Below is feedback from past customers. If you would like
to add your own feedback about a Kerala Connections holiday - scroll
down to the bottom of the relevant year and click on COMMENTS. Our
ON-LINE QUESTIONNAIRE can be found at the top of our home page.
Our customer is very excited about their holiday, just what she was looking for. As I am not very good on India I was kind of dreading how to do this holiday but you made it very easy and we will be back to you.
Travel Agent
Hello Gary, I just wanted to relay our thanks to you for arranging such a magnificent holiday through Kerala Connections for Chris and me at such short notice. Over the 3 weeks we enjoyed so many interesting and varied experiences of Southern India, from French Pondicherry to the Periyar National Park, the many temples, the amazing cruise on the backwaters and Mararikulam beach. We loved the variety of hotels which were all comfortable and had their own idiosyncrasies. Our drivers, and Sheebu in particular, did an amazing job of getting us through the traffic - I'm just so pleased that I wasn't behind the wheel! - and provided us with timely pick-ups and drop offs on all occasions.
But the highlight has to be the Aakriti home stay in the Nilgiri Hills. A brilliant choice. Such a comfortable atmosphere with the Kumars who provided a real experience of Indian life with home cooking, discussions about India and trips to market and tea processing plant etc. They could not have done more to make us feel at home. It is a great credit to all involved that everything came together over the three weeks we were there. I could go on but I'm sure you get the picture that you provided us with a holiday to remember. Many thanks again.
Pat H
Lovey rooms at Palais de Mahe, spacious room at Heritage, Madurai; best meal at Raintree Restaurant in the Taj Connemara; best hotels – Paradisa Plantation and A Beach Symphony. Bennett our driver was very good.
Thank you for organising what was a fantastic holiday with everything going to plan and your service (together with that of Companion) being exemplary throughout. Malabar House - lovely atmosphere and great place to start. Swiss County - lovely room/view but restaurant average and noise from hotel next door could be a problem. Clean and friendly and we were not expecting 5 star comfort. Spice Village - probably our favourite hotel with lovely staff and a very pleasant vibe - would stay again. 50 mile meal good and we liked the “colonial” bar. Houseboat - exceeded expectations and food exceptional. Vivanta by Taj, Kovalam - lovely setting and food good especially fish restaurant. Overall a once in a lifetime experience and one we won’t forget. Thanks again for all your hard work.
Gary Tree very helpful – did his job well. Dewalokam was stunning; the yoga teacher at Punnamada was particularly good; the three crew of the houseboat were thoughtful and looked after us very well; the staff at Marari Beach were exceptionally kind, warm and attentive. Your info was really helpful eg about tipping was invaluable and saved any embarrassment.
We had a wonderful time in Kerala, and were entirely delighted with the service provided by your company. I'm sorry I haven't been in touch with you sooner to thank you. The reason is that at the very end of the trip I fell and hurt my back. The ground team you provided proved very helpful in arranging wheel chairs at the airport etc. We'd definitely like to return to the Vivanta by Taj at Kovalam - the staff were wonderful, and we couldn't fault it in any way.
Best
wishes, Linda Drake
We loved Maison Perumal. The food was excellent and we enjoyed the
cookery demonstrations.
David booked through Responsible Travel. For his full report go to:
Thank you so much for fixing up such a
wonderful holiday for us. We had an
extremely good time and the driver was exceptional. Our favourite place was Dewalokam, lovely
family, fantastic food and cookery demonstrations, great area and plenty to
do. It is such an interesting, friendly
place and river swimming was fantastic.
We would have enjoyed staying even longer. We thought that 4 or 5 nights would have been
perfect. Perhaps we will go back!
Wanda Slack
Bennett (driver) was great. He really made the holiday. Encouraging us to do mor adventurous things than might have been our normal way. He was funny, thoughtful and well informed. We loved him. The people at Cardamom Club were lovely and the food was excellent. We had a really great 2 weeks. So many lovely people and delicious food. Stunning scenery. We really loved it all.
