TLDR : Did a 3N stay at Le Meridien - Kochi with 3 adults + 1 toddler and it was amazing ! Hospitality was out of this world.
Prequel :
I recently made my first Marriott Bonvoy redemption. It was planned months ahead and i managed to book 2 rooms at Artiste kochi for 3N with just 33k points + FNA for one ( 2 adults + 1 toddler) and 49k for the second ( 1 adult) . Cash cost came out to 66k per room so it was a steal deal.
Exactly 1 week before trip, when i was checking everything just to ensure nothing has changed ( since my flight to preponed, i was cross-checking everything) , i saw that the prices and points value dipped like crazy. Cash cost was now 36k and points cost at 38k. I Thought of modifying the booking but a Malayalee friend of mine who has visited all Marriot properties at kochi and is Ambassador Elite said to instead have a look at Le Meridien. His exact words were " If you are gonna do Marriot at Kochi, Le Meridien is the best. A bit outdated but still superb property " . It was showing 42k cash booking and 60k points but the room had Lounge access. I asked wifey and she was like " Mall hotel vs a backwater hotel? 100% yes for Le meridein". He also suggested to book a single room with 3 adults since the baby was not even 1 year old.
So i cancelled Artiste and rebooked 1 room for 60k MR - Club Level Guest room, 1 King, City view.
Chat option opened 2 days before trip - i requested for early check-in at 11am and asked for status on the rollaway bed. Both were accepted and confirmed.
The Check-in Experience : 5/5
Flight arrived very early, and the Avis transfer was also faster than i imagined. So we ended up reaching the hotel at 9.45 am 🤣. They were like " Room is ready right now" Which was an actual shock. 9.45 am early check-in.
To add to that, they gave upgrade to Backwater view with balcony room and also gave all 3 of us complimentary breakfast without even requesting. Wifey was the happiest person alive and i knew i just earned extra marks in her good books for the forceable future 😎.
BTW they gave us the room on the 5th floor, topmost floor. Felt awesome !
P.S The Marriot gold elite came in clutch ( Special thanks to IYKYK).
The Room review : 4/5 ( Balcony and the crazy good bathroom scored excess points , along with the comfy rollaway bed)
Room size was okayish. Taj Fisherman's cove felt bigger in size compared to this . But this had a beautiful bath tab, a shower zone , spacious enough for the rollaway bed and a beautiful balcony.
My kid, wife and my MIL spent quite a bit of time at night and early morning enjoying this.
Room pics : ( Sorry for the shabby photos, forgot to take when we got into the room)
Pros : Had a mini fridge ( surprisingly it wasnt stocked at all, have never seen that before ) , Kettle, Ironing table , locker, sandals i.e usual stuff along with a hell lot of drawers and ample wardrobe space. The Beds were actually quite high but really comfortable. The Rollaway bed was lower to the ground and so nice to sleep in. Lots of 10 rs water bottle and i mean lots ! They kept giving us bottle after bottle, at one point we had like 11 bottles XD.
Cons : Dental kit and other amenties were like cheap colgate stuff ( im comparing this to Taj so maybe thats why it felt cheap ) , no bathrobes .
Got a welcome message with a slice of cake . The Cake was not at all yummy btw.
The Dining / Food review : 4/5 ( the spread and the amazing hospitality won us over)
They have 2 major restaurants - Latest Recipe & Meen by Chef Pillai. We only visited Latest Recipe (Complimentary breakfast was also served here from 6.30 to 10 am ).
Both these are available on EazyDiner with Latest recipe giving 50% discount for buffet while the other one only had card discounts.
I booked lunch for the 3 of us via ED, final bill came out to 2200 which felt great.
Their spread was amazing ! South Indian, North Indian, Continental, salads, cut fruits and veggies, desserts, various kinds of bread, congee, live counter that served appam ( Lunch) or waffles/pancakes ( Breakfast) , fresh dosas to order , eggs any way we want, filter coffee , juices, and fresh juices to order as well.
Taste wise, almost everything felt yummy. Desserts were top notch, marshmallow was yummy, pancakes were amazing ! But, i did see stuff like Vada being made with really fermented batter which left a bad aftertaste, Potatos always had skin on them when fried which led to a really bad sour taste, them not knowing how to make a good cup of black tea or lemon tea , kerala parotta wasnt soft and fluffy etc. These are small small gripes. We even got a kid seat for the little mario and it wasnt that clean.
