Author: Prabhith Prabhakaran

We had taken 5 rooms here during the Pooja holidays in October 2015.

Had spent around INR 3000+ for each cottage, as the charges were on higher side due to demand.

I believe once upon a time, this would have been one of the best resorts in Yercaud having Independent cottages with 2 big rooms (one with AC) / 2 bathrooms (with geysers), 3+1 Sofa , sofa cum bed , balcony , parking space in front of each cottage and so on. But now this hotel doesn’t have that glory anymore, because of very bad maintenance.

I wouldn’t recommend this hotel to any one of you and with such high rates, absolutely NO. You have tones of other options available in Yercaud.

The rooms are not neat and bathrooms are horrible.

This is around 2 Kms from city center.

I would admit that the place is calm and there is a children playing area within the campus.

Restaurant here is not a full-fledged one and they make the food only based on the order. In case, if you are planning a late check-in expecting that you can have the lunch at the resort, please make sure that you order your food at the restaurant well in advance, else you will have to travel back to city center for getting some decent food.

One Line Summary : Wouldn’t recommend this resort.

Stayed here with Family for 3 Nights – 4 Days in January 2018.

Pros:

1) This property is very close to city center. Probably 0.5 Kms to MG Marg / Lal Bazaar and around 1 Km to the Rope way.

2) The restaurant menu was good (not lavish spread, especially Non vegetarian items) but the rates are quite cheaper (for combos) considering other sterling resorts.

3) As it is quite near to city center, you won’t face any challenges in getting taxi’s.

4) We can see the Bus Stand from the balcony of most of the rooms. Accessibility to bus stand is easy.

Cons:

These remarks are exclusively about Room 206. We had another family with us who were staying in the adjacent room and they did not face any similar challenges:

1) On the day 1, we really faced some challenges with the hot water. Some how they rectified the issue the next day. But still the challenge was that the hot water was not continuously coming. We should wait for 30-45 minutes to get (one) bucket of hot water.

2) We had requested the housekeeping to supply hot water to our room, but they did not do so.

3) For a place like Gangtok where the temperatures are quite cool, Sterling should look forward for better heating options (this is a generic case across all rooms).

4) Some rooms are very small.

5) If you are looking for a place close to nature, this is not the right place.

One Line Summary : Budget Hotel with limited rooms (located near to MG Marg/City center)

Updated in September 2019: Seems this property as now been acquired by Sterling group and is now called as Sterling Guruvayur. Website: https://www.sterlingholidays.com/resorts-hotels/guruvayur

Stayed here with family in November 2017.

Pros:

Extremely courteous staff.

Just 4-5 months old as of Nov2017. Very neat and tidy.

Well Furnished Restaurant. Food is very tasty.

Close to Mamiyur junction and temple.

Very good parking facility.

Very good interior wood work throughout the hotel, especially at the reception/restaurant region.

Branded sanitary fittings in the bathroom.

Was offered a complimentary breakfast and the items spread was good.

Cons:

This hotel is slightly far from Guruvayur temple, but good thing is that the hotel provides free cab service to the temple. (things might have changed after Sterling acquisition)

Even if you don’t get the service on time, you will definitely get some public transport options like auto (may be 20-30 rupees), bus and so on.

Remarks:

If you are looking for a very neat and clean hotel to stay during your Guruvayur visit, this is one place that you should definitely look for. Highly recommended.

Try booking via some online sites to get more discounts.

The hotel has around 71 rooms in total.

Its Only Vegetarian and I believe almost 95%+ hotels in Guruvayur serves Vegetarian food only.

This resort is around 21 Kms from Munnar town. We stayed here for 3 nights (in August 2017). Its located in Chinnakanal, near to Suryanelli.

One of the oldest property of sterling with around 130+ rooms.

But it’s still decently maintained considering the year in which it was constructed.

There are some outdoor games arranged within the resort but with some nominal charges.

Theni- Munnar route would be a better option to reach this resort.

If you are not comfortable driving in hill station, I would suggest you to take up a taxi (Taxi stand is right in front of main gate) for sight-seeing.

Kolukkumalai jeep safari is one of the most important attraction in this part of Munnar . There are jeeps available outside the resort (near to the main gate). Any person visiting this resort should not miss that Jeep Safari. Also, ensure to visit the 100-year-old tea factory, as a part of that safari.

The top attractions in Munnar is in and around the city Center and this resort is in Chinnakanal which is around 21 Kms. So keep a buffer of an hour or so for one side travel. There is a road widening work going on in this route.

Pros:

1) The staff is very polite and supportive, especially the house keeping staff.

2) Complains are properly solved. We had some issues with the Bathroom outlet flow and it was rectified as soon as the complaint was registered.

3) There are some good attractions nearby this resort.

Cons:

1) The restaurant food is extremely costly, not experienced this with any other Sterling resorts. There are decent restaurants outside the resort where you can have food (Kerala delicacies as well as North Indian/Tandoori type aswell)

2) Many of the rooms are in a steep area. So you will have to climb a lot of steps. If you have some senior citizens in your group, try getting rooms in the main reception building area.

3) No Bar (may be as per the government rules prevailing in Kerala that time)

4) Doesn’t have that old charm.

5) All rooms doesn’t have a great view.

I stayed here for 2D/1N along with my family, in April 2018.

Got an upgrade from Keys room to keys Indulge room.

Pros:

1. Check-in and Check-out was smooth.
2. Staff (Security, Reception, House-keeping and Restaurant) was extremely courteous and helpful.
3. Breakfast spread was good.

