India (Frommer's, 4th Edition) (139 page)

But neither of these resorts has the intimacy of the Backwaters’ increasing number of well-run homestays, including a few that feel just like classy little guesthouses. One such place is the very attractive
Anthraper Gardens Home Stay
(
0478/281-3211;
www.anthrapergardens.com
) in Chertala (40 min. from alleppey and 90 min. from Cochin). This historic family home is perched just a few steps from the water’s edge and set amidst 557 sq. m (6,000 sq. ft.) of landscaped gardens (some might find them a bit too cultivated compared with the jungle-style wilds normally associated with the Backwaters). With wraparound verandas, large rooms, high ceilings, and period furniture, the home affords some gracious living, together with most modern conveniences (there’s even a TV lounge, if you really can’t help yourself). Bedrooms (the best of which even have air-conditioning; Rs 5,850–Rs 8,100) are attractively renovated and great natural light. While you get to interact with your helpful hosts and feast on authentic Keralite food, there is some sense that this is first and foremost a business (you’re charged for cooking demonstrations and yoga and even access to the pools at nearby resorts, and there’s a large banquet room where lunches are laid on for coach loads of tourists), so it doesn’t quite compete with the warmth and personality (or personalities) that you’ll find at a thoroughly humbling homestay like
Olavipe
(reviewed below).

Casa del Fauno
This is not—as the new owners would have you believe—a homestay; it’s actually a very enchanting guesthouse built by the talented and creative Italian architect who established Shalimar Spice Garden (reviewed). Here, again, she cleverly combined local and European elements to create a unique fusion style that feels elegant, sumptuous, playful and beautiful all at once. And, in a way, it does feel a bit like a home—albeit one made for spoiling and that could easily be interpreted as a resort-in-miniature, with a pretty garden stretching to the edge of Vembanad Lake. Rooms are impeccable, minimalist spaces with a few baroque touches, either built-in or four-poster beds, and huge bathrooms with sunken tubs. Rooms are imaginatively styled, with more than a hint of bohemian flair: Bits of colored glass, a section of lintel, or simple pieces of crockery are used to decorative effect. The house is run with dignified calm by the always-serene, Vinod Joseph, a most sensitive manager; he can arrange Ayurveda and yoga sessions for you, and will conjure up country boats and local sightseeing (or restaurant) trips at short notice.

Muhamma P.O. Aleppey District 688 525.
0478/286-0862
or 98-4776-5451.
www.casadelfauno.com
. Reservations: Sebastian Rd., Kaloor, Cochin 682 017.
98-9576-6444.
[email protected]. 6 units. Oct–Mar Rs 8,500–Rs 9,000 elegant double, Rs 9,000–Rs 9,500 elegant cottage, Rs 9,500–Rs 10,000 deluxe suite; Apr–Sep Rs 6,600 elegant double, Rs 7,600 elegant cottage, Rs 8,600 deluxe suite; Rs 3,000 extra bed (adult), Rs 1,500 extra bed (child aged 6–12). Children under 6 free. Rates include breakfast. No credit cards.
Amenities:
Dining room, lounge, TV lounge, bar service; airport transfers (Rs 1,200); babysitting; concierge; Internet (Rs 50/hr.); large outdoor pool. In room: A/C, fan, no phone.

Olavipe
Our favorite homestay in India comes complete with a stately and authentic house dating from 1851, a sophisticated family with an illustrious and long history, a working farm (entertaining guests is just a sideline, pursued because the family is gregarious), a superb family cook, and very comfortable accommodations. The fourth-generation Tharakans are clearly very proud of their ancestral home and roots, and the house feels rather like a private museum, with old farm records and implements and photographs and paintings charting events from their great-grandfather’s time. There isn’t much to do in the sense of hotel-type amenities (this is a family home, after all), nor is there a pool, but if all you want to do is experience the rhythm of farm life (you’ll be the only foreigners in the nearby village) and sit down to meals with an intellectually stimulating and charming family, prepared by the talented chef (now in his mid-70s), then you will feel blessed at Olavipe indeed. Besides, Kochi is less than an hour away (25km/16 miles), and Antony (who worked for Rajiv Gandhi) and his sophisticated wife, Rema (an award-winning broadcaster), will arm you with the best shopping tips—that’s if you can tear yourself away from their soothing conversations.

Thekkanatt Parayil, Olavipe 688 526.
0484/252-2255
or 094-4714-2410.
www.olavipe.com
. [email protected]. 6 units. Rs 8,500 double. Rates include all meals, tea, coffee, in-house activities and taxes. No credit cards.
Amenities:
Dining room; bicycles; canoes; Internet access (free); extensive library. In room: Fans.

Philipkutty’s Farm
You arrive on the island by poled boat and then experience firsthand the hospitality of a local farming family, albeit in the privacy of your very own waterfront cottage, surrounded by banana, nutmeg, coconut, and pepper plantations. Accommodations are in breezy cottages on either side of the family home; they are a wonderful synthesis of Keralite design—open-plan living, carved wooden doors, antique furnishings, and verandas—with modern convenience (big bathrooms with glassed-in showers) and amazing natural light. Owner Anu Mathew, sophisticated and sweet in equal measure, treats her guests as part of the family yet provides privacy and time to soak up the tranquillity; in fact, she runs this place with the efficiency of a small hotel. Anu and her mother-in-law are also the kitchen genies, preparing three marvelous feasts a day, and you’re welcome to watch them cooking in the kitchen. The only real drawback is that there’s no pool, but some guests cool off as locals do, by venturing into the waters of Vembanad Lake.