Marari Arattukulam Haven

Staying here was an absolute pleasure. This homestay is perfect for a relaxed time in a beautiful jungle setting. It's quiet and secluded yet still close to the fabulous beaches of the Malabar Coast, and easy transport links to Alleppey and the Kerala Backwaters. Our hosts were friendly and helpful, and the food really excellent. Many thanks to Andrew and his lovely family.

We had a wonderful stay. Our hosts were friendly and helpful, the food was really really good and the room was spacious and cool.| It is a perfect location to relax in the quiet of the jungle yet close to tuk tuks, the wonderful beaches of the Malabar Coast and transport links to Alleppey and Fort Cochin.

This was by far the best, most private, peaceful and comfortable experience we had staying here for two weeks. Wonderful people, cozy bed, totally private balcony surrounded by trees and a beautiful garden with a large hammock. Lot of greetings to the family - Kati and Dino.

A Perfect Nature Retreat with Delicious Seafood and Warm Hospitality... I recently had the pleasure of staying at this homestay, and it was truly an unforgettable experience. Nestled amidst lush greenery, the place offers a serene and nature-friendly environment that instantly puts you at ease. The hosts have created a homely atmosphere, making it feel like a home away from home. The highlight for me was the incredible seafood. Every meal was a culinary delight, featuring fresh, locally sourced ingredients and authentic flavors. It's a paradise for seafood lovers! What sets this homestay apart is the exceptional hospitality. The hosts go above and beyond to ensure every guest feels welcome and cared for. Their warmth and attentiveness truly made my stay special. If you're looking for a peaceful getaway surrounded by nature, with delicious food and wonderful hosts, this is the perfect place. I highly recommend it and can't wait to visit again!

It's been an incredible stay; one of the best stays we've ever had. You'd be delighted at the hospitality provided. They're more than happy to go beyond what's promised to make your stay comfortable and joyful. Brilliant place for families, solo or group travelers. If you are looking for a place that can give you a home away home feel, take my word and go for this place. You can enjoy a beautiful, traditional kerala home stay with a wonderful couple, with a good breakfast. Rooms are very clean and well maintained and it's so green everywhere around. There's restaurant and bar at walkable distance and so many small local shops. You wouldn't regret this one.

Our stay at Mariari Arattukulam Haven was really excellent. The house was very nice as in outside the same as inside with very nice garden, where you can find very different kind of fruits, which we tried each day. Room was very comfortable with all facilities inside. We spent the unforgivable 7 days with very nice family and lovly people around. We got an amzing hospitality from the owners of the house. Besides we had a great opportunity to taste the varities of India's kitchen offered by the housewife.Also we had a lucky chance to be there at the time of their local season festival of #Onam# . We were invited by the family to participate in their celebration together with the group of the natives of the region. We can recommend this homestay to everybody who likes nice nature especially India's nature with it's peaceful and silent atmosphere with the possibility to go away from eachday rush and crowd. Approx. 1 km away from the house there is very nice beaches for everybodies tastes. Also there is many interesting places which you can visit to have the real taste of India. We are really very thankful to such nice and amazing holidays.

What do you do when the family you stayed with were lovely, but the accommodation didn't really come up to scratch? I guess all you can do is just tell the truth as you found it.||||Andrew and the whole family were very welcoming and made us feel part of the family as soon as we arrived. Elsamma took the time to find out what type of food we enjoyed and prepared us some lovely meals, many of which were supplemented by fresh produce from their very well stocked garden. We arrived just after the dreadful floods and brought with us lots of toiletries etc. which we had bought and others which had been donated by friends. Andrews daughter Jenatte organized a place for us to take them where they were really needed and travelled with us to make sure we had no problems. Nothing was too much trouble for them, whether it be organizing onward travel arrangements, tuk-tuks to the beach, gift shopping or even taking us to buy cooler clothes as the heat and humidity were unforgiving after the floods. The children were a total pleasure to be around, and that coming from someone who is not "child-friendly" is a huge recommendation. All of them had amazing English and even the youngest at only five years old was able to chat with us.||||The accommodation though was not at all what we had we had been led to expect from reading other reviews. We arrived out of season, we had booked months ago, but I don't feel that excuses the stale smell that hit us when we went into the room, the icky door handle or the dirty bathroom windowsill. There was still a virtually empty toilet roll on the holder which had gone yellow as it had been there so long. The pillows also had a very stale smell to them which was not conducive to a good night's rest, though the beds were spacious and comfortable. We were given one small bath towel, the other was a beach towel which had no absorbency and we had to ask for it to be washed half way through our stay, we were there ten days. The room was never cleaned, or our sheets changed all the time we were there.

A beautifully quiet location, spotlessly clean and a friendly helpful family. Easy to get around the local area, whether that be on foot or using the bus service. We managed most days to purchase some excellent local fish and had the opportunity to cook for ourselves. Breakfast was always enjoyable & most of the produce fresh from the garden. We stayed longer than planned, this was due to their hospitality & the peacefulness of the local beach - would definitely recommend for a break away from the hecticness of travel.