Resort

As you get off the boat, you will be greeted by a giant, tent-like structure that is our reception. It is made completely out of thatched coconut leaves on the outside supported by wooden frames on the inside. Metal columns support 2 bridges that take you to the restaurant and to the roof of your rooms. The view from the bridges and the construction of the entire structure is designed to be awe-inspiring.

We traveled across 8 states until we found a perfect slice of heaven near Alleppey/Alappuzha, Kerala.

The U shaped block of 10.4-acres (44,000 sq mtr) is part of a 350-acre island in Lake Vembanad. The island is inhabitated by a small community of rice farmers who have a unique methodology of growing rice on land below sea level.

We have 300 meters of water frontage on Lake Vembanad near Alleppey/Alappuzha. Our location on the eastern side of Lake Vembanad ensures that we get a beautiful cool, calm and steady breeze from the lake that stirs up a musical orchestra with the coconut and banana trees on site. It also makes it a perfect destination for wind-water sports such as windsurfing and sailing.

A giant thatched tent-like structure, a restaurant and two double storied, bamboo cottages line the waterfront and are connected by an overhead walkway to be able to enjoy unrestricted views of the seemingly endless water and rice fields.

The roof of each cottage is a recreational area with the perfect space to get a sun-tan, chill out and catch up on all your reading.

In the upper rooms you can wake up every morning to a view of wind-swept paddy fields on one side and the tranquil, calm waters of lake Vembanad on the other.

There are 4 bed dorms on the lower floors with an attached toilet and 8 bed dorms on the upper level with shared toilets downstairs. All bathrooms have hot water showers

Each person has their own personal lockable space for valuables (bring your own lock for your personal piece of mind) and plug points to charge them god-damn-city-slicker devices that you just have to have even on your getaway from it all holidays.

Our vision was to build something with natural materials that blends into the unique environment of big open spaces comprising paddy fields, coconut trees and a really big lake. The design for this resort incorporates bamboo as the chief building material. The floors, ceilings, walls and most of the furniture have been made entirely out of bamboo.

Instead of a raft foundation that would be concrete-heavy we dug in 4.5m of coconut in to the ground. Extensive use of coconut logs was made in constructing the foundation.

The views get better with height and we wanted to maximise this so we chose a flat roof structure that would double up as recreational space (think yoga, sunbathing, chill out). The moving (live) weight added to the structural requirement and all the columns and beams were built with concrete, metal and bricks. For the rest – walls, floors, ceilings we used bamboo. Because it would be exposed to harsh sun, rain and pests in a farm environment we had to give it the right treatment.

Istay has been the vision of Kris Kumar, an entrepreneur who lives in Sydney, Australia. After a long career as a Marine Engineer, traveling the high seas around the globe, Kris has conceptualised and commercialised many new ventures in the infrastructure space. He owned an operated a 350-bed backpacker hostel in Sydney. When lease rental on office blocks was low and vacancy was high, he came upon an idea to renovate 4 levels of a commercial office block in the CBD and convert them in to a backpacker hostel. 3 weeks later with A$3 million he had raised in private equity, he took possession of the property and was the first in the Australia to use an office block for an inner-city hostel.

Having business interests in India, the temptation to start a backpacker hostel unlike anything seen in India before, was quite strong. So, in June 2005, when he saw a 10 acre rice field on the edge of a huge lake, he said 'I'll give it a go!”

Bob Phillips who has now traded up from backpacking to managing business interests in 3 states across India. Bob has been crucial in negotiating with the government, contractors and keeping the project on track. He continues to explore the luxury end of hotels internationally and brings with him a high sense of quality of service and delivery.

Manu Sood, well, someone had to do the donkey work. So Kris pulled him out of his consulting assignments in Sydney and sent him with a one way ticket to India to look for property and get the resort built.

There have been various travelers who have made invaluable contributions during their short visits to Kerala that have helped us shape our offering. Adrian (Canada) pioneered the overnight kayak trips, Stephanie (US) discovered new routes for those taking houseboat trips, Chandran & Mahindan with T-shirt design etc

It has been a long journey that has been embarked on and one that will hopefully bring a soul-satisfying experience to travelers who visit Kerala.