Sanna Dancy
India was not a destination we had considered but we decided to try it and visited Kerala for the first time in 2013. With the help of Gary at Kerala Connections we planned our trip and stayed in several different types of properties. The people are most welcoming and the food fabulous. We are now in the process of booking our third trip and can't wait to go back again. It's a really interesting country with beautiful scenery and we would highly recommend it.
Linda Grinham
A first class holiday. I could never go on holiday as a member of a tour group after this. First class treatment all the way with little touches that make such a difference. What we didn't really appreciate beforehand is how safe South India is. We expected it to be friendly. Thank you for organising such a wonderful experience.
Bennet could not be faulted. His driving was perfect, his knowledge of the area invaluable. Overall people were trying to please and one cannot ask more than that. The variety in the holiday was impressive and although my 6th visit to India I learned a great deal more about Indian life than on previous visits. Thank you.
David Matthews
Our customer is very excited about their holiday, just what she was looking for. As I am not very good on India I was kind of dreading how to do this holiday but you made it very easy and we will be back to you.
Travel Agent
We have had a look on the Indian Visa website and the eTV
appears relatively straight forward so we are going to go for this option,
however if we change our mind and require your services we will be in touch.
Can I just take the opportunity to say we have been very
impressed with your company to date. Having travelled to India last year we had
a good idea of what we wanted and sent the itinerary off to 7 travel companies
for prices and although Kerala Connections were not the cheapest we all thought
that Gary's attention to detail, ideas, quick responses and professionalism
made the company stand out head and shoulders above the rest.
We are all very excited and looking forward to the holiday.
Aileen Petrykowski
Wonderful
holiday - thank you so much. My husband
had never been before and was apprehensive.
But we had a really most amazing time.
I genuinely enjoyed dealing with you.
It was apparent that in India you are deeply respected and people are
proud to be working with you. I would be
very happy to speak to people and tell them what I thought of your services if
you would like me to.
Mrs Nolder
Mrs Nolder
The Premium Houseboat
we would definitely recommend, really great crew and fantastic food. The backwaters were wonderful. Pirkko (Aanavilasam)
was very welcoming and a very warm lovely hostess. The food was excellent. Many thanks again for a great holiday - we
will be back!
Mr and Mrs Kreppel
Mr and Mrs Kreppel
Our driver
Manu was excellent as always. Another
Excellent trip thanks to Kerala Connections and Companion Holidays.
Mrs and Mrs Alcock
Mrs and Mrs Alcock
One of our
group was ill and Siji (our driver) was exceptional in his devotion and help
with hospitals - he became one of the family.
Without him it would have been scary!
The Robertson Family
The Robertson Family
Many thanks
for organising our trip. Everything was
well organised and the venue you hose were wonderful.
Celia Davies
Celia Davies
Everything
you organised was very efficient. Thank
you for helping make this a trip of a lifetime!
Excellent
service, we will use you again. The Tour
Information booklet was very helpful – especially re tipping.
Local agent
was very helpful and made our travel arrangements run smoothly and hassle
free. The guided tour was excellent.
Members of the Sian Galanis party
Members of the Sian Galanis party
The treks in
Munnar and Wayanad were well organised and enjoyable. Mr Kumar (the local agent) is truly amazing –
made sure everything ran without a hitch.
Mr and Mrs Stacey
Mr and Mrs Stacey
Marari Villas
5 out of 5 – perfect!
Mr and Mrs Bowen
Mr and Mrs Bowen
Everything
was wonderful with the holiday. We had a
most enjoyable time including my husband who didn’t want to go to India - he
has been impressed with how smoothly everything went and the friendliness of
the Indian people. We were highly
impressed with how the strike was handled by the local agent - we were informed
and given a choice of times to go on the boat or stay at Spice Village.
Mr and Mrs Pullen
Mr and Mrs Pullen
Very well
organised. Drivers/tour guide, airport
transfers perfectly arranged and on time. There is nothing that I can complain
about. Thank you very much.
The Perlwitz Family
The Perlwitz Family
Fantastic
trip, well planned, all came together very well. We would definitely use Kerala Connections
again and hope to return to Kerala to enjoy more of the delights we experienced
this time. We enjoyed ourselves
enormously and have loads of great memories.
