KTDC Samudra — Hotel in Kerala

We visited Kovalam while staying in the Hotel Samudra KTDC adjacent to Samudra Beach for 3 days during the 1st week of September 2023. We booked one room directly, with the cordial cooperation of the lady receptionist. One side of the hotel was under renovation, and that was communicated to us before booking. So we were allotted a cosy Seaview room on the first floor, as we desired. All necessary utility items—a comfortable bed and minimum furniture—that two people may need were arranged accordingly. We found that everyday cleaning of the room, toilet, and making beds with fresh bedsheets and pillow covers were mandatory. Perhaps these are examples of KTDC hotels in Kerala, as we witnessed the same practice in Munnar too.||The main attraction of this hotel was the balcony attached to each room. The Samudra Beach was literally a stone's throw away from our room. It was a divine pleasure sitting on the armed chair on the balcony to witness the dance of waves. We walked in the sea-facing beautiful garden in the morning. Guards were ready to help us if necessary. ||Since the dining hall was at a distance from our room and it was difficult to get there due to ongoing renovation work, we preferred room service for lunch and dinner. We enjoyed the tasteful food at a moderate rate. They sent us the dishes and cutlery sets with hygienic covers. Room service officials were very courteous. However, we went to the dining hall for breakfast. It was specious and clean. A variety of foods were available for self-service. ||Though there's a language problem with the boys in the hotel, they managed the communication with their polite behaviour, wearing sweet smiles on their lips. Here, I would especially mention the cordial behaviour of Abhilash, who extended all possible cooperation to us.||Kovalam Beach was 1.5 km from our hotel, and autorickshaws were always available at the gate. We have visited Kovalam Beach, Lighthouse Beach, and another seabeach ( I can't recollect the local name of the Beach) at 3.5 km from hotel to see the sunset. And this Beach was what we liked most because of its broad view and golden sand. We did marketing too from one government undertaking shop.| |Lady Receptionist Ashwatha arranged airport drop-off at a rate of one-third the cost, as quoted by MakeMyTrip. Her sincere and courteous behaviour really moved us.||In fine, our stay at the Hotel Samudra KTDC was pleasant, and the experience...

Beautiful location, but run-down and uncared for by the management.

The staff are all very friendly and the rooms are cleaned well and the grounds well maintained, but there is no effort put into making this hotel attractive to tourists.

Although the grounds are well watered and beautiful we noticed empty beer bottles around on our first morning and they were still there the next day too.

There's nowhere to sit comfortably, talk to other guests and have a drink, whether this be tea, coffee, non-alchoholic cocktails, soft drinks or beer/wine.

In the restaurant, there are no menus on display and the staff have to search when asked for one. When the menu arrives it looks as if it's several years old, dog-eared and tatty.

The curry I chose was acceptable, but nowhere near as good as ones I have eaten at the excellent restaurants within a few meters of the hotel gates, my wife's chicken Kiev was appalling. The coating was burnt, there was no evidence of garlic or butter, it was served with chips rather than the advertised mashed potatoes and with over cooked frozen vegetables.

In the room, I have to say, the bed is very comfortable, the sheets and towels are changed daily, but are of varying quantity, some old and discoloured, some pristine and white. However there was an electric socket which sparked and smoked when used and tiles in the bathroom were cracked and damaged, with dirty grout. The socket was replaced rapidly when I pointed it out.

I feel that the staff are doing an excellent job, but maybe with limited resources, with a little investment, this hotel could be brought up to scratch.

This hotel is run by KTDC - the Keralan State Tourism & Development Corporation, they should be ashamed to allow such a beautiful property in such an idilic situation represent their hopes for...

We stayed here in October, 2019. Located beside the Samudra beach in Kovalam, the Kerala Tourism Development Corporation owned Hotel Samudra has awesome scenic beauty all around. The rooms are spacious. The ambience of the location is the major attraction of this place. The landscaping is amazing having lot of greenery and trees with the ocean in the background, "picture-perfect".

Free Wi-Fi: On check-in, we were provided with Wi-Fi username and password with limited data usage (1GB data for 3 days). That was useless and the connectivity was unstable. Either you provide unlimited Wi-Fi or don’t provide at all.

Food: They serve vegetarian and non- vegetarian dishes. Food was disappointing here. First day, there was no option for "a la carte" in the dinner. Only option was buffet which wasn't worth the value (Rs.690/- + tax). Breakfast was complementary. Overall, food in this hotel’s restaurant was average and expensive.

Beach: From the pictures of this hotel available on the Internet, it seemed to have a private beach. However, when we went there, we found that the private beach was not accessible and marked as dangerous due to under currents. So, that was a great disappointment for us. We couldn't enjoy bathing in the sea. To enjoy beach activities, one has to book a hotel near Kovalam beach or Lighthouse beach.

Pool: This hotel has swimming pools for both adults as well as kids. Strict dress-code is maintained - both adults and kids are allowed only in swim suits. The swimming pool can be used between 7 am and 7 pm. The temperature of the pool seemed to be maintained. There is a shower adjacent to the pool. We could not enjoy the beach activities here but the kids enjoyed the pool to some satisfaction.

Overall the behaviour of the...