Aranya Nivas

Stayed with family for a day. Pros: Right on the bank of Periyar and walkable to boat boarding point and ticket counter. Also I heard after reaching there that they provide boat tickets on discounted rates for inmates (250’per head or so) . Reception staff were very courteous. Small garden right outside was good and good for pics. Cons: Rooms are small and no meaningful views, lunch was horrible and food costly in general. Swimming pool is outdoor, so cold and not that clean. Can’t open doors and monkeys all around. The TT table/badminton court etc. all outdated or non usable. Few cycles available. The Periyar house nearby would have been a better economically with better front view and kids play area etc. Tips: call them for booking and info than doing it online.

This hotel is in a perfect location. I had a wonderful room on the ground floor, which was absolutely massive. The food was OK but limited choice for a vegetarian westerner who is not used to spicy food. We saw a sign about a film show of the wildlife, which just two of use went to watch. It stopped several times. I asked if they sold it in the shop, where DVDs and swimming costumes were on sale, and was told it was very old. This was disappointing. Unfortunately we did not have much time to stroll around, as we had limited time on our tour. Not many places where you can watch the monkeys while you eat your meal !

Beautiful location Good Buffet Very near to boat riding point Ample car parking Quit place..far from the town Nice behaved staffs..always eager to help you Beer and wine parlour is good You can't go to the town after 5.30 pm as the forest gate are closed so no evening activities. Good Wifi Front desk people's are helpful.

- Looks good from front and communal areas are impressive giving the feel of a lodge ⁃ Check in was fairly quick and simple ⁃ Lunch was good and they had a small offering of westernised food ⁃ Our room (115) did not match the expectations set by what you see when you first walk into the hotel. Bedroom fairly compact and basic, Bathroom a good size but shower was not fully enclosed and there was a 1-2cm gap in one of the panels where the glass had moved. Subsequently, the floor got very wet. No hand towels and the water that had collected in the bucket had an orange tinge to it ! ⁃ Our room is very warm. Understandably you can’t open the windows because of the monkeys. There was a ceiling fan which was not just noisy but ineffective! The rooms need air conditioning! ⁃ Tiny bar . We were a group of 30 and it couldn’t handle half of that number. We asked if we could take our drinks into the restaurant and were told no, only to our rooms. Understandably, you cannot drink outside because of the monkeys so you would think they’d have a larger bar area! ⁃ Drink options were limited. There was a menu but a fellow traveller said that there was no white or rosé wine. The ‘local’ kingfisher soon ran out too. Bar staff were mostly attentive and did stay open longer to accommodate us. ⁃ Water in the room was in a glass bottle with a grolsch style cap which concerned us that it want drinkable. We had to ask to find out that this was mineral water due to their eco status. Why not inform guests by putting a label in the room? ⁃ Bar closes at 9pm, but staff did extend this. ⁃ Evening meal was very poor. Very limited choice and tepid ⁃ Hotel did inform us that they were feeding porcupines around 21:20 and we went outside to watch. This was a positive. ⁃ Nobody informed us of login details for Wi-Fi when we checked in. We had to ask and when we were finally able to connect we discovered that it was shockingly slow and unreliable. ⁃ Breakfast - It took several attempts to get black tea/coffee and the toast was inedible. Omelettes were tepid. The worst breakfast I’d had . Seem to run out of cups and this angered many guests. Our guide told us that it was because they’re not use to having large groups (we were a group of 30) but contradicted this by saying they’d booked this a long time ago.

Sadly, the facilities in the hotel are dated and in need of a significant refresh. It's a pity because the location is excellent at Lake Periyar within the National Park which allows hotel guests to avoid all the queues for the boat trip around the lake.

Staying here was a last minute plan due to the location, so we didn't expect much else. It does not disappoint on that front. Most activities in the park start right outside and you have the leisure of going on morning walks or cycle rides in the public areas. But you can't shake off the feeling of how much better it all can be. We had a suite room, which was way better than the standard ones but still felt very dated. While the property is advertised as a premium hotel, there is no polish in the ambience and facilities. The pool was clean but the recliners and benches all around, not so much, and the shower, not at all. It took an eternity for pool towels to arrive. The treatments at the ayurveda centre were nice, but the place itself felt like a forgotten back room. The food was just blah! Edible in large parts but nothing exciting. The staff tried their level best but they're just trying to make the most of a well-intended but lacklustre property. Important: Remember that you're in the forest. After sundown. The gates are securely locked and you must not step outside.