Mr and Mrs Hill
Mr and Mrs Hill
Absolutely
superb.
Dr and Mrs Prasad
Dr and Mrs Prasad
Hello Gary, I just wanted to relay our thanks to you for arranging such a magnificent holiday through Kerala Connections for Chris and me at such short notice. Over the 3 weeks we enjoyed so many interesting and varied experiences of Southern India, from French Pondicherry to the Periyar National Park, the many temples, the amazing cruise on the backwaters and Mararikulam beach. We loved the variety of hotels which were all comfortable and had their own idiosyncrasies. Our drivers, and Sheebu in particular, did an amazing job of getting us through the traffic - I'm just so pleased that I wasn't behind the wheel! - and provided us with timely pick-ups and drop offs on all occasions.
But the highlight has to be the Aakriti home stay in the Nilgiri Hills. A brilliant choice. Such a comfortable atmosphere with the Kumars who provided a real experience of Indian life with home cooking, discussions about India and trips to market and tea processing plant etc. They could not have done more to make us feel at home. It is a great credit to all involved that everything came together over the three weeks we were there. I could go on but I'm sure you get the picture that you provided us with a holiday to remember. Many thanks again.
Pat H
I want to say how much we enjoyed this trip - I cannot thank you
enough for introducing us to Kerala and to the wonderful places you arranged for
us to stay in. You won't be surprised that our favourite was Dewalokam homestay
- it was quite outstanding. As was Marari Pearl in which we felt very
privileged to stay. That said, we
weren't disappointed by any of the places in which we stayed - and would go
back to any of them! I was so pleased we went for fewer different
locations and longer in each - we didn't regret it and others that we met were
wishing they had done the same! Just one
more thing - our driver was brilliant. He was friendly, helpful and drove
safely (I hadn't been looking forward to the driving bit!). A real gem!
Geraldine Stone
Geraldine Stone
All
transfers worked very well with helpful, polite drivers, and local travel agent
was excellent. Palais de Mahe in
Pondicherry is a fabulous hotel and we loved it. Looked at other hotels but this one is the
nicest and food is great. We loved Le
Colonial (Cochin) it was like staying in someone’s home with fabulous food and
very helpful, friendly staff. Although
it is half board they are flexible about whether you have lunch and dinner and
do ask you what you would like. We thought Kovalam was not nearly as nice as
Cochin or Pondicherry – both of which have a great deal of charm. Thank you for all your help in organising our
holiday.
Sarah Green
All four of us agreed it was a brilliant holiday. There is very little we would have
changed. Two nights on a premium
houseboat was a good call. Very relaxing
and we left the on-nighters behind. Crew
could not do enough for us. Special
mention to Sanil (our driver) who was fantastic and great fun. We genuinely appreciated all of your
expertise and knowledge and this is what make the difference between choosing
someone like Kuoni and a company like Kerala Connections. Thanks very much, we had a great time.
Helen and Robert Steele, Marion and Nick Jenkins
Thank you so much for arranging a wonderful trip. The local agent
and even the drivers were all fantastic - the roads and other drivers (well
can't change that - exciting and hair raising) but we had so much fun and most
of that was down to not having to arrange or worry about connections. Please
pass on this message to Mr Daniel, he was a lovely, patient man. The backwaters houseboat was the highlight
for me - the staff were brilliant and the food was fantastic. When next we go to India I will be contacting
you. Thank you again.
Jann Neilson
We had an incredible holiday and many wonderful memories of a truly fantastic country. Already working on the next itinerary!!!!! Thanks to Gary (Kerala Connections) we got this year’s itinerary just right, a good mix of 'things to see' and lots of down time in the pool! Perfect.
Jann Neilson
We had an incredible holiday and many wonderful memories of a truly fantastic country. Already working on the next itinerary!!!!! Thanks to Gary (Kerala Connections) we got this year’s itinerary just right, a good mix of 'things to see' and lots of down time in the pool! Perfect.
The Intrepids
(three ladies who regularly travel with us).
All of the
homestays contributed to making this a wonderful holiday for me.
Roger Humphreys
As
usual, your arrangements all went extremely well and fundamentally we had an
enjoyable and interesting time. We have
run out of superlatives for Dewalokam
- our prime reason for returning to
Kerala this year. It did not disappoint.
