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Reviews of Illikkalam Lakeside Cottages

3 out of 5
Illikkalam Lakeside Cottages
New Nazrath Road, Kumarakom South, Kottayam District, Kottayam, Kerala

Reviews

6.6
Rating 10 - Excellent. 4 out of 21 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 6 out of 21 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 6 out of 21 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 1 out of 21 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 4 out of 21 reviews" "

7.0/10

Cleanliness

6.8/10

Staff & service

8.0/10

Amenities

6.0/10

Property conditions & facilities

Reviews

8/10 Good

Priya

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Location by the lakeside is excellent. This is essentailly operated as a home stay. The food is prepared according to pre-order not as a restaurant - please note this in case of late check in. You can stay in this cottage and opt for a 2hour shikara cruise. It will be much more economical than a houseboat stay. And there are plenty of shikara options available right next to the resort. There is no need to pre-book thru the hotel. You can plan an ayurvedic massage, also provided by external suppliers available nearby. Beware however that everybody is eager for high commission.
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2020

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveller

Travelled with family
Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Very bad Food and smelly rooms
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2019
Response from Susan Salim on 14 Feb 2020
The review is anonymous.Somebody( fraud) just for cheating wrote these type of reviews

6/10 Okay

Papa, Trivandrum

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities
Bed was small to accommodate 2 adults and 2 kids. No extra bed provided and asked for extra payment of 950 Rs. Breakfast was not complimentary. Room rent is high if you compare the facility available. They have a good view of the lake.
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2019
Response from Susan Salim on 14 Feb 2020
Dear Guest, The room you booked for 2 adults only.Please note our tariff is on accommodation only plan that means breakfast is no included in this rate.No doubt for extra persons extra persons charge is applicable and the extra bed charge is Rs.950/+12% GST.

8/10 Good

Shaji, Chennai

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Placed by the Vembanad lake, this place opens to a fantastic view of the seemingly endless lake. Surrounded by gardens, the ambience is lovely. Supportive staff - especially the manager Mr.Salim was a very helpful and forthcoming gentleman. The frequent power cuts were a bummer though, something I wish they fix.
Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2019
Response from Mrs.Susan Salim on 3 Apr 2019
Dear Guest, Thank you very much for staying at Illikkalam Lakeside Cottages.

8/10 Good

Will, UK

Liked: Property conditions & facilities
Disliked: Staff & service
Alright hotel
Travelled with my wife and parents and stayed for 3 nights. One check in the staff did not seem to under English well and there was confusion as to whether we were to be checked or not. They had originally put us in particular rooms then changed us to rooms that faced a wall. We had to have a LONG debate before they gave us the rooms that they had originally selected for us. Throughout the stay the staff did not seem to understand us, we ordered water because we were going for a walk and they took the water to our room even though we had order and waited in reception for the water. We told that there was no wifi in the rooms and went to reception to make Xmas phone calls via Skype to family and the reception staff asked us to make the call in our room, not long after the internet "was not working anymore". When we returned the internet was working fine. We dared not eat at the restaurant on site after all the communication problems. The rooms were a bit damp and we had to open the door during the day to air it. Overall the rooms were okay, nothing fancy but comfortable. If I returned to the area I would stay elsewhere.
Stayed 3 nights in Dec 2017
Response from Mrs.Susan Salim on 1 Feb 2018
Dear Guest, We have given you the room which you booked.We have lake Facing Cottage and the rate is different when compared to the room which you booked through expedia platform.We used to provide drinking water in the room only.The particular guest went to lake side and asked water at their point.We have a procedure here.The guest is supposed to come to their room if they wants drinking .The problems or misundersatnding arise because certain guests compare the place with 5 star resort and wants every thing at lower price or as compliment.

6/10 Okay

Ant, London

Place to sleep.
OK You get what you pay. I would recommend it as a place to sleep and use to go out to travel.
Stayed 7 nights in Dec 2017
Response from Salim on 4 Jan 2018
Dear Ant Naturally we will switch off when you go out of the property and switch on when you come back. We have to save the planet by saving power,water and air. Actually there is no need to have the Ac functioning ,when you are not in the room. Your thoughts and conclusion is not good for the survival and existence of life. If you own something then only you will feel the difference. With Best Regards S M Das

6/10 Okay

Rajiv

Night staff was exceptionally courteous , friendly and accommodating. Rooms offered to Hotels.com booking were on the rear side with no LAKE view.Had to pay 50% more for upgrading to LAKE view cottage. Wonder if this is the arrangement the property has with hotel.com. Power tripping frequent and no immediate backup for fan or air conditioner.
Dear Mr Rajiv Thanks to understand that you enjoyed the uniqueness of Illikkalam Lakeside Cottages at Kumarakom . There is no arrangements between hotel.com.. We clearly specified the rates and allocations in the Expedia page. With best regards Anoop K Iype Front Office Manager

2/10 Terrible

Unmesh

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Worst resort in the trip.
I would prefer staying in Dharmshala (Public dorm) instead of staying in this resort. The ambiance is good at first look. Bht the place stinks. It is so suffocating there that at one point my cousin fainted. Food is third class. 5 /7 of us got stomachache after eating food there. Please DON'T BOOK ROOM IN THIS RESORT.

