Hotel Name: Marari Beach Resort, Alleppey

The village of Mararikulam is tucked away behind a line of dense palms that rise like a sudden rampart of green out of the sands. Like all villages, it has evolved naturally, in 'picturesque disorder'. The huts are slapdash adobe, thatched with palm and tied with coir or coconut rope. Neat and scrupulously clean footpaths veer between the huts; while everywhere, the pungent scents of the sea mingle with the fragrance of coconut, oil and spice.