We had a great time with Sinta, Jose and the family. Had a visit to the local
town with Sinta to purchase a urali and for Paul to get a haircut. Of such
adventures are lasting memories made. If you cannot relax here, you will not
relax anywhere. We greatly enjoyed this, our second visit and would highly
recommend this home stay.
Jim Chapple
We liked all the places we stayed at
very much. Everyone very friendly and helpful. Dewalokam was our favourite because all guests
encouraged to mix and to sit together at same table.
Philip and Lindsay Layfield
I enjoyed every minute of the holiday. The stay on the backwaters was a highlight
and being so well looked after by three wonderful crew. Another highlight was the Bullock Cart Ride –
we saw so much during that trip. All the
homestays were excellent. Thanks so much.
Jackie Greening
We
cannot speak too highly of our holiday.
It was as near to perfection as possible. Our first driver was particularly
special. He had a great sense of humour
and anticipated all our needs – including removing the front passenger headrest
for a clearer view for us. All but one
place we stayed at was excellent. Chera Rocks was superb; the hosts at Dewalokam were delightful and food
fantastic; the houseboat and three
crew were perfect in every way and Mr Walton (Walton’s Homestay) was delightful.
We would definitely use Kerala Connections again.
Mr and Mrs Carrigan
Generally
super hotels, excellent organisation, specially nice driver for first week. Ideal Beach Resort was better than
expected/your description; Manayth
Heritage was very peaceful with very friendly and helpful family; Houseboat
very relaxing and worth having two nights.
Mr and Mrs Beale
Lovey rooms at Palais de Mahe, spacious room at Heritage, Madurai; best meal at Raintree Restaurant in the Taj Connemara; best hotels – Paradisa Plantation and A Beach Symphony. Bennett our driver was very good.
Mr and Mrs Brough
Thank you for organising what was a fantastic holiday with everything going to plan and your service (together with that of Companion) being exemplary throughout. Malabar House - lovely atmosphere and great place to start. Swiss County - lovely room/view but restaurant average and noise from hotel next door could be a problem. Clean and friendly and we were not expecting 5 star comfort. Spice Village - probably our favourite hotel with lovely staff and a very pleasant vibe - would stay again. 50 mile meal good and we liked the “colonial” bar. Houseboat - exceeded expectations and food exceptional. Vivanta by Taj, Kovalam - lovely setting and food good especially fish restaurant. Overall a once in a lifetime experience and one we won’t forget. Thanks again for all your hard work.
Alison and Malcolm Roberts
Gary Tree very helpful – did his job well. Dewalokam was stunning; the yoga teacher at Punnamada was particularly good; the three crew of the houseboat were thoughtful and looked after us very well; the staff at Marari Beach were exceptionally kind, warm and attentive. Your info was really helpful eg about tipping was invaluable and saved any embarrassment.
Dr and Mrs Brown
The planning
of the trip was excellent – thank you Gary!
All the drivers were wonderful and really helped make the holiday very
special. We loved the variety of
accommodation – each different from the last and all enjoyable in their unique
ways. Hospitality always exceptional and
welcoming. We highly recommend Kerala
Connections.
Kathryn Hawkings and Christine Tait
Kathryn Hawkings and Christine Tait
Overall, a
fabulous trip. An excellent choice of
hotels – many thanks. Vismaya was our
particular highlight – what a special place.
Aanavilasam and Marai Villas cam a close second. Old Harbour Hotel was a great place to start,
with a friendly welcome and excellent service.
Jim Bolton and David Barnett
Jim Bolton and David Barnett
The most
enjoyable holiday yet. No two places
were the same but all provided the highest levels of hospitality and
interest. This was really a great
holiday. Thank you so much, your
selections and experience is greatly appreciated. See you next year!
Mr and Mrs Boulton
Mr and Mrs Boulton
We had a wonderful time in Kerala, and were entirely delighted with the service provided by your company. I'm sorry I haven't been in touch with you sooner to thank you. The reason is that at the very end of the trip I fell and hurt my back. The ground team you provided proved very helpful in arranging wheel chairs at the airport etc. We'd definitely like to return to the Vivanta by Taj at Kovalam - the staff were wonderful, and we couldn't fault it in any way.
