A beach symphony Hotel

Marari Beach, Mararikulam, Kerala, India

As we watch the man slide down the coconut palm laden with a fresh harvest, our thoughts naturally turn to dinner. It’s the most activity we’ve seen all afternoon in a place where the next meal is the only thing that punctuates the day. Refreshingly little happens at this bijou retreat, set back from the gorgeous sweep of Marari Beach, near alleppy. It was created by Jan and christel arryn, a beaming Belgian couple who fell in love with Kerala while on holiday and set about converting wooden fishermen’s huts into luxurious bungalows. They clearly had great fun seeking out the antiques, traditional furniture and fabrics that bedeck the four dwellings from the antique traders in Fort Kochi’s Mattancherry. The arryns and their attentive staff spoil you from the outset, pouring you chilled lime soda on arrival and delivering bowls of banana crisps just when you’re feeling peckish. you don’t even need to dress for dinner, as meals are served in your bungalow. Fragrant fish curries, vegetable thoran laced with coconut shreds and roti are popped in a dish on your veranda that you can reheat and help yourself whenever you like. Some evenings, Jan cooks a whole banana leaf-wrapped seer fish in a pit barbecue for a communal feast. you’ll wake up to platters of fruit, juices and fluffy idli or masala dosa. you can, of course, up the pace with an ayurvedic treatment, yoga or a dip in the pool or sea as you watch the fishermen haul in their catch. But it’s hard to draw yourself away from your daybed slumber until the sun sinks below the arabian Sea and the lighting of candles signals dinner time again.

Why go? For privacy and pampering on arguably Kerala’s prettiest beach.
Details From £100 per night.