Le Linda Homestay

Very quiet and peaceful surroundings (by indian standards). Gorgeous home made food! The rooms are simple but very clean. Linda can arrange a tour (10 days) including massage and house boat on the backwaters. The homestay is at the moment in Mckenzie gardens area and should move out to Vely junction in about a year (into a brand new house).

we had a warm welcoming stay at Lindas homestay.Linda is a wonderful contact for travellers.She organized for us a fantastic trip to Muunar and the backwaters accompanied by the AMAZING driver and guide Nayab.

My husband surprised me by organizing my maiden trip to India with homestays. He chose Kerala as a gentle introduction to India. Months before our departure he had already identified Le Linda Homestay as our starting point of reference. We decided to spend 10 days on our Kerala adventure. We arrived at Le Linda's at 2am having been met at the airport by Nathan, a Cargill & patient driver arranged by our super host, Linda. If it's your first time to Kochi, the advantages of staying at Le Linda's are: 1) LOCATION - Linda's home is within walking distance of most of the major sites e.g. St Francis Church, Santa Cruz Basilica, Indo-Portuguese Museum, Dutch Cemetery, Naval Museum, Chinese Fishing nets, Princess Street and lovely eateries on Rose Street. We enjoy walking as that's the best way of absorbing local vibes and from Linda's we easily walked to Dhobi Khana, Jain Temple, St George Orthodox Koonan Kurishu Syrian Church, ferry terminal to Ernakulam, bus terminal to the airport & Lulu Mall and Kathakali Dance Performance centre. Tuk tuks/auto rickshaws are also easily available from Linda's to visit Jew Town, Mattancherry Palace & Paradesi Synagogue. 2) LINDA'S KNOWLEDGE & WILLINGNESS TO SHARE - Linda is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to what Kerala has to offer. She arranged for our very enjoyable & fulfilling 5 day trip to Munnar (a hill station famous for its tea plantations & spice gardens), Thekkady (renowned for Periyar Wildlife Reserve where you'll be able to see animals & birds at close range) and Kumarakom (houseboat stay on Lake Vembanad). Linda has 9 years experience in managing homestays and has built up good contacts with other homestays throughout Kerala. Her bubbly & enthusiastic personality has endeared her to her houseguests who are more than willing to share their experiences with her. She in turn is very generous & helpful; when time permits she'll personally bring you to hunt for things on your To Buy List, introduce you to her 2 hour tailoring service, give you a Cooking Class on whichever Keralan dish you fancy, grind & mix her special Garam Masala on request, cook the most delicious meals for you. 3) COOKING - Linda's cooking is done with love & passion; her love of cooking and her passion to please the palettes of her guests. Her cooking skills show through the varied & wonderful tastes of her dishes; be they meats, seafood or vegetarian. Your request is her command! Linda is always eager to share her cooking skills, recipes & knowledge of Keralan cuisine with whoever is keen to learn. 4) HER HOME - Linda's homestay is simple but very clean. Most rooms are with en-suite bathrooms and have individual balcony or shared sitting areas. The room was very comfortable with a fan & aircon, thoughtful touches like hangers in the cupboard, hooked rail for clothes, mirrored dressing table with a chair and the bathroom had powerful hot water showers, long towel rail & a neat mirror with a shelf for toothbrushes & other toiletries. Thank you very much, Linda for your hospitality, warmth & enthusiasm.....it made my first trip to India a most memorable experience! Barry & I would like to wish you the very best in your new homestay which we hope to experience one day soon. Thank you too to your helpful husband, Thomas & pleasant son, Jibby for making our stay so comfortable!

Linda is really nice, considerable and super host. We arrived late as our flight from KL was delayed. Linda waited for us and cooked a really authentic dinner for us at 11PM. It just felt like a home away from home. The breakfast next morning was even more delicious. My youngest son is a fussy eater. He loved the idyappam and egg curry. Location is central and walking distance to main attractions. Accomodation is nice and clean. Linda's local tips were also really handy and she organised a backwater 6-hr lunch boat ride for us. Highly recommend Le Linda's stay if you are visiting Kochi.

Linda is a great host, she was helpful and friendly and really made us feel at home. Her home is in a great location for exploring Fort Kochi. She gave us a great introduction to Fort Kochi and explained all the things she could help arrange - but we didn't feel pressured into doing anything. She offered dinner but we wanted to explore the area so didn't try it. When we got back from our meal our room and bathroom was full of mosquitoes. We asked Linda if she had anything that would help and she had everything! 20 minutes later, all the mosquitoes were gone, we had a net up and we didn't get a single bite between us, amazing! The next morning we had breakfast which was delicious - idli, sambar and fruit tea. Linda organised a taxi tour of Fort Kochi at a reasonable price. We really wish we'd had longer to stay here and enjoy Linda's homestay, as well as try some of her food and cooking class!