'Inspire Kerala' tour guides review

Dineish and I recently went on a trip to India (Kerala & Chennai) for a friend’s wedding. We both took a week off work and arranged to do a quick 4D/3N tour of Kerala before heading off to Chennai for the big celebrations (Congrats to Mark & Priyanka!!).  We both had been to Chennai before and had a fair idea of what we wanted to do (mostly eat, shop and spend time with friends).

Dineish organised the entire Kerala tour with Inspire Kerala after reading up on some reviews on Trip Advisor. We thought it would be the best way to see the place considering a) we hadn't been there before and b) didn't know many people from there (my family were there earlier on in the year and said it was a must). Also it’s nice to know someone else has organized all the local tours, accomodation, car and food – it wasn’t another thing for us to have to sort out! The contact at Inspire Kerala was Murugesan - had a fairly good reputation online and when we got a quote from him he was fast, polite and very reasonable.

Our booking details (snapshot only)

I always have my doubts when organizing things with Indians, so me being me, I kept reminding Dineish to call Murugesan closer to the trip just to confirm the bookings for the hotel, the details of the driver he arranged for us and the early pick up from the airport (because we landed at 2am). Dineish prefers emailing so he got the confirmation via email and we were set to go :)

We arrived at Cochin (although tired) happy and excited to be starting the relaxed part of our holiday. We looked out for our driver who was due to greet us holding name boards from Inspire Kerala for almost 20 mins. He was nowhere to be seen, so we had to get an airport staff to kindly call him to inform that we were standing around waiting for him. He got mixed up between the arrivals and departures, and got irritated when we kept asking him to come around to the arrivals gate! It certainly didn’t start off well; it was too early in the morning and neither of us could speak/understand Malayalam. Eventually he drove around in a small Tata Indica (hatch back) that looked not so road friendly (to me anyway) and too small for us and our luggage! The driver (Munis) turned out to be a lovely guy from Tamil Nadu, so it was nice to be able to talk in our mother tongue (speaks good English also) and have an honest and caring guide for the 4 days we were touring.

The first hotel we stayed in was Hotel Elite Plaza, located about 5km from the airport. It was an additional option we chose to take considering that we landed so early in the morning and didnt have a place to stay before driving to the house boat the next day. The hotel was not more than 3-stars and was fairly decent and clean to spend the night before starting the tour. The room and bathroom was clean and breakfast was included as part of the package that Murugesan organized. However, the hotel charged us for the meal! We told them that as part of the tour it is was already paid for and when they didn’t agree with us, we had to give Murugesan a call. He wasn’t easy to reach, so Munis kindly settled the meal for us and paid them using his allowance from the tour operator. I think that it all gets sorted when he gets his final pay from them. I started to mention to Dineish that Murugesan doesn’t seem to communicate the fine print to everyone, so we find ourselves in little problems like this.

So on the first day of our trip, Munis picked us up promptly at 9am and drove us 3 hours to Allepey for the house boat experience. It rained a fair bit during that trip and although India in general is dirty with crazy drivers on the roads, I thought, compared to Chennai, Kerala was slightly more. We never paid any road tolls, parking fee etc because it was all included in the package. The drive there isn’t memorable, but once you get on the boat it is unreal. We were fortunate to have a clean house boat (one bedroom with in-built toilet and wash are, I wouldn’t call it a shower), 2 welcoming and friendly boat guides (stay with you over night on the boat, cook and take you around the back waters) and an unforgettable experience. Imagine being on your own boat, cruising around and not having to work about work or the outside world. It was relaxing and I really enjoyed my time with Dineish (I had him all to myself, no distractions NOTHING!!).

The 'lounge' area with captain's seat and wheel

Hallway connecting kitchen to lounge, bedroom on the right side of photo

bedroom

hand basin outside bedroom and before kitchen

otherside of bedroom and toilet behind the double doors (I just realised I forgot to take pics of the toilet/washroom!!! My bad)

Dineish taking a million photos, but I'm so glad he was relaxing and enjoying not being a busy body for once!

The following day we were picked up by Munis again at 9am for our 3 hour drive to Cherai Beach Resort. We settled the remainder of the package by paying one of Munis’s manager’s who we met him the day before just as we got off the boat and had no reservations in handing the money to him (the initial deposit was transferred into an Inspire Kerala bank account).

Again the drive wasn’t exciting, we drove through Cochi city (Ernakulam) and although 3 hours sounds as though you are going to cover great distance, in India the time is an estimate of getting through the mad traffic and the little sh*t box that you get carted around in, haha!! So if we were in Singapore/Australia/normal driving country, I have no doubt that trip would have only taken 1.5 hrs max!!

So anyway, we get to the hotel and find that they are preparing for a wedding/function of some sort. I thought that’s great, because it’ll be something to watch from the side and a lot of people = good resort, to me :P Boy, was I wrong!!!! The reception told us they had no booking under our name or Inspire Kerala at any point and the rooms were double booked for the MD’s son’s wedding (hence the prep work) - they were fully booked. They didn’t feel bad at all (had no reason to I suppose) and when we got upset they spoke to Murugesan on the phone after Munis got hold of him. Murugesan called them and it transpired that he had booked the room under our name but the hotel didn’t record it correctly and over booked (at least that’s what Murugesan told us, the hotel said he didn’t confirm our booking earlier and left it too late having known about the wedding). The hotel had cancelled it as it had been there for a long time and they had no means to confirm it. Murugesan had apparently known this for a while and had been calling daily to try to get us a room but they were booked - why on earth didn't he tell us instead of just booking another hotel??? This is my review on Murugesan: He doesn't like to be the bearer of bad news so he'd rather just not tell you at all!! What a douche!!?