We enjoyed our time in Chettinad - great hotel
(Visalam), wonderful staff and excellent food.
Rajakkad - we thought this was a highlight of the trip. It is a lovely place and we enjoyed relaxing there. A guided walk was offered each morning and it was good to eat communal meals in the evening. We'd endorse what you say about the friendly locals.
Aakriti is a wonderful place and the Kumars were great hosts. The accommodation was as generous as the family, who could not have made us more welcome. We enjoyed the programme they had prepared for us and were particularly impressed with the way they reacted to our interests
Gitanjali is a delightful place with a lovely garden. Another interesting cuisine to try!
Red Earth - We loved it! The accommodation is good and the grounds spectacular. Ravi and Rachael made sure that we were well looked after. The manager, Tony, and the naturalist were on top of everything and coordinated our activities. They, like everyone else, were very friendly and available. The food was geared to Indian rather than European tastes and was really good.
Tranquil - Two nights in the tree house was a great way to end our holiday and the place was everything we hoped it would be. Like most of the accommodation you arranged, we'd love to go back.
Thank you for the advice you gave us whilst planning this trip and for everything you did behind the scenes to make this such a pleasurable experience for us. Talking to others who travelled with other companies makes me aware that not everyone does as well. This will not be our last trip to India so we will be in touch again.
Alan Brown
An
amazing way to get an insight into the many sides of India. Trains are a
brilliant way to see the countryside and talk to Indian people. Kerala
Connections were the most helpful travel company I have ever dealt with and I
highly recommend using them.
David JelleyRajakkad - we thought this was a highlight of the trip. It is a lovely place and we enjoyed relaxing there. A guided walk was offered each morning and it was good to eat communal meals in the evening. We'd endorse what you say about the friendly locals.
Aakriti is a wonderful place and the Kumars were great hosts. The accommodation was as generous as the family, who could not have made us more welcome. We enjoyed the programme they had prepared for us and were particularly impressed with the way they reacted to our interests
Gitanjali is a delightful place with a lovely garden. Another interesting cuisine to try!
Red Earth - We loved it! The accommodation is good and the grounds spectacular. Ravi and Rachael made sure that we were well looked after. The manager, Tony, and the naturalist were on top of everything and coordinated our activities. They, like everyone else, were very friendly and available. The food was geared to Indian rather than European tastes and was really good.
Tranquil - Two nights in the tree house was a great way to end our holiday and the place was everything we hoped it would be. Like most of the accommodation you arranged, we'd love to go back.
Thank you for the advice you gave us whilst planning this trip and for everything you did behind the scenes to make this such a pleasurable experience for us. Talking to others who travelled with other companies makes me aware that not everyone does as well. This will not be our last trip to India so we will be in touch again.
Alan Brown
David booked through Responsible Travel. For his full report go to:
http://www.responsibletravel.com/review/reviewlist.asp?id=3259
Wanda Slack
Bennett (driver) was great. He really made the holiday. Encouraging us to do mor adventurous things than might have been our normal way. He was funny, thoughtful and well informed. We loved him. The people at Cardamom Club were lovely and the food was excellent. We had a really great 2 weeks. So many lovely people and delicious food. Stunning scenery. We really loved it all.
Sanna Dancy
Hello Diana Wow! What a wonderful time we had so thank you for
organising such a great trip. All the home owners (Harivihar, Olappamana Mana, Kandath Tharavad, Aakriti, Pranavam) were so lovely and friendly and our
driver was great as well. Food was fabulous in each place we stayed as
was the accommodation, we really do not have any complaints whatsoever.
The beach resort (Neeleshwar Hermitage) is rather special isn't it and a great end to the trip. We will fill in your form but in the meantime thank you
again.
Linda Guy
Linda Guy
India was not a destination we had considered but we decided to try it and visited Kerala for the first time in 2013. With the help of Gary at Kerala Connections we planned our trip and stayed in several different types of properties. The people are most welcoming and the food fabulous. We are now in the process of booking our third trip and can't wait to go back again. It's a really interesting country with beautiful scenery and we would highly recommend it.
