Beautiful heritage hotel in the heart of Kochi fort but still very quiet, the staff was incredibly helpful, friendly and polite. Rooms are spacious, clean and well kept. Heritage walk was superb with all old structure, churches and Chinese fishing net. There are a number of complimentary activities included, such as kayaking, cycling and archery. A number of birds can be seen from the camp and the salim ali Bird Sanctuary is only a short drive away.
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Hotel located peacefully near to 2nd largest bird century of Asia (Dr. Salim Ali) best place for water activity# kayaking, river rafting. Camps located near to periyar river, food was amazing, Best place for corporate activity
So Amritara Hornbill Camps are all together an adventure. Decent camps with amazing periyar river infront of the camps, chirping of birds in the morning and kayaking. If you are in kerala one must go to Thattekad. Being with friends is the best thing. The drive from airport to Thattekad Hornbill Camp is mesmerising.
We love tented camps and we were told this would be simple. It is too simple, though! In the tent a bed and a small table, nothing to hang clothes or put something down. Very basic bathroom. Maintenance of the tent ok. No internet connection although civilisation is not that far - we were told there is not any (we were later told they normally have, so they probably didn‘t maintain it). The kitchen was ok, but set menues only.
It is a great place to explore the Thattekad, and it would not take a great effort to make this a great place in other respects, too.
Thank you so much for your review! We incessantly work hard to have happy and content guests; Our recent Tripadvisor Travellers Choice award is a recognition by people who stayed with us like you and we still remains as the No. 1 in the region. On your suggestions we take all of it positively, at the same time will clarify in detail on few of your mentions. Yes, it’s a nature camp, hence there will be a gap between the urban lifestyle offing’s against ours – Yes we have only a table besides beds in the living room, however we have 2 large cane chairs and a teapoy in the veranda for unwinding which you have probably missed to mention. Menus, we presently offer only set menus – however we are planning to revisit the system and see how best we can give a few more options. Between the bath and the bedroom there is a small closet with few hangers where one could hang clothes or keep them, this is right next to the bathroom door for easy accessibility. Internet - we have yet not offered to the guests, as there is a challenge in getting Hi Speed internet lines there & most of the mobile service providers have very feeble connectivity, that too restricted to few spots within our camp.
We have noted your review in detail; certainly & much sooner - we will upgrade our facilities a notch higher.
Many thanks for taking time to share your thoughts and looking forward to having you and your near ones at the camp for another connect with nature.
We stayed at the camp in February 2020 for 2 nights.
The accomodation was very compfortable, the service and the food was impeccable. We absolutely recommend the kajaking tour along the riverside. And if you are lucky during your stay you can enjoy your morning tea watching elephants.
Thank you very much for the wonderful review. I am glad that you enjoyed your stay at the Hornbillcamp. You definitely are lucky to have sighted the elusive elephants . Hope you will come back sometime to the Camp and recommend it to your friends and family . Hope you are back home safe .
Cheers !
Hornbill camp is about 2 hours away from Kochi airport and is situated close to the famous "Thattekad Bird Sanctuary". It is on the banks of a reservoir of the Periyar river. On the other bank lies protected forests and the bird sanctuary.
When we visited in early February the reservoir was full of water. The tent that we stayed in was clean, comfortable and air conditioned. The staff are very friendly and made our stay very pleasant. The food was wholesome & tasty served buffet style and so we did not mind that the spread was limited.
We were taken birding early next morning to the forest area, accompanied by Mr. Praveen, the camp naturalist. We spend about three hours and saw about forty species. As we got out of the car, the first thing we saw was a wild elephant crossing the road. Thus chastened, we climbed up a nearby hill with was surrounded by the canopies of several fruit trees.
We saw hundreds of birds signing and feeding by the sun's early light from this vantage point - Greater Flame back wood peckers, Heart spotted wood peckers, Gray fronted pigeons, Asian fairy blue birds, Malabar Barbets, Purple & Purple rumped sunbirds, Grey hornbills and plum headed parakeets to name a few. A pair of Malabar Squirrels were also feeding on a fig tree.
We then climbed down to the forest below, where the trees towered above us, to see a pair of Sri Lankan Frogmouths. As we got back on the road, we were lucky to see a pair of Malabar Trogons high in the canopy. We also saw a young Brown Fish Owl that had just fallen from its nest onto the forest floor. It was being chased by a bunch of crows and its concerned parent was watching from a tree.
We saw several groups of birders, guided by local naturalists, who seemed to be very knowledgeable. Our naturalist Praveen was very enthusiastic and skilled in spotting birds. Thattekad is a must visit for serious birders, and at the Hornbill camp you get real good value for your Money. I am told that December to February is the best time to visit.
Thank you very much for the extensive review of your stay and birding . Very happy to note that you had a satisfactory stay . We will definitely look into the food aspect , since we are a Camp and in a remote area we have limited supplies hence the limited choice in food . We are working towards more options and hope to have a full fledged menu available in the coming season . We would love to have you back sometime after things settle down with the Carona virus scare . Do come with other friends and family who would be interested in a holiday in the wilderness. Hoping to see you sometime soon .
Cheers !