2/10 Terrible

family tourist

Disliked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Please stay at your own risk. Anyone can enter in
Anyone can enter in the hotel premises as security is zero. Not a single point of checking. Other nearby hotels are very much secured. Anything can happen during night time. Please stay at your own risk. And nicely they switched off my AC after 6 am. Complained multiple times but not solved.

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness
pay extra for everything
Enjoyed the clean, small but comfortable room. Staff was very attentive and gracious. The lake view is very nice. Hotel breakfast was not buffet-styled as advertised. No free internet access anywhere as advertised We did not enjoy having to deal with all the petty extra charges. You have to pay to use the hammock even!
Response from General Manager on 25 Oct 2016
Dear Sir, The statement of the guest is wrong.We dont have hammocks.For your kind attention please not that our tariff is on accommodation only plan.We didnt advertise in that wayThat statement of buffet is wrong.The guest has to select from the menu.Guests are of different type.

8/10 Good

Ram, bangalore

Liked: Cleanliness
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
Average hospitality against a good room tariff!!
The stay was average. +ve - The owner (huband and wife) are very kind and hospitable. Tariffs are very competitive around that area specially since it is a lake facing property. Rooms n toilets, towel and bedsheet are clean. -ve - Room doesn't have geyser, none of the staff (waiter, house keeping, receptionist etc) can speak or understand hindi/english. Malayalam is the only language which they use. Owners speak good english but they are not available all the time. Food menu is restricted to just 3-5 items per category. From the menu as well they do not have half the items available eg, tiger prawns, crab, lobsters weren't there for all 3 days that we stayed though these are common items in any beach properties. Even if you order the previous day still they do not purchase it. Food quality is just avg. In complimentary breakfast they only provide 2 options (plain dosa or appam). Rooms have cable connection but it has mostly south indian channels - hardly any newz or entertainment channels in eng/hindi.

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
nice view of the Vembanad lake
overall laid back hotel and good for a quite holiday. it was a pleasant location with enough green to keep the sun out and thus make your stay very nice. please inform the hotel staff in advance if you like spicy food so that they can accomodate your tastes. the hotel staff listen and this is very helpful of them.

10/10 Excellent

Ishan Prakash, New Delhi

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
More than a lot at the price
Extremely professional and helpful staff made it the most memorable stay in what is already an exceptional location. I hope they keep up their high standards.
Response from Susan on 25 Oct 2016
Dear Guest, Thank You very much for the god commend.

6/10 Okay

kellyv1987, uk

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
ok = but nothing to write home about
Our stay was just a a stopover for one night, it was ok, we should have been in a homestay but due to non availability - chose to stay here instead, staff very friendly and helpful but rooms quite basic.

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveller

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
very basic hotel with no service but comparatively high charge
No TV in the rooms, so other than lying on hammock nothing else to do in the hotel. No other activities, even though it is listed. Not a resort in any sense. Food is very expensive & no option to eat outside.

10/10 Excellent

Umesh

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Affordable Excellence
This was one of the most relaxing stay during our vacation in Kerala. The hotel location is perfect for watching the house boats or sunset on the lake while laying on the hammock! The hotel staff is very friendly and courteous. A must visit stop in Kumarakom if you are looking for a place to relax and rejuvenate.

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Superb View
Well maintained, clean and pleasant place. The view from the cottage is superb. Value for money. The staff was very courteous. Food was delicious and sufficient. Highly recommended. Looking forward to visit again.

10/10 Excellent

radhika kapur

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Illekallam lake resort is an authentic kerela experience. its located bang on the lake, you can just sit in the verandah of your cottage and watch the lake endlessly.Its 100% natural-just you , the huge 150sq km lake and the warm hospitality of the owner couple salim & susan das.unlike the 4/5 star [properties in proximity,it has no artificial lagoons or manicured gardens or pool etc.all 8-12 cottages are lake facing and the rest of the place has all kinds of trees shrubs that mr. salim loves to show off!there are ample resorts close by where one can go for a fancy meal etc, but for a simple homemade kerela khaana, illekalem is well stocked. the staff is very helpful and ever smiling. in terms of a real kerala experience, i would rete it 9/10.i would have loved to post some snaps too if only i knew how to do that!but take my word and check it out.

4/10 Poor

Sri, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India

Disliked: Property conditions & facilities, room comfort
terrible
Lots of lizards in the room; wasn't able to sleep in the night

10/10 Excellent

ana, recife - brasil

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Lugar tranquilo na beira do lago
Hotel em localização linda, staff muito simpático e prestativo, comida gostosa
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2018

6/10 Okay

Roy

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Room comfort
Ligt afgezonderd
Locatie is goed. Kamers zijn matig.