Kalpavanam Heritage Resort

We were a group of six people and we spent one night in the main building. Rooms were big and clean, and bed was comfortable but the amount of natural light in the room was too little and we did not like that at all. It is a pity not to take the full advantage of having such a beautiful surroundings.

No doubt the photos are done to give the best look and feel and don’t really give a true reflection of the place. Heritage and Resort give the name a feeling of more. By UK standards this is Travelodge with less quality bed linen and towels, no resort here, there is nothing to do outside the room other than feed some gerbils. All the staff are nice, friendly, helpful and couldn’t fault them at all. The room with balcony was spacious quite nicely furnished, the bed linen clean and fresh but passed its best and the curtains thin and need replacing. A good wet room bathroom, but the extractor fans noisy and probably need a good clean. Hot water for the shower took about 2 mins to come through, so a bit of a waste of water but a great shower when it did. Food was basic but ok, no lunch though you wouldn’t really hang around the place to want lunch, dinner had to be ordered by 6pm from a limited menu. Overall the place was decent, clean, friendly but more 2* so was disappointing based on the rating. £40 approx a night doesn’t tally when real 4* resort properties nearby go for around the £80 mark. You get what you pay for in the end.

We stayed for a night in Thekkady in Kalpavanam. What works for the resort given its natural beauty is undone by the staff here. The USP of this resort is the vast expanse of greenery all around it. But surroundings can only help your stay make enjoyable to a level. The staff in the resort are totally indifferent to your needs. Completely rude with no botheration of showing even an ounce of hospitality. The one thing we carried back from our Kerala vacation was the hospitality everywhere, but Kalpavanam was an exception. They are indifferent, rude and not bothered about your comfort. The rooms are also not maintained properly. The towels that they had kept in bathroom looked from stone age Era, all worn out. Not worth staying here at all

Kalpavanam is blended with nature, a very peaceful place to stay. Our stay was good, staff working here are very helpful, if you reach out to them. Rooms are spacious, bathroom too. They organised elephant ride and Jeep safari for us. Kalpavanam elephant park is just next door to this resort. Wifi is available. Tree house cottage is available to stay, if interested. They have to improve a lot on their service to get star rating, also it’s not a very well maintained property. Food options are limited. If you’re having dinner from here, you have to order before 6 pm. Breakfast is ok (mainly Kerala dishes like Dosa, Idly, Poori etc).

My newly wedded husband and I took our visiting family on our honeymoon to enjoy the beauty of Kerala. It was a long 5 hour drive and when we arrived, my husband asked for assistance. He called the office and the gentle*** who answered literally told him to figure it out and hung up. Then when my husband pulled the car up to the reception the gentle***, we found out was Jayson began arguing with my husband. He insulted my husband and called him a “son of a wh___”. He then put his hand through the window pointing at my husband in his face. That triggered my husband to begin to get out of the car when I rushed and got in between them. He continued to yell at my husband and my husband continued to get angrier. I yelled at Jayson to get away from us and he still kept talking and saying offensive things. Finally the lady who works in the kitchen rushed over and assisted together with a second gentle*** and separated them. My husband wanted to leave but I begged we stay, we were tired and hungry. The gentle*** quickly got us our keys and my family and I went to our rooms. The Jayson guy kept talking to the staff saying things but luckily my husband could not hear him. What kind of ***ager is this? He was a supervisor and he treated our family this way. He does not belong in that position. My family who was visiting from the US was speechless watching such a horrific scene. What a disappointed way to begin our honeymoon. We will never stay here ever again.

Loved the place. Humble staff. Cozy rooms, nice furniture for the tariff. Enjoyed staying here. They have pepper plantation, tree house.. I liked the place. And yes not to forget the Elephants, they have elephants too. Totally recommended.

I visited Kalpavanam to the elephant park as part of a tour package not knowing what to expect. The staff were very friendly but I was left with concerns over the welfare of the elephants. Chained to a wall they did not seem to have much opportunity to move around aside from the short circular route they take on the walk with visitors. More information on how the elephants are tamed would also have been appreciated

Lovely relaxing chalets with large verandas. Good Kerala breakfast. Friendly helpful staff. Close to Kumily Town for food and shopping as well as wildlife park. On site laundry available. Wi-Fi was a bit patchy. Could do with a gym and pool.

The resort is located in the middle of the jungle giving you very unique surroundings, yet it is just a few minute-drive away from the city of Kumily. Yodha Village Thekkady and the government boat ride at Periyar Tiger Reserve are very nearby. Our rooms were clean, but do keep in mind that we are in the nature which means wildlife is around you, no matter how much you try to keep things clean. On the negative side, at our arrival, there were no one in the reception to welcome us, and it took 15-20 min. of waiting in the empty building, before we got checked in. Also, for some reason our driver was not provided the hotel services as earlier agreed upon on the phone. Last but not least, it was sad to see a lonely guineapig in a cage outside without any food or even water or even without any kind of bedding. The poor animal was literally walking on metal grids in a small cage next to the parking lot. After a complaint to the ***ager, they provided the guineapig with a carpet and put the water bowl inside. Guineapigs are social pets and meant to live on ground and not 1 meter high up from the ground. Not enough with this sad experience with lack of animal welfare, we were taken to the Kalpavanam Elephant Park (owned by Kalpavanam Heritage Resort) next door just to see a view of three sad and very distressed elephants chained to a wall, waiting for the tourists to have a ride with them. Needless to say, we didn't buy any rides. If I can say anything to the property owner, please relocate these elephants to a proper elephant sanctuary and at least give a good life for the elephants to spend rest of their days with. In nature, an elephant's territory covers 400-800 square kilometres, and they are by no means ment to live a horrible life in captivity. Kalpavanam Heritage Resort has plenty of opportunity to engage themselves with eco-friendly, sustainable and cruelty-free tourism.