In the know

Our favourite rooms: Discovery has one bedroom, together with a large living room and bathroom area below deck. Privacy is composed of two bungalows. Opening out onto the lake, the Waterfront’s the Smith favourite (largely down to its air-conditioning and views from the shore), but the truth is that you feel as though you have the place to yourself no matter which of the hotel’s trio of art and artefact-filled rooms you’re in.
Packing tips: A copy of Salim Ali’s Birds of Kerala to help you identify the technicolour flying life of the backwaters by day; a map of the constellations so you know what you’re pointing at come nightfall.
Also: Discovery offers backwater cruise packages of one or three days. If you don’t fancy messing about on the water, the hotel has a fleet of mountain bikes for countryside jaunts, and organises visits to the nearby coir factories.

Malabar Escapes: Privacy & Discovery – Kerala – India, need to know

Current offers

Smith card offer: A complimentary bottle of wine

Malabar Escapes: Privacy & Discovery – Kerala – India, food and drink

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Malabar Escapes: Privacy and Discovery

Kerala, India[view map]

Style: Boutique B&B with boat
Setting: Rustic Alleppey lakelands

A boutique bed and breakfast lapped by the waters of Lake Vembanad, Malabar Escapes: Privacy is a three-bedroom backwater retreat close to Fort Cochin. Discovery, the hotel’s residential rice barge, offers sun-bathing, star-gazing overnight cruises.

Need to know

Rooms: Four, spread over two bungalows and the one-bed Discovery houseboat.
Rates: Low season, €150–€250 in Privacy, €350 for Discovery; high season, €220–€360 in Privacy, €450 for Discovery. Rates include Continental or South Indian breakfast (all meals on Discovery), but exclude 15 per cent tax.
Check-out: Midday – but later check-out may be possible, subject to availability. Discovery docks at 10am.
Facilities: Privacy: small boat for exploring the lake; the Waterfront Bungalow has air-con. In rooms: private terraces, home-made organic toiletries. Discovery has air-con and a sun deck.
Poolside: Surrounded by springy green lawns and palm trees, Privacy’s hotel pool is a long slate-blue rectangle, with stripy sun loungers and parasols to hand.
Eco-friendly: Discovery is non-polluting and has a noiseless electric motor. Privacy makes use of hydroelectric power, recycles where possible, and cleans with organic detergents.
Also: Smoking allowed throughout. You can get to Privacy via a speedboat transfer all the way from the Malabar House. Ayurvedic massages are available.

Food & drink

Hotel restaurant: Cuisine is based on the seafood-leaning, Mediterranean-tinged menu of the Malabar house in Cochin, and you can tuck into tuna steaks or Keralan thali wherever you choose.
Dress code: Anything goes around here – and chances are there’ll be no one around to notice, so go for and airy, relaxed look.
Top table: On Discovery, take to the top deck and dine by candlelight with views of Lake Vembanad; in Privacy, have dinner on your verandah.
Last orders: Dinner is on offer until around 10.30pm at Privacy – there are no fixed mealtimes aboard Discovery.
Room service: Drinks and snacks are available from 7am until 11pm, and all meals can be served where you wish.
Hotel bar: There’s no bar as such, but there are always staff on hand to fix you a drink when and where you like.

Also worth knowing

Children: All ages are welcome, with a maximum of one child a room. Under-fives stay free; extra beds for older kids are €30. Babysitting can be arranged.

Smith Members offer

A complimentary bottle of wine

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