Malabar Escapes
Malabar Escapes are made up of selected private properties in spectacular locations in Kerala. Furnished with their signatory mix of art works, design and period furniture the creators have produced a unique blend of art and hospitality.
Firstly there is Malabar House Residency, housed in a heritage building right in the historical centre of Fort Cochin. The house is well located for tours of Cochin and offers a relaxed atmosphere after a day of sightseeing. Also, opened recently, a stone’s throw from Malabar House is Trinity, a converted town house with an unassuming façade and just 3 rooms. Again beautifully furnished and totally private, this intimate property compliments Malabar House. Trinity offers breakfast whilst lunch and dinner are eaten at Malabar House. There is a small pool with a deck but it is not a pool by which you can sun bathe.
From The Malabar House, the network of eclectic destinations extends to the backwaters and plantation hills. Privacy at Sanctuary Bay is a secluded two bedroom property right on the shore of the Vembanad lake at the heart of the backwaters, 45 minutes drive from Cochin. It is beautiful and laid back, highly personal and away from it all. For total privacy the bungalow is rented out to only one client at a time.
The owners, in their inimitable taste, have also converted a dream come true 1920s estate bungalow, 2 hours from Cochin. Surrounded by a rubber estate, en route to Periyar National Park, Serenity is a delightful, rural tropical paradise. Serenity has a total of 6 bedrooms. Rooms are also rented out individually.
The latest from Malabar Escapes are 2 exceptional rice barges. Both will be state of the art with silent and pollutant free engines. Each barge will have enormous bedrooms and bathrooms and a spacious upstairs sitting area which will be partly covered for dining or reading in the shade and partly open for sun bathing and bird-watching. Needless to say, both will be decorated with impeccable taste and will be leagues ahead of any other rice barges in the backwaters. Discovery 1 will be available for hire for a minimum of 3 nights so that a 'true' backwater experience can be offered by getting deep into the myriad of canals and waterways. By doing a cruise of only 1 or 2 nights, it is almost impossible to get off the lake into the smaller canals and, even more important, it is impossible to get away from the hordes of other 'rice barges' cruising in the area.
Alternative Suggestions
Surya Samudra resort
A relaxed and charming resort situated on a dramatic stretch of coastline
Windermere Estate
Where the manicured tea gardens merge with the lush green forests of western ghats.