Deshadan – The Perfect Backwater Resort

It all started with a wedding in Kerala. My friends wanted to make it a short trip to Kerala along with the wedding. With the help of a  friend who is in Kerala and working on Tours and Hospitality, we made all arrangements with a good itinerary where we made sure we were going to have a relaxed vacation enjoying the beauty of backwaters. This is the same person who introduced us to this beautiful backwater resort Deshadan.
 Which one to choose? – The usual dilemma
There are lots of hotels especially big names in hotel industry who have hotels here, but since we wanted the authentic feel at reasonable price with a beautiful place so that we don’t need to travel much to see backwaters. The place we finalized was Deshadan Backwater Resort. I did some research on internet and we found mixed reviews but photos of the property looked beautiful. The person who did the booking for us guaranteed us a splendid stay there.
The Journey Begins – Relax, enjoy and cherish every moment
We took off from Delhi early morning and reached Kochi. We went to see the beautiful Athirapally falls and after that headed straight to Alleppey, Deshadan. We were travelling on the NH and we took a detour before Alleppey and the roads became narrow. That looked more like a country side and there we saw the backwater resort.The entrance to the resort was pretty normal, once we entered the reception; we were amazed with the scenery. One look from the Reception area and you can see the beautiful backwater and small boats (The great relief of value for money)  All of us were tired because of the early start, the adventurous hike to the waterfalls and the tiring road journey.

Deshadan had cottages with rooms on either side and they also had one complex like architecture with multiple rooms. We checked in to the cottages and the ambience was so awesome, it gave us a refreshing feel.The room was furnished in the western way with all modern amenities, a bed, mini bar and all that.

The Restaurant:
They have this beautiful restaurant made on top of a water body, more on the center of the resort with the backwater view. They had a South Indian menu with all awesome Non-Veg delicacies.  Some of my friends were not comfortable with the same since they were vegetarians and only used to North Indian food,but since they do not cook using coconut oil (which ,makes their food easily consumable for those who like to try South Indian food without coconut oil :D). We spoke to the restaurant manager and voila, problem solved. They told us they can make us some North Indian dishes too 🙂 Here they gained another point. The restaurant manager was very good and he was ready to get us some things which were not even in Menu. The food was authentic and awesome with fish, prawns, crab and chicken. All of us were hungry and I personally was in a state of “Talk to My Hand, I am Eating now” 😉

A day at the Resort: Fishing & Ayurvedic Spa
A full day we spend at the resort without going out and trust me, you will not get bored.  Early morning view of the lake with the sun was awesome and that is where we wanted to spend time, although they had a beautiful pool, Some of us wanted to try our hand on fishing and the resort people were generous enough to give us three choonda (fishing hook). That took a hell lot of time since we knew nothing about how to use this thing and secondly patience is  needed for doing fishing , which we were not having 😛

However, from fishing, some of us thought to go for the Kerala Ayurveda spa. In the resort they had an Ayurveda spa with licensed people who can do massages and other therapies at a nominal rate. After a good oil massage, we were relieved and time was flying. Earlier when we planned to stay at the resort for the whole day, some of us were not sure as to how entertaining it will be, but it was one of the busiest days we had :D.
The next day we were supposed to leave and so thought about partying late. The restaurant was supposed to close by 10pm, but they were so cooperative that they waited till late night, gave us fresh food and made sure we are happy and stomach full.

Our Verdict – Definitely Deshadan
Two nights and a day at this resort and we were in Love with the resort. Deshadan is a beautiful, calm, serene resort with an awesome view, good staff, excellent food and reasonable rates. I have written in one of the paragraphs that I have read mixed reviews about this place, mostly about staff and service. During our visit, everything was perfect and if needed, they arrange houseboats, shikhara rides etc too.