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Riverside Retreat
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6 - 11 of 43 reviews
Reviewed 3 March 2017 via mobile
Peaceful and Relaxation

This is the place for those who are looking for peace, nature and delicious food. The setting is stunning! The family were charming and helpful and provided us with anything we needed. Endless opportunities for watching birds and life along the river. You can take short walks to neighbouring villages and meet the friendly local people. Highly recommended!

Date of stay: February 2017
Trip type: Travelled with family
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 15 March 2016
What a hidden, beautiful gem!

This was probably my partner and myself's highlight of our 6 week trip in India! This was our first stay here - but we felt so welcome. Jiji and his wife greeted us as though we were old friends, and made it their priority to ensure we were enjoying our stay. The location is tranquil and peaceful, offering a beautiful view of the backwaters whilst not being noisy. The nice thing about this part of the backwaters is that it is still mostly untouched by western society - with locals still living quite traditionally. The food was hands down AMAZING - some of the best local cuisine I tasted in India. So thank you to Jiji, his wife (the best cook ever) and beautiful daughter anna for making us feel so at home. We will never forget you :)

Date of stay: January 2016
Trip type: Travelled with friends
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 11 March 2016
A wonderfully relaxing place in the Backwaters

This is the second time I have stayed here, the first being 8 years ago. The pleasing thing is that it hasn't changed in the interim and the welcome from Jiji and his wife is still very warm. Jiji's wife made some wonderful local food and was very happy for some of us to join her in the kitchen for an ad-hoc cookery lesson. The room are simple, but comfortable and the wonderful garden and relaxing riverside views make this a wonderful place to stay.

Room tip: Ask for one of the cabins. Also, ensure you have Jiji's mobile number so the taxi driver can get instructions!
Date of stay: February 2016
  • Trip type: Travelled with friends
    • Sleep Quality
    • Cleanliness
    • Service
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 16 February 2016
Warmest family welcome and perfectly tranquil retreat

What a magical place to enjoy the Kerala Backwaters from the balcony outside your room? Clean, simple yet very comfortable room and really good home cooking. In particular the coconut pancakes for breakfast were delicious!
The host family are both genteel and engaging striking a perfect balance of hospitality and your own space. A beautiful, colourful garden offering plenty of areas for shade from the baking sun and a wonderful hammock next to the river must be enjoyed.

Date of stay: January 2016
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 5 October 2015 via mobile
Had better!

For the price we paid I would call this stay disappointing.. Sorry to Gigi and his family but they need to change some things to make this a more comfortable stay!

The rooms are average (hard beds, Mosquitos everywhere) the price for dinner is expensive (350) especially because there are no other options for dinner in the surrounding area.. That also goes for lunch, you have to walk quite far to the nearest village to get lunch

We got charged for water which we personally thought was free of charge with our meals but only got half a bottle each. The rooms were also not cleaned at all during our stay, and the communal area was not cleaned also so it was pretty dirty by the end (with no bins for rubbish anywhere, and I ended up sweeping the area myself)

If the price was cheaper this would of been a great escape on the backwaters! Hope they take this message to fix some little problems with the place!

Ps. When we left we were put in a rickshaw by the owner to the train station (4km away) and we were charged 150 rupees.. I brought this up with gigi as I KNEW it was too expensive (we had done the trip before) so was unfortunate that he ripped us off!

Some upsides to the stay were that the food was really nice.

Date of stay: October 2015
Trip type: Travelled with friends
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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