A first class holiday. I could never go on holiday as a member of a tour group after this. First class treatment all the way with little touches that make such a difference. What we didn't really appreciate beforehand is how safe South India is. We expected it to be friendly. Thank you for organising such a wonderful experience.
Mr and Mrs Edge
We are very impressed by your documents and love your little booklet (Tour Information).
We are very impressed by your documents and love your little booklet (Tour Information).
Helen Steele
So, we're back from yet another wonderful
trip to India, fantastically organised again by Kerala Connections. The wonderful Shibu was waiting for us with
open arms at Bangalore airport despite our hideous arrival time of 5am. He
really is an absolute treasure: caring, punctual, clean and with the best sense
of humour; many laughs were enjoyed while he effortlessly (or so he made it
appear) steered us through the country. A safe and exciting five hour drive to
Mysore gave us the time to remember and revel in the reasons we came back to
India.
Gitanjali
Home Stay was the perfect spot to get over the
journey. Yamuna and family are wonderful
hosts and the property is beautiful. Situated just outside the city means it's
quiet and full of bird-life. The gardens
are pristine and the cabins spacious enough, each with its own veranda space.
The meals are plentiful and tasty, dinners particularly. We opted to eat there
every night.
Kaav
Safari Lodge is superlative; luxurious and comfortable
(the beds were almost better than mine at home!), the rooms each had their own
balcony facing different ways so no overlooking of neighbours. The pool was
divine and the food was all excellent.
On
to our paradise of Chera Rocks. To see the glorious Ali's smile in welcome and
recognition was magnificent, and had been much looked forward to. The two rooms
requested were waiting for us, as was the Arabian Sea, and it really felt like
coming home. Ali's energy and unswerving hospitality and good humour were still
in situ thank heavens, and his cooking and care for all the guests is an
absolute marvel.
A rather uncomfortable overnight train
ride, which took 20 hours, took us to Mumbai, comprehensively dissipating our
Chera Rocks blissed out state, but we are glad we have experienced it - not to
be done again though!. The Sea Palace Hotel, although in a
brilliant location just along from the famous Taj and slap bang in the
beguiling South Mumbai old colonial district, is very much unloved; in fact
dilapidated is the word. Loved Mumbai
though and the tour and guide were great, I would definitely like to return as
soon as possible.
In conclusion, Kerala Connections, and
Companion Holidays, has once again come up trumps. Everything (well, almost)
was perfect and had been organised with your usual military precision and
attention to detail for what your clients are looking for and expecting. Your
pre-trip information is invaluable and we lost count of how many people we
shared your tipping tips with as they were floundering on that particular
aspect. Of course, we gave KC the biggest puff whenever we got the chance and
several people were impressed, never mind us!
But, sorry to say, KC only comes second in our list of praise: driver
Shibu and Ali at Chera Rocks have to be singled out as the pinnacle of what was
a wonderful, wonderful trip.
Lucinda Martin
Raja (Bennet) is an outstanding driver. We much enjoyed having him for 15 days and
our trip benefited by his local knowledge.
We appreciated the benefits of a Kerala Connections/Companion Holiday
trip when we heard of the problems experienced by customers of another UK tour operator. Of the seven homestays/guesthouses, four were
outstanding – Gitanjali, Tranquil, Amaryllis and Dewalokam due to the host
families who were fully engaged with their guests.
Mark and Wendy Bostock
This was Mr and Mrs Bostock's fifth holiday with us.
This was Mr and Mrs Bostock's fifth holiday with us.
Bennet could not be faulted. His driving was perfect, his knowledge of the area invaluable. Overall people were trying to please and one cannot ask more than that. The variety in the holiday was impressive and although my 6th visit to India I learned a great deal more about Indian life than on previous visits. Thank you.
David Matthews
I
did the Indian Visa process on line and the passports
were back with us, with the 6 months tourist visa, within a week! It was
surprisingly easy and without problem thanks to your wonderful instructions. We
are greatly looking forward to our holiday coming up soon.
Wanda Slack
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