Philipkutty's Farm

Set on Puthankayal Island in Kerala’s backwaters, this spoiling farm-stay is a unique hideaway: it’s a home, guesthouse and working farm, all rolled into one. The six villas are wonderfully secluded, set along the sparkling waterfront, among palms and blooming frangipani trees. In keeping with the design of traditional backwater bungalows, each one has as many as 18 carved windows and eight doors to keep them cool. They’re decorated with clay-tiled floors, antiques, mahogany furniture and private ‘sit-outs’. Your hosts – the vivacious Anu Mathew, her mother-in-law and her two children – will proudly show you around the lush farmland, with its thriving coconut palms, banana, cinnamon, aloe vera and pepper trees as well as Vechoor cows and poultry. With such fresh produce at their fingertips, it’s no surprise the food is utterly scrumptious; even Rick Stein agrees and included Philipkutty’s in his book, Rick Stein’s India. Sitting around a communal table in a thatched pavilion, you’ll enjoy local specialities such as fish fry or Kerala prawn curry with rice and appam. And when you’re not busy eating, there’s a ‘vallam’ (country boat) and some precarious dugout canoes, so you can paddle around armed with bamboo fishing rods or watch the fishermen haul in their nets at sunset.