Hotel White Gate Residency

The occasion was our wedding anniversary. And I wanted to make it a special one for my wife. For, it was our 10th. And till date we hadn’t marked one. All I could think of was a 'Surprise-Setting", whatever the gifts may be. There were a couple of preferred hotels on my wish-list in Kumarakom for a boating day. However, none were available due to the Christmas-New Year season. That's when I stumbled upon White Gate Residency which was in Vaikom, 10 kms away from Kumarakom. Without hesitating I made the bookings, before it ran-out too of rooms like it did when trying to figure out a plan and book at Kumarakom. Though the booking was done, I wanted to make the occasion a special one. What was on my mind was a Candle-light Dinner. Since I hadn't heard much about candle-light dinners in Kerala, I was hesitant to ask whether the hotel had anything as such on their scope of services. To my surprise, Mr. Vishnu who attended my call at the hotel readily acknowledged to my request. Gladly, his assurance ended my search for the surprise element. The next day, 23rd Dec, we had planned to check-in to the hotel by 5 PM, which was an hour’s drive from Cochin. Nevertheless, due to unforeseen reasons, our trip delayed, and became too late for us to make a move. On top of it all, an Uber cab that was on the way to pick us abruptly cancelled the pick-up after 20 minutes of waiting. By then, it was 8:30 PM with heavy spike in traffic being a weekend, and that too on the Christmas Eve. Though a back-water trip in Kumarkom the next day (my wife was aware of that) was on the cards, my hopes for the surprise dinner, which was the most important aspect of the trip was slowly diminishing. With meager hope, though, yet I tried booking a cab via another service. To my luck, I received a call from an Ola cab confirming the pick-up location. Within minutes, he was at our residence at 8:40 where we were ready to board the car. All this while, I was in touch with the hotel, requesting them to wait for us before closing their kitchen which was at 9:30 PM. It was Mr. Rahul, who was introduced to me by Mr. Vishnu who assured us that they will wait for us. However, I did not want them to go beyond their specific duty timings. So, as soon as I requested our Ola driver, Mr. Shinas to hurry our way to the hotel, he was quick on the accelerator through the twists and turns amid the heavy traffic, where I don’t remember even an instance that he stopped till we reached the hotel. Meanwhile, my wife was all but seemingly confused unable to understand why we were frantically rushing our way with our 2 kids for a boat-trip which was planned for the next day morning, oblivious of the surprise. Poor thing! At precisely 9:45 PM, we reached White Gate Residency. We checked-in at the reception, and we made our way to our room. In a jiffy, I stole a couple of minutes from the room and went to the restaurant just to see the dinner settings, where to my shock did not find any candle-lit table. Now, I was confused. When I inquired for Mr. Rahul, the captain, he came up to me from the kitchen and pleasantly addressed me, and guided my way to an adjacent room which was a beatified parlor. And there was my surprise element. A table for two with beautifully lit red candles, and the silverware decorated just right for the occasion. I breathed a sigh of relief at the sight. It felt like music to ears and rainbow to eyes. A perfect setting! I couldn’t help, but was smiling all the way back to my room. I told my wife that we will have a quick bite from the restaurant before we doze-off. Unassumingly, we made our way to the parlor area, and as the waiter opened the door, I took a sneak peek through the corner of my eyes at my wife who was behind me. Shocked, stunned, surprised and trying to figure out the dinner setting, it took her a good five seconds to realize what the occasion was. That’s when I remembered a famous tagline. There are some things money can’t buy. For everything else, there’s Mastercard! Certainly, it was a moment that was absolutely priceless. She was all smiles all around, but ironically sat very obediently trying to set-in to the surprise. While the bearers served us, she stole glimpses off me trying to express herself through her eyes. I was so elated for her. What made the ambience so cozy were various elements such as the confined parlor, dim-lit ambience, the waiters at service, the way they spoke, served, etc., the smiles with what they greeted, it could go on. Mr. Rahul ensured that we were served well with minimal interference, and ensured their best efforts were put in place. By the time we finished our dinner, it was almost 11:30 PM, and I couldn’t thank enough for extending their timing exclusively for us. For, it could only be possible by people who could understand customers and the importance of an occasion as such. The next day, we woke up quite late. However, I called up the reception by 8 AM to inquire how we could go about for the trip to Kumarakom boat ride. It was again Mr. Vishnu at the reception joining back in the morning shift who helped us yet again with the boat ride too. He ensured that a cab & driver were arranged from his personal acquaintance and boy surely he was a gentleman driver who served us very well. This is the first time I have been to Kottayam district for a leisure trip, and I seldom find words to express my love & respect for the team at White Gate Residency. Nevertheless, I THANK YOU IN EARNEST FOR THE WONDERFUL EFFORT & ENERGY YOU HAVE SERVED US WITH. Wishing you all the very best, and hope to see you soon.

Very good hotel if you are in this part of the backwaters area around Kumarakom. A must visit Shiva temple is within 1 km of the hotel. The hotel serves very good food and I felt wish I could eat some more.. :-) You could drive to this hotel even if you wanted some good lunch or dinner and you wouldn't be disappointed. There isn't much to do nearby other than visit to the Shiva temple.

the room was excellent ,very clean and spacious. the staffs were very positive and friendly. the location is just a walk from vaikom mahadeva temple. the food was delicious there is ample parking space. i had a very positive experience and would definitely recommend this hotel to friends and family

This hotel is near Shiva temple, which makes it great location. One can also go to Kumarakom backwaters easily from here. Overall service quality is good, and staff members are very friendly. Rooms are nice and clean. Overall good value for money.