The highlight was the hospitality though. It was out of this world. Constant attention, constant follow-up, special care and attention to the baby, the warm smiles, ready to do attitude. Honestly this won all of us over. It felt so good. We actually felt wanted, not some fake acting sort of feel.
The chef came and asked whether the baby needs some mashed food or fruits, we requested fruits and he personally brought a plate of cut papaya that little mario loved.
On the last day, they even packed us bananas and freshly cut pineapple for the baby . It was such a nice gesture. They also on multiple occasions asked if we needed food to go, for the baby to eat in the room. So nice.
The Lounge & outside view : 3.5/5 ( Swimming pool and scenery won it, lounge was just bad)
I visited lounge on all 3 days and honestly, it was a let down. I know its for snacking and drinks , just a chilling spot, but still. Access time is 6-8, staff were so amazing and hospitable.
It had cut fruits, 2 or 3 deserts, few starters, 2 sandwiches , various bottled juices, coffee and drinks. It felt obvious that the cooked food was mostly from the restaurants , prepared for lunch maybe. On one instance, the Creamy corn sandwich i had felt off, both smell and taste. I let the staff know and they removed the whole tray. It was a good spot to just relax, but honestly since we got it as part of room, we were still happy. After a day of roaming the city, its Free food you know 🤣
BTW outside my room, they had this huge glass pane for an outside view and it was awesome. It also gave us an idea of what the original "city view" might look like. Thank god we got an upgrade.
The Swimming pool was so well maintained, and the temperature was perfect. There is a really good walking scenery and one can get as close to the backwaters as possible which felt amazing. They even had a kids play area that was well maintained. Some pics for reference.
The Overall Rating : 4.5/5
They gave us a slice of Chocolate cake as send-off . It was so so so damn yummy. And when we almost exited, another person came and gave one more slice of send-off cake ! And this was a 3 layer coffee cake. God it felt amazing.
BTW, my little mario broke a water glass and they dint even charge anything for it. First time experience, so i dont know if this is usual.
The hospitality, scenery and room upgrade made this the most memorable trip we have had ever. Compared to Taj, it felt less luxurious but the hospitality, oh my god, out of this world. My MIL's words were " i might forget the locations we visited but im never forgetting those smiling ladies and their sweet faces. " My friend was right, it was dated but such a beautiful property. Im 100% visiting again.
Prequel :
I recently made my first Marriott Bonvoy redemption. It was planned months ahead and i managed to book 2 rooms at Artiste kochi for 3N with just 33k points + FNA for one ( 2 adults + 1 toddler) and 49k for the second ( 1 adult) . Cash cost came out to 66k per room so it was a steal deal.
Exactly 1 week before trip, when i was checking everything just to ensure nothing has changed ( since my flight to preponed, i was cross-checking everything) , i saw that the prices and points value dipped like crazy. Cash cost was now 36k and points cost at 38k. I Thought of modifying the booking but a Malayalee friend of mine who has visited all Marriot properties at kochi and is Ambassador Elite said to instead have a look at Le Meridien. His exact words were " If you are gonna do Marriot at Kochi, Le Meridien is the best. A bit outdated but still superb property " . It was showing 42k cash booking and 60k points but the room had Lounge access. I asked wifey and she was like " Mall hotel vs a backwater hotel? 100% yes for Le meridein". He also suggested to book a single room with 3 adults since the baby was not even 1 year old.
So i cancelled Artiste and rebooked 1 room for 60k MR - Club Level Guest room, 1 King, City view.
Chat option opened 2 days before trip - i requested for early check-in at 11am and asked for status on the rollaway bed. Both were accepted and confirmed.
The Check-in Experience : 5/5
Flight arrived very early, and the Avis transfer was also faster than i imagined. So we ended up reaching the hotel at 9.45 am 🤣. They were like " Room is ready right now" Which was an actual shock. 9.45 am early check-in.
To add to that, they gave upgrade to Backwater view with balcony room and also gave all 3 of us complimentary breakfast without even requesting. Wifey was the happiest person alive and i knew i just earned extra marks in her good books for the forceable future 😎.
BTW they gave us the room on the 5th floor, topmost floor. Felt awesome !
P.S The Marriot gold elite came in clutch ( Special thanks to IYKYK).
The Room review : 4/5 ( Balcony and the crazy good bathroom scored excess points , along with the comfy rollaway bed)
Room size was okayish. Taj Fisherman's cove felt bigger in size compared to this . But this had a beautiful bath tab, a shower zone , spacious enough for the rollaway bed and a beautiful balcony.
