Seashore Residency

The location is great, right in the middle of everything to experience in Kochi. Walk out, turn left, and you're in a world of hectic beauty. The Teapot café is almost next door and has incredible cakes. My room stayed quiet around the clock and dark all day, which helped me sleep, but it was windowless and gloomy, with just one exposed fluorescent bulb dangling from the ceiling. It also made oversleeping irresistably easy. There were a lot of problems in the room. The fan had to be fully on, which was intense at night, or completely off. Any of the middle settings made a horrible buzzing noise. Only one of the two plugs worked; the other was old and loose, so a plug wouldn't stay in. Free wi-fi is available, but I couldn't get it in my room. I used my phone data instead, which wasn't a problem in the end, and could get online in the lobby if I really needed to. On my second day, the water pressure in the bathroom stopped and hadn't returned by that evening. I told staff. They did something upstairs with the water tank and asked me to wait 5-minutes. Five hours later, still nothing. There's an unofficial curfew because the front doors are locked around 10:00 pm. A staff member sleeps in the lobby, so leaving means disturbing him. He locks up behind you, then falls asleep again. Since he's a heavy sleeper, he won't hear you knocking when you come back. After 20-minutes, another guest had to come down and let me in. The staff are friendly, but not helpful. Their English isn't very goot, and if you don't know Hindi, there's an unbridgeable language barrier. Laundry is offered, but there's a ten-item minimum. I'd suggest a laundrette instead, perhaps Snowhite or Chinnu, both very close. A tolerable last resort, but there are better options at a similar price. Look around and book ahead.