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living, together with most modern conveniences (there’s even a TV lounge, if you really can’t help yourself). Bedrooms (the best of which even have air-conditioning; Rs 5,850–Rs 8,100) are attractively renovated and great natural light. While you get to interact with your helpful hosts and feast on authentic Keralite food, there is some sense that this is first and foremost a business (you’re charged for cooking demonstrations and yoga and even access to the pools at nearby resorts, and there’s a large banquet room where lunches are laid on for coach loads of tourists), so it doesn’t quite compete with the warmth and personality (or personalities) that you’ll find at a thoroughly humbling homestay like Olavipe (reviewed below).

Casa del Fauno This is not—as the new owners would have you believe—a homestay; it’s actually a very enchanting guesthouse built by the talented and creative Italian architect who established Shalimar Spice Garden (reviewed). Here, again, she cleverly combined local and European elements to create a unique fusion style that feels elegant, sumptuous, playful and beautiful all at once. And, in a way, it does feel a bit like a home—albeit one made for spoiling and that could easily be interpreted as a resort-in-miniature, with a pretty garden stretching to the edge of Vembanad Lake. Rooms are impeccable, minimalist spaces with a few baroque touches, either built-in or four-poster beds, and huge bathrooms with sunken tubs. Rooms are imaginatively styled, with more than a hint of bohemian flair: Bits of colored glass, a section of lintel, or simple pieces of crockery are used to decorative effect. The house is run with dignified calm by the always-serene, Vinod Joseph, a most sensitive manager; he can arrange Ayurveda and yoga sessions for you, and will conjure up country boats and local sightseeing (or restaurant) trips at short notice.

Muhamma P.O. Aleppey District 688 525. 0478/286-0862 or 98-4776-5451. www.casadelfauno.com. Reservations: Sebastian Rd., Kaloor, Cochin 682 017. 98-9576-6444. info@casadelfauno.in. 6 units. Oct–Mar Rs 8,500–Rs 9,000 elegant double, Rs 9,000–Rs 9,500 elegant cottage, Rs 9,500–Rs 10,000 deluxe suite; Apr–Sep Rs 6,600 elegant double, Rs 7,600 elegant cottage, Rs 8,600 deluxe suite; Rs 3,000 extra bed (adult), Rs 1,500 extra bed (child aged 6–12). Children under 6 free. Rates include breakfast. No credit cards. Amenities: Dining room, lounge, TV lounge, bar service; airport transfers (Rs 1,200); babysitting; concierge; Internet (Rs 50/hr.); large outdoor pool. In room: A/C, fan, no phone.

Olavipe Our favorite homestay in India comes complete with a stately and authentic house dating from 1851, a sophisticated family with an illustrious and long history, a working farm (entertaining guests is just a sideline, pursued because the family is gregarious), a superb family cook, and very comfortable accommodations. The fourth-generation Tharakans are clearly very proud of their ancestral home and roots, and the house feels rather like a private museum, with old farm records and implements and photographs and paintings charting events from their great-grandfather’s time. There isn’t much to do in the sense of hotel-type amenities (this is a family home, after all), nor is there a pool, but if all you want to do is experience the rhythm of farm life (you’ll be the only foreigners in the nearby village) and sit down to meals with an intellectually stimulating and charming family, prepared by the talented chef (now in his mid-70s), then you will feel blessed at Olavipe indeed. Besides, Kochi is less than an hour away (25km/16 miles), and Antony (who worked for Rajiv Gandhi) and his sophisticated wife, Rema (an award-winning broadcaster), will arm you with the best shopping tips—that’s if you can tear yourself away from their soothing conversations.

Thekkanatt Parayil, Olavipe 688 526. 0484/252-2255 or 094-4714-2410. www.olavipe.com. homestay@olavipe.com. 6 units. Rs 8,500 double. Rates include all meals, tea, coffee, in-house activities and taxes. No credit cards. Amenities: Dining