The Malabar House, Fort Kochi

Where do I begin? It's a beautiful building in the perfect location, and it could have been an excellent choice for our 24-26 December stay. But...the wheels fell off pretty quickly! All of the rooms are windowless (it's how it is designed), and while beautiful, they feel cold and lack cosiness. I was there with my sister, so we had a twin room, the beds were comfortable, but narrow. We were booked in for mandatory Christmas meal (not cheap!), but were berated (by a very unfriendly male member of staff) for not stating that we had a food allergy beforehand - not that we were ever asked, and apparently it couldn't be adjusted on a case-by-case basis as everything was preprepared. The musicians that played traditional music for the duration of the dinner were too loud, adding further stress to the whole evening. There is so much else to say, but I just don't want to be mean. Let's just say, we won't be going back there to stay or eat.

We went to have dinner at Malabar House, this evening. They told us that we would get a table in 30 minutes, at 8.30pm. We reconfirmed it with the staff after waiting for 5-10 minutes. We were waiting in the lobby, amidst mosquitoes. When I went to ask them at 8.25pm, I was informed that no table was available. This is extremely unprofessional and represents very poor quality of service.

Excellent place to dine with good ambience pleasant music in the background food good but a bit too pricey. Service was excellent and staff polite and friendly ready to help us out. On the whole a good place to dine :)

Had lunch They have staff but service isn't upto the mark. Food is also okay nothing great to point out. Property looks beautiful with paintings and artifacts.

We had an excellent dinner at the Malabar House with our two teenage children. It was our first night in Kerala on a two week trip and the setting and food were perfect as we acclimatised to new surroundings. Although the food was spicier than we had expected, especially the dry mixes, we learned that this is not uncommon in the region but it did set the bar high. The service was excellent and the food was very good value for what we had. We massively over ordered as a result but came away with nothing but positive reflections on the visit. Highly recommended.

_Disappointing Experience_ We walked in for lunch We ordered biriyani expecting a quick service, but it took 45-50 minutes to arrive. The server claimed it would serve 2 people, so we ordered 2 plates for 4(2 kids) of us. However, the quantity was extremely small, barely enough for 1 person. The price was exorbitant, ₹1415 including tax for 2 plates. The biriyani itself was unimpressive. *Note:* For a single chicken biriyani priced at ₹600, I expected a minimum level of quality and quantity. Unfortunately, the experience fell far short of my expectations, and I felt very bad about the value for money. Overall, a disappointing experience with poor value for money. _1/5

Nice hotel and good service but for the price, expected more ambience for a historical building. There was a pool available but it was directly behind the reception, which made it feel more like a water feature. The staff were very professional, helpful and friendly but the morning breakfast service was a bit slow. We had dinner at the hotel and the food was good but again, the service was a bit slow. However overall we did enjoy our time there.

Had gone for dinner tonight.The food was good but the service was atrocious . Ordered beer but the waiter says beer glass not available and just brought the bottle .When my husband refused the same , the beer glass was brought after some time! Half the items in beer and wine list were unavailable !Asked for a plate when the salad was served which was brought very reluctantly ! At the end of the meal when we asked for finger bowls was told they don’t have them!When charging 5 star prices please ensure that service is also 5 star level