5. We had a partial view of the back water from the room, but there are some good views from the Corridor.

6. Good place to stay during a business / short trip.

7. Fort Kochi and Mattancherry is around 30 minutes from here.

8. Its next to Folklore Museum.

Cons:

1. The Mini Bar in the room was empty (Anyway, I see this trend these days in many hotels)

2. The main road to the hotel is little congested with lot of taxi and other private parking.

3. The basement parking and parking space within hotel campus is limited.

4. All the toiletries (like Shaving and Dental Kits) were not provided in the room.

5. No shops nearby.

6. No Swimming pool (I guess)

Room Tips: Try to get a room as high as possible, and the corner rooms towards the old city. Will get good backwater views from there.

One Line Summary: Nice and affordable stay in Kochi.

We had stayed in this resort for 3 days / 2 nights in November 2017. This resort was inaugurated during the mid of October 2017.

Pros:

1) The property is excellent and has been developed giving full attention to the existing landscape.

2) The pool is really good.. Same depth across the pool.. Kid’s pool also available.

3) Restaurant is good and the managers give special attention to guests.

4) Good activity room with options like chess, kids area and so on.

5) They arrange visit to nearby tribal village / Paddy fields.

6) If you are looking for a place to relax yourself in a silent location, this should be a good option.

Cons:

1) If you are looking for resort having spectacular views from your room, this is not the right place.

2) This is located slightly away from the main Wayanad attractions.

3) Since this is relatively new (a month old), you might find issues in the following, but over a period of time, things should change.
a) Proper attention/ swimming costume at the swimming pool
b) Restaurant staff not fully sure about the menu
c) Lack of proper support/issue addressing from the reception
d) Frequent power fluctuations
e) Lot of trainees been deployed in various departments. So you will see some laziness / inexperience from those guys
f) No Specific connection numbers to housekeeping / restaurant (not sure if its specific to the rooms that I had taken)
h) Issues with Wifi connectivity (not sure if its specific to the days that I have stayed)
i) Main door lock doesn’t work at times

Other points to note:

1) Balcony doors have a slightly different lock mechanism. Contact the resort staff, if you face any issues.

2) Better avoid to and fro journey between 10 PM- 6 Am, as the resort is located in the wildlife area.

3) The wet area (bathroom) should have been a little more bigger.

4) Sterling needs to have more direction boards for guiding people coming from Bangalore via Gundalpet / Bandipur area.

5) All the 120 rooms are not operational yet. Construction work is going on in some places.

6) Spa is yet to be ready, I guess.

7) Special mention to the excellent support from Anu (Manager) and Ajith (Restaurant in charge).

8) Need more guidance from Front office/ activities team in guiding the customers on various tourist attractions.
(Ex: We had driven from resort to Kuruwadeep 46 Kms / 1.45 Hours and then realized that its been closed since many days due to some civil case).

Stayed here for 2D / 1N, along with my family in April 2018.

Took Superior room which doesn’t have a Backwater view.

Key Points:

1) As mentioned by all fellow travellers in various blogs / sites, the swimming pool is the main attraction of the resort and it was very clean. One of the best pools that I have ever seen.

I stayed here for a night with my family in April 2018.

We had taken a Superior Lake View + Breakfast option

Pros:

a) The Location of this hotel is excellent. Great view of Ashtamudi lake.

b) Near to Kollam Boat Jetty.

c) Good Parking available (basement parking also available).

d) They provide a 30 min Free House boat service during Sun Set time.

e) The Breakfast spread was excellent.

f) The Restaurant staff was helpful.

g) The pool is excellent.

h) A Gym facility is also available.

Cons:

(This is especially with Room 108 in the old block)

a) Being a 5 star Property, the room size did not meet our expectation.

b) The connection to Room Service was not working from the Telephone provided in the room.

c) The bath tub was not working properly.

d) Basic items like Dental Kits were not provided.

e) The Minibar was empty.

g) Shower needs a makeover (a very normal one).

h) Room Slippers were not provided,

i) AC was not cooling the rooms even after proper settings.

j) Restaurant menu was not provided in the room.

k) There wasn’t any laundry bag or laundry list in the room.

l) Did not find much outdoor playing options for small kids.

Summary: Overall, apart from the views and location, the resort did not meet 5 Star Expectations. Excellent Resort (in terms of location) but disappointing room and service.

“I travel because it makes me realize how much I haven’t seen, how much I’m not going to see, and how much I still need to see.” – Carew Papritz

This is the first time, am booking a home stay in Kerala.

Was little skeptical while choosing Haris sea shell, but Trip advisor reviews gave me the confidence.

To be frank, this is a very nice property, worth recommending others.

Location is quite nice and have a very good sea view from most of the rooms.

The attractions within Kannur are also not far.

One Line Summary: A nice and decent Sea View Home Stay, Most rooms are Sea facing rooms.

I stayed in Hotel Rainbow Suites in Kannur for 2 nights in October 2018.

It’s a minimum distance (20 Rupees) charge in autorickshaw from Kannur Private Bus stand and its very near (you might have to take an auto, though) to the railway station (in Bellard Road)

Positives:

Restaurant is available. In case if you want to try some other restaurants, ‘Chifonets’ is just 1-minute walk from this hotel.

Rooms are clean and comfortable.

This is a Budget hotel.

There is parking space available in front of the hotel. A couple of vehicles can be parked there.

An auto stand is available nearby.

Service was prompt.

Some of the Kannur Attractions are nearby (like Payyambalam beach is 1.5 Kms)

Negatives:

Restaurant food was slightly costly.