Best Kottukal Hotels

"I visited a friend in Trivandrum and wanted to continue south the next day, so I looked for a hotel outside the city. This one was a perfect match for me, and I really liked the overall experience. The location is indeed away from both the city and the beach, but in my case that was actually beneficial. The staff was very friendly, the rooms were clean, and I would definitely come back here."

"Located on a beautiful beach, Manaltiram is known as the Mecca of Ayurveda along with Somatiram and Ayursoma. I will remember."

"I was weary about booking as the website photos looked quite tired. All of the photos are really old - it was an amazing stay and so much better than I expected. I enjoyed the complementary pottery making and the tea cart in the afternoons. The food à la carte was absolutely delicious. I avoided the buffet a bit as I do in all hotels. The pool is clean and there is excellent service, with staff helping you with towels, umbrellas, and drinks. The rooms are really pretty. Good air con. The gym is good and has air con although the air con is not as powerful as in the bedrooms. The gym has two treadmills, a static bike, basic leg press, weight rack and bench, and some of the arm/shoulder machines too. There were only a few downsides. 1) The beach that it backs onto is actually quite gross (there was nappy in the sand and gunk that looked like sewage), but it’s easy to avoid this. 2) The beach has a real drop from the sand into sea so it’s not very safe to swim in unless you want to be smacked against the bank. These two things don’t matter though as the hotel is lovely and there is enough to do that you don’t need to go on the beach. 3) I booked 2 nights in one booking and 1 night in another booking. I asked when I booked the single, third night, whether I can keep the same room. They said they’d let me know at check in.  They didn’t let me know at check in. They said they’d tell me on the second day in the day, but nothing. I kept asking at reception and I called them on the phone twice, and they kept saying they’d call me back. It was 9.30pm on the night before I’d have to move rooms before they told me I could stay. I’m not really sure why it took so long or they messed me around on this as 3 of my exact rooms were available on the website for those nights, so by that logic it would not have been a problem!"

"Spacious rooms. Lovely staff. Beautiful gardens. Clean pool. It's actually one of three hotels located adjacent to each other and guests can use pools, restaurants, yoga, meditation etc at any of the three during their stay. Access to the beach is via stairs or the lift, then 100 m walk to the sand. Guests are mostly from Europe and stay for the Ayurvedic treatment programs - which must be good as there were lots of annual return guests. However, if you are not on a program this is an expensive option for this area. Group yoga €20 per class if not on a program (which is a bit much). Would recommend staying here if seeking a luxury ayurvedic treatment package."

"Everyone was lovely, nice swimming pool area. However, the room had unpleasant smell such as dampness and mould."