Cherai Beach Resort - no go!



The car we travelled in (Inspire Kerala logo)



Preparations for the MD's son's wedding, pfft!

We ended up leaving and booked another nights stay in the hotel planned for the 3^rd night of our trip (3-star hotel in Cochi city called Pride Emerald). FYI – Cherai beach is not world class and not what they show on the pictures. As much as we were disappointed for not getting a night on the resort, the beach (which we walked to have a look at) was not great, we have been to so many beaches and this one does sit at the bottom).

The rest of the day was spent shopping in Cochi. The last day was spent touring the sights of Cochi city: Synagogue, The Fort and a Church. I was bored and none of the sights were maintained to preserve its history.

All in all, aside the little dramas, Dineish and I had a good time in Cochi. And I’m glad we had a nice driver (Munis). On the other hand, although Murugesan is trustworthy I don’t think he is good at dealing with difficult situations or telling the customer of updates or any problems. Would I recommend them Inspire Kerala to anyone of you? I think it’s a hit and miss with India (my thoughts never changed sadly!!), I don't think I'd use the tours next time because I’m better at planning all that on my own (control freak, yes) -  just book it yourself and perhaps use a company to arrange a driver for you, that's all you need.

Sorry if this was long and boring, I really wanted to get it up,
xS

Update as at 06/09/12: received an email from Murugesan last night, and I don't know if this is a coincidence because he has been reading my blog over the last few days (I can see someone returning from Kerala), but he sent a confirmation email from Cherai Beach Resort of the room being booked for us under our name on the agreed date. Now it looks like the resort was at fault double booking us with their MD's son's wedding. I think Murugesan wants to let us know that he did what was required of him and made all necessary reservations, but that just makes me furious at the Hotel's management!!

Update as at 19/09/12: Dineish and I sent an email (dated 09/09/12) to both the hotel management and Inspire Kerala regarding our experience and how CBR poorly handled the situation, however to date we have not received a response. SHAME ON YOU CHERAI BEACH RESORT!

Update as at 14/10/12: Sent an email to the GM (Raymond P.J.) about the email sent in Sept. We kept it short and sweet stating yet again how poor their customer service is and that they didn't have the courtesy to reply.

Scoot Airlines review

Dineish and I made our first trip on the newest long haul airline, Scoot. We were pleasantly surprised by the standard and hope that this review encourages more people to travel with budget airlines.

Scoot is a Singaporean-based budget airline; a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines. It travels between popular destinations in Asia and Australia using aircrafts (Boeing 777) obtained from its parent company. They offer no-frills, low cost travel options for medium to long-haul routes and claim that the tickets are upto 40% cheaper than regular airlines. They offer 2 types of classes: ScootBiz and Economy.

We were on a trip back to Sydney to see the family for a few days and the flight took a little over 7 ½ hours. Check-in was the standard 2 hours before flight, however for the first time we experienced that 2 hours was not enough, because we almost missed out on getting seats together (on both trips) – the line was very long and surely it was because of the cheap tickets. I would recommend you either: 1) come earlier than 2 hours to checkin or 2): pre-book  your seats on the internet for an extra surcharge.

I have travelled with many other airlines to so many countries (let me know if you want a blog post on my travel adventures) and I think that this is the by far the BEST budget airlines I have travelled with! We booked 2 economy seats on the first day the tickets came out for SGP-SYD hauls with 20kg luggage. The tickets together cost us a little under $400SGD!! As with most budget airlines things like food, drinks and blankets are chargeable and on Scoot they rent out iPads for long haul flights for $22SGD (Dineish opted for this on the way back to Singapore because he knew I wouldn't be awake to keep him entertained).

12:50pm flight and we were still in the long as queue boarding 5 mins before take off!

         The line to board again was packed and very long.

The on board staff (air hostess) were very polite and although they themselves had given up on the routine emergency procedures, were still delivering standard airline services. Honestly, no bit of the flight felt like a budget airline!

(Sorry about the shocking pictures guys!!)...

The leg space between the seats is roomy and enough for even Dineish to sit comfortably (he is tall remember).

The flight to Sydney had us at the very last row and although it was a midnight flight and I fell asleep almost immediately, the noise and turbulence was pretty bad. I think that’s the same with all aircrafts, but I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. We took it because it was the last seats available together. It's also close to the cabin crew area and because they have to stay awake through the night it gets quite loud (often hear heavy Singaporean accents). There is still space to put the seats back and that was great because you don’t have to sleep upright!

Roomy :)

All in all, I think Scoot is great. Personally, I’m not too fussed about the service I get on board, but considering it being a budget airline I felt like we flew with so much ease, except for some dodgy passengers of course :P