My kid, wife and my MIL spent quite a bit of time at night and early morning enjoying this.
Room pics : ( Sorry for the shabby photos, forgot to take when we got into the room)
Pros : Had a mini fridge ( surprisingly it wasnt stocked at all, have never seen that before ) , Kettle, Ironing table , locker, sandals i.e usual stuff along with a hell lot of drawers and ample wardrobe space. The Beds were actually quite high but really comfortable. The Rollaway bed was lower to the ground and so nice to sleep in. Lots of 10 rs water bottle and i mean lots ! They kept giving us bottle after bottle, at one point we had like 11 bottles XD.
Cons : Dental kit and other amenties were like cheap colgate stuff ( im comparing this to Taj so maybe thats why it felt cheap ) , no bathrobes .
Got a welcome message with a slice of cake . The Cake was not at all yummy btw.
The Dining / Food review : 4/5 ( the spread and the amazing hospitality won us over)
They have 2 major restaurants - Latest Recipe & Meen by Chef Pillai. We only visited Latest Recipe (Complimentary breakfast was also served here from 6.30 to 10 am ).
Both these are available on EazyDiner with Latest recipe giving 50% discount for buffet while the other one only had card discounts.
I booked lunch for the 3 of us via ED, final bill came out to 2200 which felt great.
Their spread was amazing ! South Indian, North Indian, Continental, salads, cut fruits and veggies, desserts, various kinds of bread, congee, live counter that served appam ( Lunch) or waffles/pancakes ( Breakfast) , fresh dosas to order , eggs any way we want, filter coffee , juices, and fresh juices to order as well.
Taste wise, almost everything felt yummy. Desserts were top notch, marshmallow was yummy, pancakes were amazing ! But, i did see stuff like Vada being made with really fermented batter which left a bad aftertaste, Potatos always had skin on them when fried which led to a really bad sour taste, them not knowing how to make a good cup of black tea or lemon tea , kerala parotta wasnt soft and fluffy etc. These are small small gripes. We even got a kid seat for the little mario and it wasnt that clean.
The highlight was the hospitality though. It was out of this world. Constant attention, constant follow-up, special care and attention to the baby, the warm smiles, ready to do attitude. Honestly this won all of us over. It felt so good. We actually felt wanted, not some fake acting sort of feel.
The chef came and asked whether the baby needs some mashed food or fruits, we requested fruits and he personally brought a plate of cut papaya that little mario loved.
On the last day, they even packed us bananas and freshly cut pineapple for the baby . It was such a nice gesture. They also on multiple occasions asked if we needed food to go, for the baby to eat in the room. So nice.
The Lounge & outside view : 3.5/5 ( Swimming pool and scenery won it, lounge was just bad)
I visited lounge on all 3 days and honestly, it was a let down. I know its for snacking and drinks , just a chilling spot, but still. Access time is 6-8, staff were so amazing and hospitable.
It had cut fruits, 2 or 3 deserts, few starters, 2 sandwiches , various bottled juices, coffee and drinks. It felt obvious that the cooked food was mostly from the restaurants , prepared for lunch maybe. On one instance, the Creamy corn sandwich i had felt off, both smell and taste. I let the staff know and they removed the whole tray. It was a good spot to just relax, but honestly since we got it as part of room, we were still happy. After a day of roaming the city, its Free food you know 🤣
BTW outside my room, they had this huge glass pane for an outside view and it was awesome. It also gave us an idea of what the original "city view" might look like. Thank god we got an upgrade.
The Swimming pool was so well maintained, and the temperature was perfect. There is a really good walking scenery and one can get as close to the backwaters as possible which felt amazing. They even had a kids play area that was well maintained. Some pics for reference.
The Overall Rating : 4.5/5
They gave us a slice of Chocolate cake as send-off . It was so so so damn yummy. And when we almost exited, another person came and gave one more slice of send-off cake ! And this was a 3 layer coffee cake. God it felt amazing.
BTW, my little mario broke a water glass and they dint even charge anything for it. First time experience, so i dont know if this is usual.
The hospitality, scenery and room upgrade made this the most memorable trip we have had ever. Compared to Taj, it felt less luxurious but the hospitality, oh my god, out of this world. My MIL's words were " i might forget the locations we visited but im never forgetting those smiling ladies and their sweet faces. " My friend was right, it was dated but such a beautiful property. Im 100% visiting again.
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