Category: Kerala Accommodation

We stayed (2 nights) at Au Revoir resort during our Malampuzha trip in December 2021.

This resort is located near to the Malampzuha dam reservoir and its around 15-16 kms from Palakkad KSRTC Bus Stand and 57 kms from Coimbatore.

The landscape in and around this resort is nice and peaceful and its spread across 4.4 acres of land.

Few Facilities within the resort includes:

Belvoir:

They have a Multi cuisine restaurant named Belvoir (next to Lobby), which serves traditional and many other varieties of food.

The food was tasty and was slightly overpriced.

The Restaurant is open for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.

LeSpring:

There is a Banquet hall/Convention center with a seating capacity for 300 people.

Rimini:

There is also a outdoor Amphi theatre with 50+ seats.

It is strategically positioned in the center of the property.

La Brasserie:

Near to the reception area (left side), there is a Coffee Shop. I believe its open 24/7

Brillante Business Center:

There is a small business centre near to the coffee shop which includes internet, hi speed Wi-Fi  and so on.

There are also other facilities like Tea shop and so on.

Apart from that, they also have :

Swimming Pool

Travel Guide

Wifi

Ample Parking

Health Club

Taxi service

Indoor Games

Sight seeing arrangements

Campfire

Travel desk

Cycles

Buggy service to rooms: The guests and their luggage are moved to the respective rooms using the buggy service as the resort is in an hilly landscape.

There is huge list of amenities available in this resort. The below list is picked from Au revoir website.

Different types of rooms are available like:

Row House

Honeymoon Villa

Deluxe room

Eventhough the Resort is newly build (I believe it was opened in 2021) with latest facilities, we felt that the facilities/fittings in the room were slightly outdated. They could have taken a little more care while deciding on the room design/fittings. But this is just a remark. But overall the ambiance in and around this resort is very good. We believe this is one of the best property, if you are looking for a stay option near Malampuzha dam. The staff was very helpful and supportive.

Please note that this property is around 6Kms from Malampuzha dam.

The road towards the resort from the dam is a bit tricky especially around the night time.

Its quite narrow and is just beside the reservoir without walls/fence. So pay good attention while driving.

Its not a road with lot of traffic. At times, you will find lot of  gravel and mud on the road.

Incase if you are driving to this place for the first time, we would strongly suggest to reach there before it gets too dark. Once you are more familiar with the road, then its should be ok and you would be comfortable driving even at night time.

During day time, you can really enjoy the scenic route to the resort which is adjacent to the dam reservoir.

They also have an Ayurvedic treatment centre offering different packages (around 10 different options to choose from)

More details can be found at : https://aurevoir.co.in/ayurvedic-treatment-package

Note: We have not tried any ayurvedic package and hence cannot comment much on that part.

Seems like they also have a fully-qualified yoga expert available within the resort.

Seems like this is also a common stay option for Film stars while they have shooting in and Malampuzha area. During our stay, we saw Tamil stars like Arya, Simran and others. There was also a small cake cutting function in connection with Arya’s birthday.

More details can be found @ https://aurevoir.co.in/

Address:

AuRevoir Resort Palakkad

Malampuzha Dam Ring Road,

South Malampuzha, Palakkad, Kerala, India

+91 97784 12247

+91 97784 12236

reservations@aurevoir.co.in

 As far as I remember, there is no direct Booking option available in their website, instead you should provide your details around the travel plan in the form of a message.

Overall Summary:

We would certainly recommend including AuRevoir (as a option to stay), in case if you are planning for a Malampuzha trip.

Thera are lot of tourist attarctions in Malampuzha.

Malampuzha Dam & Ropeway:

Malampuzha Dam is the second largest dam and reservoir in Kerala.

Malampuzha Ropeway was South India’s First Rope way project and it was commissioned in 1991.

Flying over the garden at a height of 60 ft., providing the best panoramic view of the beautiful landscapes, the twenty minutes sky-ride on Malampuzha Ropeway provides an unforgettable experience.

Malampuzha Snakepark:

Snake Park, is a reptile rehabilitation centre,  situated close to Malampuzha Dam and Malampuzha Garden.

It is maintained by the Kerala Forest Department, Palakkad.

Various poisonous and non-poisonous reptiles are exhibited in the Snake Park.

Malampuzha Garden:

Malampuzha Garden is a beautifully landscaped garden on the front side of the Malampuzha Dam. It is full of lush green lawns with well laid-out flower beds. There are pathways to watch and enjoy variety of fountains and marvelous sculptures.

Malampuzha Rock Garden:

Malampuzha Rock Garden, maintained by the District Tourism Promotion Council, Palakkad, was the first-of-its-kind in South India.

The Garden is filled with architectures made of waste stones and plastic.

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.