Mandaram villas | Bed & Breakfast in Mararikulam, Kerala

Positive: Our favourite stay in a month long trip to Southern India. Allwyn is a fabulous host and helps with organising things to do etc. Food is amazing!

Positive: The staff were so warm and friendly. They helped us with every part of our stay ensuring that we were well looked after. Bonus was the amazing food, especially dinner - a feast. Loved our time here! Thank you to all the amazing people who run the show

Positive: Wonderful property with the perfect pool, excellent staff and the best location. Book here and let lovely Jency and Allwyn take care of the rest

Negative: Nothing

Positive: We loved everything about Mandaram Villas. The owners and staff are lovely people and cater for your every needs. The rooms are spacious and comfortable. The pool is delightful. You can see birdlife in the trees all around including owls. The breakfast is delicious, and the evening meal is a sumptuous feasts of local dishes. Our favourite stay during a month in Kerala

Negative: All fabulous

Positive: We had a fabulous stay. Our host was amazing and the property was clean and had great sized rooms. Only three rooms in the property made it a very cosy experience. Breakfast was delicious and only 5 minutes walk to the beach

Positive: Lovely large airy comforteble and attractively furnished room. Wonderful hot shower! We loved it. Jesme the housekeeper does an excellent job an gave us a warm welcome and great information about places to visit and things to do. Jesme and all the staff were so kind and helpful. The inclusive breakfasts and evening meal on request were all delicious - home cooking traditional Keralan cuisine. Only three rooms here which was great, laid out around a lovely pool. Really good location - just a three minute walk down to a beautiful beach, safe for swimming with sunbeds and with little cafes selling good food.

Negative: Nothing!

Positive: The friendly and extremely helpful staff and amazing food cooked a lovely smiling lady

Positive: Breakfast was excellent quality, freshly prepared and plentyful. The area was quiet, unspoilt and very friendly, with a handful of excellent restaurants.

Negative: The curtains were thin and didn't stop much light.

Positive: This was a surprisingly beautiful homestay within the context of the small fishing village it's located in. Our hosts (Jesmi, Allwyn and all the people who kept the place lively) -were beyond professional and welcoming, and made our stay feel very comfortable, while leaving us space to relax and enjoy the facilities at our own pace, -and, accommodating our own lack of planning and utiliing their knowledge of the area by giving us useful recommendations and helping us organize activities for the day and ensuring they are executed in a timely and clear manner. Beyond this, the food (home prepared) was very good, and it was presented in a cozy atmosphere and with accommodations for our timetable and dietary preferences (also because we basically had almost the entire place to ourselves, having two of the three available rooms booked and the other one unoccupied). The presence of the two well-behaved resident cats also made things a bit more fun.. As for the rooms themselves, they were fantastic, organized perfectly to complement (to be complemented by) the central pool, and with large comfortable beds and the best-looking (but in hindsight not as practical) naturally-lit shower that wowed us at first sight. All the basics one could need (kettle, towels, bug spray, sunscreen, etc) were also there. The central pool is the main attraction for the stay, with clean and warm water that and immediate proximity to the rooms which made it a very enjoyable place to spend time. Our host, Jesmi also helped organize a yoga session for us, which took place on the terrace above the rooms and kitchen, and was a refreshing and envigorating experience with a local yoga master who guided us (3 complete beginners and an experienced practitioner) through a fun session. The views of the surrounding area, and the sounds of the ocean and birds mixed with the ambient sounds of the central pool, all made for an extra-engaging time.

Negative: The main drawback, which is not the homestay's fault (for the most part) is just that with such close proximity and integration to and within the natural elements (plants, trees, etc) - there also came some unexpected visitors in the form of insects, most of which were small and co-habitable, let's say, but some were surprisingly and frighteningly large, which (for me, personally) made for uneasy attempts at sleeping comfortably. That said, the hosts did give us the heads up to keep doors closed when not needed and they pointed out the availability of bug sprays and the like, so if you go in expecting the natural drawbacks that come with this type of space (which is also not the type of thing that immediately comes to a traveler's mind, either, especially when it's for leisure) -it should be fine.

Positive: My partner and I came here for a few days to celebrate our anniversary and chill out after a month touring India. The whole experience was truly wonderful. Jesmi and Sebastian were on hand whenever we needed and advised us as to lovely ayurverdic, restaurants and beach visits; nothing was to much to ask them. Archana cooked us a delicious home cooked meal for our special date which was the best!! The actual site is stunning with a large pool amidst the tropical flowers and a lovely breakfast spot overlooking the greenery. We had breakfast each morning and it was always something different and wonderfully catered to my gluten free. The rooms are cleans each morning and the pool/sitting area is very well maintained. It has been the most beautiful stay - thank you to the whole team - I’m not sure how we will top this anniversary!!

Negative: Nothing!