Easily a place I could go back to : again and again. Fort Kochi. Wander around. Soak in the sights and sounds. Familiar corners. Tashi art cafe, the fishing nets and the synagogue.

The last time I visited, I stayed at this rather small but cosy guest house on Petercelli street. It was called Raintree Lodge and it didn’t take me long to discover why. Just behind the guest house, a huge rain tree spread it’s magnificent branches and covered most of the road and a lot of other houses. Fort Kochi has some beautiful trees and if you’re visiting you must take some time to observe their beauty and grace.

The lodge has rooms on two levels including the ground floor. If you’re visiting try and check if they have one of the balcony rooms available. It just seems much nicer when you can open your door into a balcony and get some fresh air in. There’s no view as such as the guest house is adjacent to a road but the it’s very quiet street so you won’t get much noise here. The interiors are comfortable and the furniture is minimalistic but all old Kerala style.

Edgar, who manages both this and the Old Harbour Hotel (another lovely place indeed) made sure I was comfortable and settled in well. My room was on the ground floor and I could open my back door into a little corner space. I had a visitor on the adjacent wall : a cat that would perch itself there for most parts and sneak away if I came too close.

The only downside is that there is no catering facility available here. So no tea or snacks or meals served. The upside is a lovely terrace garden where you can watch the colourful sunset or just laze around and read a book. I couldn’t spend enough time there since I was out a lot, but I really liked the place.

For food, I would drop in at TeaPot which soon became my favourite haunt. There I would sit and while away my time, order tea, appams and whatever caught my fancy. And since it was on the way to the lodge, I always found an excuse to drop in.

Details here:
Raintree Lodge
Fort Cochin, Kerala
Tel :+91 (484) 3951489
Mob :+91 98470 29000
Email : mail@fortcochin.com