February 13, 2014

My TripAdvisor Review No.6: Club Mahindra Tusker Trails, Thekkady, Kerala

“A Paradise in the forest.”
4 of 5 stars Reviewed 22 November 2010
This hotel is being run by Club Mahindra Holidays, and is now known as "Club Mahindra Tusker Trails". It is located in the town of Kumily on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. We stayed here in a rustic machan style cottage for 5 nights in May 2010 and had a very unique and refreshing experience.

The cottages are all situated in a spice plantation having coffee, cardamom, pepper, teak and fruit trees. We had a studio room which was quite spacious. The cottages are built on stilts and have thacthed roofs. However, the cottages are built a bit too close to each other, and the still of the night is often broken by human voices rather than the sounds of nature.

The climate in Thekkady is very pleasant all year round, being a hill station, hence there was no AC in the room, but an exhaust system had been provided. Each room had a balcony overlooking the lush greenery, and the bathrooms even had a tub for which they had provided us with bubble bath soap, to soak ourselves in luxury.

There was a small swimming pool, surrounded by huge jackfruit trees, but the water in the pool was a bit murky. They also have an Ayurveda centre and Activity centre with all the indoor games, and a badminton court.

The restaurant, called "The Periyar Room" served tasty local Kerala dishes. One can either have a-la-carte or buffet, and sometimes they have a live music performance. The prices are on the high side.

The hotel's Travel Desk provides assistance in booking for the ecotourism programmes in the Periyar Tiger Reserve, but it may be better to walk down to Ambadi junction nearby and book your trekking or rafting trip directly at the Eco-tourism office. The entrance to the Periyar Tiger Reserve is 2 km from the hotel.

We did some shopping in the Kumily spice market, which was 2 km in the other direction, and came back with our haul of cardamom, pepper and cloves.
Stayed May 2010, travelled with family

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