Niraamaya Retreats Backwaters & Beyond

Food, cleanliness, electricity reliability.

When we arrived at 2pm check in we were told the room wasn’t ready and directed to take lunch. This was expensive and slow (we checked in at 4.30pm in the end!). Apparently there was a mix up with the booking (we booked through hotels.com) and they said we would have to move rooms mid way through the stay to a downgraded room which we weren’t happy to do. They offered us dining packages to apologise but we still said we weren’t happy even with a 2 night upgrade and 1 night downgrade offer, and after the lunch experience we knew we wouldn’t eat onsite going forward. We just wanted the room we booked and paid for, and they tried to make us feel bad! Positives: Lovely scenery /views / things look good on the surface Nice activities including hi tea in the afternoon Negatives outweigh this however: This is definitely not a 5* hotel Room full of damp and shoddy workmanship to cover the cracks / visible patchy walls. Electric power cuts constantly meaning no water pressure and unable to charge devices / air con making noises etc! Air conditioning unit leaked causing a slip hazard during the night when getting to the bathroom. Bed bugs found which has caused us bites / itchiness - yuck! Holes in duvet topper and pillowcases Shower leaked water so all over bathroom floor and wasn’t consistently hot Kettle leaked No hairdryer in room (had to phone to ask, took 45 mins by which point hair almost dry!!) Communal pool dirty water / unclean. Private pool in room full of leaves

Staff were very friendly and accommodating. Nice location overlooking lake. Daily tea in gardens with activities enjoyable. Nearby tours of backwaters was great. Good spa on site too. Great views from room to lake. However villa room was dated and needs some refurbishing, cleaning and decorating. Villa Pool also needed cleaning and maintenance. The restaurant staff were great and friendly, food was ok - though a bit limited selection in breakfast buffet of fruits and pastries, and for evening meals there was a long wait. Overall - nice location but overpriced for the quality of hotel.

The room we had and the location are incredible.

The staff was friendly but there was no manager on site when we had an issue. The wifi was not very strong and the amenities were lack luster. The website is not an accurate representation of what’s offered. Definitely not a 5 star place.

This is not a 5 star hotel. The room was full of smoke from the street. We had several bugs in our room. The water did not stay hot more than a couple minutes. There was only one restaurant and it was buffet only. When we tried to order à la carte they would be out of almost everything. There was no manager on the property when we filed complaints. Very disappointing

Overall poor experience for the price we paid. It is overrated. The food at the restaurant was terrible. I specifically requested for them to make it less oily several times, but the food they sent was extremely oily. I showed them pics of how oily it was - pls see attached pics, yet they did not offer to give any discount. The room was not cleaned in spite of us putting the sign outside, we were out from 7am to 2pm but when we returned the room was still not cleaned. The spa is atrociously expensive even by 5 star standards. No bathroom slippers in the room.

We enjoyed a relaxing week at Niraamaya...all the staff (too many to name) ...Prasuna, Atul and Dr Aishwarya, Smita, Blessin, from the names I remember, all went out of their way to assist us with our requests and always with a smile. I especially enjoyed the nasal massage to clear up the sinuses. Our grandson loved being in the pool and the whole family liked the high tea activities. The food was fresh and tasty. We even asked for recipes to try at home.

Really comfortable beds, spacious room. However the rest of the furniture was not very comfortable. There was a nice terrace overlooking the lake but no furniture.

The resort, ambience and staff was amazing however there isn’t a lot to do. We ordered room service and not only was it really expensive but the food was very sub par. It took nearly 1 day for them to remove the remaining plates from that order. The restaurant also was underwhelming in terms of the food offered. We often ended up going outside the resort to a local shop to eat

Enjoyed the spa treatments. My husband felt it was the best he had. Overall an enjoyable stay

It was a great experience. A proper retreat and spa. I got a full body massage and so did 2 other members of my family. Will recommend to people for sure.

What a beautiful resort this was. We stayed there for our anniversary trip. The staff from welcome to dinning to housekeeping were are super warm and friendly. And, they did an amazing job making us feel extra special - especially with all the decorations for our room and helping plan a beautiful candle light dinner. The view from our villa was gorgeous. The only icky thing was that since pool area is also surrounded with tropical plants, there were some bugs from the plants n all that would be floating in the pool.

Performance by various artists during evenings

Evening performance by artists

Ideal break for a couple or family of 4 or a small group of friends. Great food, great service, great rooms. It is a wellness centre, very peaceful, right on the backwaters of Kerala. Very good value for money. Can improve in choice of TV programmes as most are in local language.

Excellent stay. However, food prices are a bit high. Overall good experience

We stayed at Niraamaya Retreats Backwaters & Beyond for 2 nights in a Superior Villa with a Lakeview. The location is beautiful, surrounded by nature, and the staff gave us a warm welcome. Our villa was spacious with a lovely view from the balcony, though it lacked balcony furniture to relax. While the property was clean, it felt a bit outdated and worn. When strolling through the property, we had to watch our step due to goose droppings. The pool area was enjoyable due to the lack of other guests, but housekeeping was disappointing—old towels from the previous day were left until we requested them to be cleared. The restaurant offered good food but had limited vegetarian options and a less relaxed atmosphere. Activities like boat tours seemed overpriced, so we opted for private bookings. Overall, a mixed experience with room for improvement in maintenance and service.

We enjoyed our stay although we had been concerned after reading a couple of recent poor reviews. We felt that these were unjustified. The property was remote and relaxing. Sometimes instructions needed to be repeated. Lunch and dinner were very nice although alcohol is not served. The rooms were very big and the staff were very polite. There are a selection of massages in the spa.

The waterfront view was exceptional from the balcony. The staff were helpful and eager to please all round. However, the room house keeping was less than optimal. On one day the room cleaning was missed entirely even when the “Please clean the room” sign was on display all day outside the room. That said, we still plan to return to Niraamaya Resort Kumarakom in the future.