Kumarakom Lake Resort
Kumarakom
Old Kerala houses moved here whole, on ten acres of Vembanad shore.
The place
The largest thing on this list and the only one that earns it. The cottages were built from the frames of old illams — several bought entire from families who would not modernise them, taken apart and brought here — so the woodwork is genuinely a century or two old even where the plumbing is not. Ten acres of garden with canals running through, and the lake at the end of them.
What is there
- A meandering pool that runs through the grounds
- Ayurvedic centre and spa
- Seven houseboats of its own
- Kayaking, sailing and fishing on Vembanad
- The ettukettu restaurant — open-sided, under a beamed roof
- Sunset cruise on the lake most evenings
Getting there
78km from Kochi airport, about two and a half hours.