Whistling Thrush Bungalow - Guest house in Nelliampathi - Palakkad, India

Frustrating Experience at Whistling Thrush Bungalow: Our anticipated stay at Whistling Thrush Bungalow turned into a disappointing ordeal, primarily due to the conduct of Mr. John George (the property owner) and Mr. Pillai (the caretaker). We had made a reservation for a group of 12, which included families with small children, almost four days prior to our arrival. We paid the advance as per the policy and looked forward to a pleasant getaway. However, upon reaching the vicinity of the bungalow, we received a call from Mr. John George, informing us that our accommodation couldn't be honored. He cited an unexpected influx of guests who had booked through MakeMyTrip and were given precedence, leaving us in a predicament. What was particularly disheartening was that just the night before, we had a discussion with Mr. Pillai regarding our food preferences and other requirements. This sudden change of plans and lack of consideration for our prior arrangements left us not only frustrated but also stranded without an alternative. Furthermore, it was deeply disappointing to learn that there was no effort made to arrange an alternative stay for us. This lack of initiative and empathy towards our inconvenience was the final straw in our experience. I feel compelled to share this account to spare fellow travelers from similar inconveniences. I strongly advise against considering Whistling Thrush Bungalow for your stay, as their management seems incapable of handling bookings and prioritizing customer satisfaction.

Allocating Bungalow to multiple teams!! One will win, and others will have to search for other locations at the last minute...

Yoooooo ; We The Friends From Hosur , Tamilnadu.. We particularly wanted to put a Review About This property Cz It deserve it .. We The Friends From Childhood, We Always travel together every where as ONE ..We Have Been To So Many Places And stayed In Every Kind Of Places ,By Heart This Is Our First Review We Are Posting For a Place How They Maintained And Organised And Treated Us Like Their Own Family Guest, The Property Which We Stayed Was Extremely Awesome For A Stay , The early Morning whispering Sounds Still I can Hear ..It Was So Quite And Classy .. Two Aunties who fed us The best HOME Food , They served variety Of Foods cooked with Whole heart , The taste was so Yummy And Healthy.. Every Food is Cooked With Coconut Oil which are healthy and tasty than a olive oil .. we Don't Hve a Single Negativity From Their side .. The caretaker SIR KRISHNA PILLAI Looks Old But his Dedication and The knowledge for his work is Appreciated.. He single handedly Maintains about For about 400 acres .. Hats Off To You Sir .. We planned To travel To Goa for this 2023 Newyear , But we changed our plan to stay again in the same Property, Which makes what we feel is , This place is better Than Goa who loves to be stay in peace .. This property is Not Only for adults or bachelors, Even Family along with kids can can come and stay and it's purely safe ...

We had no idea about the town nor the place and we were pleasantly surprised by the whole arrangement be it the house which was well maintained, the food cooked by the staff. Very tasty and made to order on request. The manager was very very friendly and courteous. The place was very peaceful and excellent location faaar away from the maddening crowd. Loved the stay and the food.

We were 3 families who stayed for 3 nights from 23rd to 26th Dec with kids. The bungalow was well maintained and the property itself was inside a beautiful estate. But these were the only positives. Our stay was totally spoiled by pathetic sickness causing food and indifferent attitude of the caretaker towards the same. We were informed that dinner/lunch will be charged at 200 per person and breakfast at 150 per person. We readily accepted for this at the time of booking even though it was on the higher side. But what we didn't know was that there is a single cook who doesn't stay in the property and a arrogant one at that who scoffs/comments sarcastically at any of our simple requests. The breakfast will be served earliest at 930AM and dinner will be prepared by 6PM such that we will eat cold dinner without any microwave to heat. The worst part of the food was that items made on the first day was kept in the fridge and repeated till the 3rd day. For example : Rasam, chicken. Every day food from the morning is repeated for afternoon and/or night. The curd served was too bitter and when we checked the curd packets they were more than 10 days old. 2 of the adults had food poisoning the 3rd day and my 6 year old son had food poisoning/vomit the 4th day after leaving the property. Even though we started giving feedback from 2nd day to caretaker Mr. Pillai about the food he was defending and talking about charges. One of my friends family owns a high end cottage in Ooty and a veteran in this business stayed with us in this property. He gave polite feedbacks on the food part and requested the food charges be rationalized given that fresh food was not made and old stuff was repeated. He was asked if he is bargaining after this !! In the end we still paid an exorbitant amount(5k in cash) for reused and stale food and left the property with sick family members. We have stayed in lots of homestays both cheaper and costlier than this property but never had such a bad experience on food. The owner has a lot of work to streamline the food and hospitality services at the property. Avoid this property if you are family and want to stay more than one night. EDIT 1 : In-spite of collecting 5000 Rs for stale reused food from us the owner has responded that he gave food literally free. Just goes to show how much he cares about customer feedback that he openly lies and only cares about money . EDIT 2 : 3 of the 5* reviews here are from the owner, his care taker and another from his poothundu estate ID EDIT 3: The owner is still in denial and cares a damn for feedback. Very evident from the 5 star reviews he posts through his caretaker Mr. Krishna pillai and family/friends

Had the perfect holiday with my family in this beautiful and comfortable homestay. The estate manager and staff at the Whistling Thrush were very courteous and accommodative and went out of their way to make us feel at home. Food was excellent. Will definitely visit again.

It's an unique experience staying here which we won't get in a professionally run resort . Here we feel we are in our own estate house with home made food and enjoying the vast nature around it . Especially walking through the coffee estate , a private dam with waterfall , coffee drying yard , temple etc with the chirping of birds . Spotting Hornbill was truly magnificent, their group gathering,singing together with great sound etc .Evenings we are regularly welcomed by sambar deers and every morning it was the whistling thrush who wakes me from my sleep making it a true Whistling Thrush Bungalow !!!!!

Wooow....superbly maintained huge bunglalow n the mid of 400acres of plantation.. U hv to be there to feel it. I am really taking time to write this because u wont find such unique property else were. Especially in a place like neliampathy wer Resorts are not maintained properly and tourism are not as high as that of idukki. First of all kudos to the manager Mr Pillai. He loves to explain us abt the jungle, animals and plants out there. Both the cooks makes homely fud as per our request. Thanks for makg us feel so homely. Mr Pillai took us for a night walk and helped us spot wild animals inside the plantation. We cud easily spot deers and was a thrilling experience. Sky at night was so rich wit stars here, We really feel how polluted are our city skies. Even in this hot summer, the climate is ubercool out there. If u hv been to neliamapathy before dont waste ur time visitg those usual view points, Explore this property. U hv 400acres of unlimited scenaries at ur disposal. Kids will lv this openess. Rooms are huge and hygiene. U can find lots of antique furnitures. The way the propetry is maintaied really creates wow factor.. We wer family of 6 + 2 kids and ma parents really loved this place and gona come back for sure.. Thank you Mr John for making this beautiful place accessible.. wish to stay there for a month or more in future.