaurant is the only guilty for that.
Spa. Excellent. Lots of different treatments, with skillfull and helpful massagers. Very low prices (for western standard). There is also an ajurvedic doctor who can gives you advice on massages and food. We received also an ajurvedic analysis of mind and body type following ajurvedic medicine. Great! We stayed only for four nights, but one week at least was needed to have a full ajurvedic program for food and massage, though we got great benefits from treatment provided.
Staff. Very helpful.

During our visit to Kerala we decided to stay at Estuary Island Resort on Poovar island instead of more touristy and crowded Kovalam. This resort is about 25 km from Trivandrum and is located exactly at the mouth of Neyyar river estuary where it joins Arabian sea. This resort is reachable only by a boat and the 10 min ride from the drop off point to the resort in of itself is wonderful with great views of coconut groves and lush greenery dotting the banks of the river. We arrived there in the evening and caught one of the most beautiful sunsets we have seen.

The resort staff received us at the landing and walked us to the lobby for a personalized and convenient check-in. The rooms are large and well appointed with all modern amenities, Our room overlooked the gardens and sea beyond. The resort has a vanishing edge swimming pool as well as a shallower wading pool both very clean and inviting. The grounds are well maintained with coconut trees and other local flora. There were a couple of souvenir shops on the property with local items. The Spice restaurant on the property was our favorite since it offered buffet with a very large selection of south and north Indian cuisine and several international dishes. The spread included upward of 25 or more different preparations. The food was delicious and the staff was very friendly and welcoming.There was also a live music program during dinner with singers taking requests from the guests. There are a couple of other restaurants nearby that you can go to by boat.

The highlight of the resort for our family was the fabulous beach just 300m away across the river. It is a broad strip of sand (50 to 100 m wide) between the river and the sea with no rocks which makes it a perfect walking path. Resort operates boats since early morning to take guests back and forth from the beach. We took an early morning ride to walk the beach at sunrise and it was memorable. The beach is very clean and not crowded.The waves were a bit higher and rolling which would make for good surfing though not swimming. We did not see anyone surfing or even fishing there but the scene was serene and beautiful. Our boys loved the beach and spent better part of playing in the water, burying each other in sand, swimming and chasing birds. It was very relaxing. Highly recommended.

The resort also has a full fledged Ayurvedic wellness facility that offers all kinds of exotic massages and treatments. Some in our group did try these and found them to be very soothing and enjoyable.