Oh no..it is very hard to get sync with friends, especially when you plan for a vacation, every minute different ideas, locations preferences, hotels, train tickets for specific dates and so on, at last after having 3 days of brainstorming with friends Harikrishnan, Surendar, and Prajosh.  We all agreed to Kerala backwaters, in fact we preferred this location last year for a bachelors trip, as usual each had their own schedules..luckily this month being summer holidays all agreed for a family trip
with kids. 🙁

Initially we did review few resorts like Pagoda Resorts, Kollam & Poovar Islands, Trivandrum, finally we selected Punnamada Resorts, Allepey. This resort is little costlier as it is compared with 4~5 Star hotel atmosphere, Since it is off-season, we have negotiated for 40% discount of the room rates, it was a good offer, unfortunately we did not negotiate the restaurant rates, which was little surprising when we checked In, Restaurant menu is meant for USD customers mostly amount rounds up like 3 star rates.
We were about 4 families, includes 8 adults and 5 kids, train tickets were booked through travel agents, otherwise we see there is no possibility to book tickets by self, either through online or by counters because these days Railways allocating majority of tickets for Tatkal quota, otherwise you can see you still in waiting list till the boarding time!  Naturally higher revenues to Railways :(:(

About Alleppey
The experience of backwaters was really adventuring….100’s of kilometer surroundings you can see only water and green patches everywhere, on every 2~3 km you will find small island villages & business houses depending for boat tourists/travelers. Whole of backwaters is like a mix of island villages as a big city, very small to big boats sailing every other minute. Tourist boats can travel only day time,  night timing is meant for fishing boats. It is a rule by govt. Everywhere it is about water and boat, it is very casual for local population, each house owner owns a boat like a cycle, elders sail their boats by self to go for shopping. There is a bus stand in Alleppey, it is a boat stand/yard, they run like a bus service doing  pickup and drop of school kids and passengers meant for island villages, even nearby city’s and towns through water route.

The town is not yet developed, narrow roads and not many commercial buildings (Guess Communism is spread here by threat, because all of the business developments have an obstacle not to take it to the next step, because ultimate price hike will lead to face flag darna’s by communist. There is no good and spacious restaurant, the food is cheaper inside the town, but there are many, we came across like, Kream Corner, Hot Kitchen, Taff Restaurant and Sadidas, all of them average are quality and Sadidas was very tasty.

Punnamada Resort
We never guessed it would be so beautiful, a resort naturally located just on the edge of backwaters and 8 KM from Railway Station with clean, structured & green  environment. The cleaning of pathways, garden and surroundings are done round through the day and you see the staff are just busy with their jobs. The Interior & Exterior of each and every room is done with lot of thoughts and a theme in mind.  Class of rooms with semi open toilet and plantation inside, lake view rooms seems to be very very good, you can wake up with a coffee and backwaters in front of you. Overall the best resort in Allepey.

Backwater and House Boat Cruise :
The Sunset Cruise and House boat cruise was good, But I will not recommend for kids below 15 years for long cruise and it is a big worry to keep track of them for every minute, otherwise cruising is best for adults includes night stay in boats.

Best of Punnamada Resorts
– Very good location
– Best season is November to January
– Well designed rooms, Garden view, lake view, Duplex, Swimming Pool view rooms.
– Beautiful gardening
– Nice Swimming pool
– Decent staff
– Clean Surrounding
– Few Indoor and Outdoor games
– Complimentary Breakfast(Was good)
– Common Tip system that is very good, the staff too does not show they are here for tip. Well mannered.
– Tea Kettles
– Complete team of resort is very responsive, including the Manager and General Manager.

Could have been better
– Restaurant Menu and Rates
– Menu ordering time(First day we had bad experience, and did complaint to Manager, Mr.Anand, Executive Chef the next day   walked to us and asked for sorry and he extended a 50% discount for a Dinner and served it nicely, pre-ordered and served in time)
 
Suggestions
1) Negotiate Pick up Drop, Restaurant offer, Free Sight Seeing(Beach, Temple, Museum, Shopping)
2) Don’t take children below 15 years for long cruise..or keep a watch on them always.
3) Plan your food arrangements for kids and self.
4) Don’t book cruise boats  in advance hate, after reaching Allepey, visit the boat, boat operators and book the best one matching your best time. It is really cheaper if you do so, including the food on the boat!!!

Picture : Resort View from backwaters!