Where to Stay and Dine in Cochin

Most guidebooks suggest going to Kerala between January and March, when it's dry and sunny. But the best season for ayurvedic massage is said to be June and July, when monsoons pound Kerala before sweeping north. They say that in the rainy season your body opens up like a thirsty flower to receive replenishment. Hotel prices are lower then, too.

You can see Kochi in four days, but it's worth spending a few nights in the backwaters. Fred and Ellison Poe, a father-daughter team who run Poe Travel (800/727-1960; www.poetravel.com), an Arkansas-based agency recognized in the list of super-agents.

Taj Malabar
The five-star landmark on Willingdon Island is where we stayed in Kochi. It's on the water and 20 minutes away, by either car or ferry, from Mattancherry or Ernakulam. The staff is extremely helpful, and the food at the hotel's Rice Boat restaurant is superb (try the njandu ularthiyathu, a crab appetizer). Rather regret accepting the chef's suggestion experience a traditional banana-leaf lunch out by the dock, in full view of the entire hotel's guests,

DOUBLES FROM $150; DINNER FOR TWO $50
Willingdon Island; 800/448-8355 OR 91-484/266-6811; www.tajhotels.com

 

Brunton Boatyard
This reconstruction of an 1849 boatyard is where we would stay next time we visit. It sits on the Arabian Sea in the center of Fort Cochin. There are terra-cotta floors, punkah fans in the lobby, and antique four-poster beds in many of the 26 rooms. DOUBLES FROM $130
CALVETTY RD., FORT COCHIN 91-484/221-5461; www.cghearth.com

Malabar House
A diminutive boutique hotel in Fort Cochin that feels a little fussy, but its owners have two beautiful hideaways in the backwaters: Serenity, a rubber-estate bungalow with five bedrooms, and Privacy, a romantic two-bedroom retreat in Sanctuary Bay. DOUBLES FROM $136
PARADE RD., FORT COCHIN 91-484/221-6666; www.malabarhouse.com

Nimmy Paul
As part of her ongoing plan to take over the world, this Indian domestic goddess just inaugurated homestays this October. Her guest room is spare but clean; she also offers meals, cooking lessons, and full- or half-day foodie immersions. Ask her son to teach you how he folds a napkin into the shape of a lotus flower. $125 PER NIGHT WITH FULL BOARD
CHAKALAKAL RD., ERNAKULAM 91-484/231-4293; www.nimmypaul.com

WHERE TO DINE

Badettu
This vegetarian restaurant in the Sarovaram hotel on the road to the airport serves wonderful traditional Keralan lunches on banana leaves: a dozen varieties of tasty, spicy curries and rice. We were the only WESTERNERS THERE; YOU EAT WITH YOUR HANDS. DINNER FOR TWO $8
NH 47 COCHIN BYPASS RD., ERNAKULAM; 91-484/230-5519

Shreekrishna Inn
They start you off with ayurvedic water—which tastes like chicken! Well, licorice, actually. The Keralan curries packed with chiles, ginger, and mustard seed are excellent (though the service is a bit lackadaisical). DINNER FOR TWO $5
WARRIUM RD., ERNAKULAM; 91-484/236-6664

Dream Cochin       

Location.

four and five star

SA Road, Ernakulam, Cochin, 682020 India 1800 102 3346

 Situated in Cochin's Ernakulam neighborhood, Dream Cochin is close to Durbar Hall Art Gallery. Additional area attractions include Mattancherry Palace and Jain Temple.
Hotel Features.
Dream Cochin has a spa tub, a fitness facility, and a pool. Wireless Internet access is available in public areas (surcharges apply). Business amenities at this 4.5-star property include a business center and small meeting rooms. This luxury hotel offers a restaurant. Guest parking is complimentary. Additional amenities include gift shops/newsstands, concierge services, and an elevator (lift).
Guestrooms.
The 151 air-conditioned guestrooms at Dream Cochin include minibars and safes. Televisions are equipped with satellite channels and DVD players. All accommodations provide phones with voice mail. Wireless high-speed Internet access (surcharge) is provided. All units feature refrigerators and coffee/tea makers. Bathrooms offer showers. All guestrooms at Dream Cochin are non-smoking.

