Alleppey Backwaters Boating — Local services in Karalakom

I booked a shikara, type boat from this people, the contact person name was Baiju. The parking was the side of a house from where we had to walk 300m. There were only 4 chairs and two divan on the boat. So I asked them to put more chairs. There were no gates at the entry. I have a 2 year old kid. So when I asked them for the gates, he told me he cannot look after my kid🙏 There were only 2 life jackets for 12 of us. When I told him he said he has 25 life jackets at his home. There was no music system. There were no fans. There are no safety grills either side of the boat.

I was still ready to go with him if he made the basic arrangements. But he was just showing his attitude and telling me that he waited 45 min extra for me, causing loss to him. According to him you should stay happy with whatever he gives and pay him whatever he asks, and not make fuss about silly things like safety. I wish him the best running a business with that attitude. Still giving two stars because he claims he has better boats to offer, and I hope mine is an odd incident. I rode on a much better boat with all facilities and comfort at a lesser price by just asking the next guy on the lake. We really had a wonderful time, because we didn't go with him 😀 My advice if it's for day ride just go there and book a shikara...

I will give less than 1 star, if i can. Biju is very money minded person. He is cunning and deceitful. We booked a slot in morning for 6 to 10 am to watch birds and backwater with less crowd. Infact, Biju insisted that it is the best time. He said 900/ hour and with breakfast, it will amount to 4k for 4 hours. He asked me to pay 1000 in advance. Once i paid, he stopped taking my calls. He was reading all messages on whatsapp but not responding at all. It was up to a point that we felt it will not happen the next day and he may be a fraud. We have to go to his place to get our money back. He called at 11 pm in night to share location where boat driver will pick us up. Due to this, we got late in morning and reached by 6.45 am as there was less conveyance available. We missed sunrise in backwaters. During the boatride, Biju called that we have to give 1200/ hour as he is only middlemen and boat belongs to another person. I had to continuously work with him that he committed 900/ hour. He asked me to pay 500 for delay in morning as well. I had to fight with him during the ride. They did not even provide as breakfast. I paid only 900/ hour and 200 for delay (for my peace of mind)....

Stayed at their "Pheonix" boathouse with family. Pros- prompt service from the owner Mr baiju, lunch was tasty. Cons - poorly maintained boathouse with little concern for cleanliness, the boathouse staff either don't understand English or pretend to not understand it ( the latter seems more likely with their behaviour). Lunch menu was changed and their reasoning is lame. Riding through backwaters is a joke as their "route" doesn't pass through anything meaningful ( have done boathouse stays before with other packages and the experience there was very good). Morning ride was exactly for 15 minutes!! Avoid getting looted at the evening halt where they try to make you buy seafood and they'll prepare for dinner, you can have better seafood at much cheaper price at any restaurant later. Overall I would definitely not recommend a stay at this boathouse. This was the only disappointment in the entire...