In Southern India, Chittoor Kottaram is a single key hotel, which means there are no guests but you and your companions. Together, you will be transported back to the time when Kerala was still the Kingdom of Travancore, a feudal land of nobles and princes. Arrive by boat just like they did in days gone by. Live and sleep as if to the manner born.
Enjoy the same performances as the royals did and even eat the same food in the same manner. You would bask in the services of a personal retinue. And even take a pleasure cruise on the backwaters, just to watch the sun rise over your kingdom.
A great place to experience a romantic fairytale lodging experience–the regal way–Chittoor Kottaram is a royal hotel tucked away amidst a glorious verdure.
Fringed by the bewitching backwaters of Kerala, this charming heritage villa masquerading as a palace (kottaram) was built for Rajah Rama Varma of Cochin sometime in the 14th century.
Forced to move his royal seat following an invasion, and much pained at having to remove himself away from the revered Guruvayur Temple in his erstwhile kingdom, he proceeded to build the Chittoorappan Temple in the quietude of Cheranelloor, a hamlet just off Kochi. The ‘kottaram’ a short distance away came soon after and is today a delightful getaway. It calls itself a single-key hotel – in essence, you will have the run of the place, as no other guests may check-in simultaneously.
Reached by a private approach canal bobbing with hyacinth and water lilies, the elegant, many-colonnaded mansion, with its red, aged-tile roof, wrap-around veranda lined with burnished wood windows, and expansive lawns shrouded in palm fronds, lends itself ever-so-beautifully to that solitude you have desperately sought since the merry wedding! Replete with painstakingly restored balustrades and staircases, tiled floors and wooden ceilings, rattan furniture and quality furnishings, the elegant simplicity that Chittoor Kottaram exudes is a quiet reflection of ostentation-shunning royalty of yore.
Yet, luxury is all around you, teasing your very senses at every bare-foot step, every intimate turn. In the gentle boat ride that glides you to the personal jetty. In the sweet-smelling welcome of a jasmine garland; in the palm-frond umbrella held aloft. In the personal retinue of three, four if you count the boatman. In their gentle deference to role-playing guests – they address, serve, and treat you as they would their former Thampuran (king) and Thampuratti (queen).
In the traditional meal, sadya, served on a banana leaf; in the silverware. In the hibiscus-dressed coffee service during the sunset cruise. In the divine blessings the temple priests invoke in person using age-old musical instruments. In the narcissistic swagger the floor-standing vintage mirror reflects as you walk past, even.
Yes, you’re in a palace, but search for gold taps and embroidered pillows, and you will search in vain. In keeping with the minimalistic lifestyles of the kings of Chittoor Kottaram, their furnishings tread a fine line between comfort and refinement.
Natural and traditional styles are the norm here, and while the bathrooms are modern, the towels are simple, pure linen. Lunch in the dining room is served on traditional banana leaves. But Dinner is a more indulgent affair, when you dine off pure silverware, just as the kings of yore did.
What more can one say? Other than – your kingdom awaits!
Details:
There are several properties across Southern India, from Kerala to Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and the Lakshadweep.
Puneetinder Kaur Sidhu, travel enthusiast and the author of Adrift: A junket junkie in Europe is the youngest of four siblings born into an aristocratic family of Punjab. Dogged in her resistance to conform, and with parental pressure easing sufficiently over the years, she had plenty of freedom of choice. And she chose travel.
She was born in Shimla, and spent her formative years at their home, Windsor Terrace, in Kasumpti while schooling at Convent of Jesus & Mary, Chelsea. The irrepressible wanderlust in her found her changing vocations midstream and she joined Singapore International Airlines to give wing to her passion. She has travelled extensively in Asia, North America, Australia, Europe, South Africa and SE Asia; simultaneously exploring the charms within India.
When she is not travelling, she is writing about it. Over the past decade or so, she has created an impressive writing repertoire for herself: as a columnist with Hindustan Times, as a book reviewer for The Tribune and as a contributor to travel magazines in India and overseas. Her work-in-progress, the documenting of colonial heritage along the Old Hindustan-Tibet Road, is an outcome of her long-standing romance with the Himalayas.