Ramada Resort Cochin

4 stars

Pv Sreedharan Rd Kumbalam S, Cochin, 682506 India 1800 102 3346

Location.
Situated in Cochin's Vembanad Lake neighborhood, Ramada Resort Cochin is a business-friendly hotel and area attractions include Hill Palace, Durbar Hall Art Gallery, and Mattancherry Palace. Additional regional attractions include Jain Temple and Santa Cruz Cathedral.
Hotel Features.
Ramada Resort Cochin has an outdoor pool, a spa tub, a steam room, and a sauna. There is a business center on site. This business-friendly hotel offers a restaurant. Guests are served a complimentary breakfast. Additional amenities include a fitness facility, laundry facilities, and complimentary newspapers in the lobby.
Guestrooms.
Amenities in air-conditioned guestrooms at Ramada Resort Cochin include minibars and safes. Rooms open to balconies. 32-inch LCD televisions are equipped with cable/satellite channels. Rooms have high-speed Internet access. All units feature refrigerators and coffee/tea makers.

Cochin or Kochi

Kochi is  possibly the ideal starting point for exploring the unfathomable diversity and beauty of Kerala,

The august city of KOCHI also known as Cochin, Kerala's prime tourist destination, spreads across islands and promontories between the Arabian Sea and the backwaters. Its main sections – modern Ernakulam and the old peninsular districts of Mattancherry and Fort Cochin to the west – are linked by ferries, and less idealistic bridges. Although some visitors stay in the more convenient Ernakulam, the overwhelming majority base themselves in Fort Cochin itself, where spice markets, Chinese fishing nets, a synagogue, a Portuguese palace, India's first European church and seventeenth-century Dutch homes can all be found within an easy walk. Kochi also offers traditional dance performances, both in authentic and condensed tourist versions.

Old Kochi, the thumb-shaped peninsula whose northern tip presides over the entrance to the harbor, formed the focus of European trading activities. With high-rise development constrained to Ernakulam across the water, its twin districts of Fort Cochin, in the west, and Mattancherry, on the headland's eastern side, have conserved an astonishing wealth of early colonial architecture, spanning the Portuguese, Dutch and British eras – a harvest unmatched in India. Approaching by ferry, the waterfront, with its sloping red-tiled roofs and ranks of peeling, pastel-colored warehouses, offers a view that can have changed little in centuries.

Four places you must visit

• Willingdon Island — large man-made island made from sand dredged from the backwaters to deepen the Kochi Port. Named after Long Willingdon, then-the reigning Viceroy of India, it houses the Kochi Port, Southern Naval Command Headquarters of Indian Navy and many five star hotels.

• Mattancherry and Fort Kochi (Old Kochi) — primarily a tourist enclave. Fort Kochi forms the upper part of the Peninsula with neatly arranged colonial buildings, narrow well-paved roads, Anglo-Dutch influenced structures and large antiques shops. Mattancherry is primarily a trading city, famous for its thriving Gujarati settlement brought to the city in the 16th and 17th centuries by the spice trade.

• Bolgatty Island — the island where the British established a Royal Residency, which is now converted into a five star hotel. Famous for its large golf course, horse riding tracks, marina and boatyards.

• Vypin Island — one of the most densely populated islands in world with numerous fishing villages, tourist villages and the popular Cherai Beach.

The tourist season is normally from August to February. December being the most tourist rush month has many festival and special attractions to welcome along with the famous Cochin Carnival and Christmas celebrations. Onam season (mid Aug-mid Sept) is also a busy tourist season considering traditional line up of various festivities. Recently monsoon is being promoted heavily by tourism dept as a rejuvenation season which also slowly becoming a popular season to visit to experience the heavy rain falls. However it is always advisable to avoid March and April, considering the harsh summer, though it is primarily Indian domestic tourist season.

Tourist information

Free information and city maps are available at state run Kerala Tourism Development Corp (KTDC) offices at:

• Tourist Reception office in Marine Drive, ☎+91 484 2353534 from where KTDC city tours starts/ends.
• Railway Tourist Office at Ernakulam South Railway Station, ☎+91 484 2378723.
• Airport Tourist Counter in Arrival hall of both terminals, ☎+91 484 2611308, +91 484 2611309.
• City Tourist Information Center at Old Collectorate in Park Ave, ☎+91 484 2381743.
• Central Toll Free Number, ☎ 1 800 4254747

The India Tourism also has its office at Willingdon Island ☎ +91 484 2668352. The District Tourist Promotion Council (DTPC) also helps in providing information to tourists about other parts of Kochi District, which can be reached at ☎ +91 484 2367334, +91 484 2383988.