Marina Guest House

Be warned, if you book a room at Marina Guest House, the management can not be relied upon to hold that booking. The place itself is perfectly fine, and we have stayed here previously and found it an excellent guest house - not having been allowed to stay here this time, I can't confirm it retains the previous quality. Knowing that January is a high season in Kovalam, we took the trouble to book a room at Marina eight months ahead. They confirmed the booking, and we assumed we could trust them. One month before arrival, I emailed to reconfirm - after the second email I had to send, they informed me they had given our room to another guest. On this trip, we have stayed in many accommodations, almost all booked eight months ahead, and this was the only booking to let us down. Now, the problem is, I know Marina has been guilty of this practice before. When we stayed here four years ago, I was surprised to find numerous comments about this on TripAdvisor. Oddly, those reviews have mysteriously disappeared now. But even when we were staying at Marina, we witnessed some people turn up only to be told their booking was no longer available. I found this a bit troubling last visit, but now it has happened to us, I feel it only responsible of me to warn others, that you should be very careful about booking with the management of Marina. They cannot be trusted to hold your room.

We stayed 4 days at marina guesthouse in Kovalam, we were in the bottom floor and the room was clean and spacious. This is a calm place at only 20 meters from the beach. The owner is a cool guy and you can speak easily with him.

We highly recomend this place, it is very clean, well located, 10 seconds from the beach but a little hidden behind the front street so you are not completely exposed to passages. Everything you need is near by. The atmosphere is calm and happy. You can get a room for a good price. The hosts are very nice and welcoming. We really enjoyed our stay there and will come back for next trips.

Great place to stay! We stayed here for 3 weeks. Very clean rooms, quiet and calm. Nice view and good wifi at the top floor. The manager Joy is a delight, he can also help with any travelarangement and with a a good book for the beach!

We are a couple with two children and needed one extra bed. The price was 800 INR each night with 100 for the extra bed for one week stay just before Christmas. (In Trivandrum we had payed 4300 for not much more, so this was a pleasant surprise.) The staff, Joey the manager for instance offered internet 15 minutes without charging anything. Room boy Akhill and one lady were all very friendly, the atmosphere calm and relaxed. The room was clean and the two-seater couch outside pleasant soft, nice to sit on during evenings. The beach is perhaps 20 metres away. We had a pleasant stay.