Gateway Bekal

I booked not knowing much about the place, the pictures looked nice and I felt that it would be a good way to spend a couple of relaxed days with my parents while on a visit home. The property is situated in a very beautiful calm, region of Bekal with beautiful backwaters, lake and a far sight of the ocean you can glance at during the leisure walks. We stayed in the main building and opted to not take the independent huts overlooking the backwaters as my parents are aged and my priority was to limit the distance they needed to walk or travel (they have buggy service from the huts) to get to the dining areas. The rooms were spacious and well equipped. Beds were comfy and I had all the amenities I would need. The room rates came with buffet breakfast and I would say that they had a good spread of options to take from the buffet or order at the table to be made fresh. They are still new and so the facilities are still getting built, but overall they have a great pool, an indoor play area with Ping Pong and Pool Table. Chess and Uno Cards for those who are interested. Kayaking and boat cruises were also on offer, but I didn't partake. The staff were very pleasant to interact with, and helpful.

It was late November, but still quite hot and so I couldn't really enjoy the outdoor facilities the resort offers. I guess its Kerala, and so I would expect that the resort will need to invest in ways in which they can actually help the guests use the outdoor facilities they have created. They will need to figure out if that is in ways of extending overhead covers for the outdoor areas or installing misters so that you don't feel your skin is being peeled away when outdoors. The same with the internal room temperature control. The air conditioning couldn't handle the heat coming in from the huge glass facades that the rooms have which give it a great view from inside but makes handling the comfort inside the room a bit hard to manage.

Excellent breakfast spread. Excellent food and service. Very courteous and took extra care to go to each guest and ask if they needed anything.

Parking should be covered. At the time of check-out, my car was sizzling hot due to the harsh sun. Air inside the car was supremely hot.

Overall a great property with wonderful facilities. Good view of the river with enough activities to choose from. The staff was genuinely helpful at all times.The breakfast spread and food was good too. Also not far from the Bekal Fort and Beach.

Our cottage had significant leakage after a bout of heavy rain. Though the staff handled it commendably well in the middle of the night.

The food

The location

I stayed at Gateway Bekal for 3 nights as a solo traveler, and overall it was a very pleasant experience. The property is quiet, spacious and feels peaceful, with lots of greenery around. My room was clean, comfortable and well maintained. The staff were genuinely kind and attentive. The biggest plus for me was how incredibly helpful they were with my onward travel. They supported me in planning my next steps, helped me with my train booking, and even arranged a ride to the railway station. This took a lot of stress out of the process, especially since navigating Indian train bookings can be confusing when you're on the road.

GOOD LOCATION NEAR TO BACKWATERS , GREAT BREAKFAST

NOTHING

it was very good good spread lot of varieties and tasty too with good live counters with staff being very courteous and extremely hospitable.

probably arranging cabs and some taxi service

The staffs friendly they really to care of us. They kept checkings if things are okay with us. Durga who attended throughout, was very friendly ensured hospitality was top notch, Restaurant was good, staffs there were really great and made sure we are served with whatever we like to.

You can have more activites, night was dark near the pool, lights were turned off.