Help & how it works

Because we have five rooms and we’d rather talk to you first. It lets us check the details, tell you what to expect, and make sure nobody is double-booked by two people pressing a button at the same moment. Every booking is confirmed personally.

No. A request is a message to us, not a reservation. The room is only held once we’ve confirmed with you. If two people ask for the same nights, we answer in the order the requests arrived.

Online requests need at least 4 days’ notice. That gives us time to reply and you time to hear back. For anything sooner, please phone us — we can often help, but not through the website.

Yes — for a family gathering, a group, or a function. All five rooms, the living room, the garden and the party area together are usually ₹9,000–10,000 a night, depending on the season and how many of you there are. It’s easiest to arrange by phone so we can talk about numbers, food and timings, and confirm the price.

After 7 am the next morning. The confirmation screen tells you this exactly when you send it, so there’s no guessing.

By phone or WhatsApp, on the number you gave us. Please make sure it’s one you actually answer — if we can’t reach you, we can’t confirm.

If you haven’t heard from us within 24 hours, please ring us — don’t wait. Keep the reference number from your confirmation screen (it starts with RQ-) and we’ll find your request straight away.

• You want a room within the next 4 days — including tonight
• You’ve arrived in Muthupet and need somewhere now
• You want the whole property, or you’re a group of more than about twelve
• You need to change or cancel a booking we’ve already confirmed
• You’d like food arranged, or a boat trip on a particular morning

Per room, per night, shown on the rooms section and on the booking page. They come straight from our register, so they’re always current. Every room sleeps up to four.

To hold a room for you we ask for a small advance — ₹500 is usual; for the whole property we’ll agree an amount on the call. Until the advance is paid the room stays open to others. We take cash, UPI / GPay and bank transfer; the rest is paid when you arrive.

Ring us as soon as you know, and we’ll normally refund your advance in full. The exception is a last-minute cancellation in peak season, or of the whole property — by then we’ve turned other guests away for you, and the advance is kept. We’d always rather know early so the room can go to someone else.

Tell us the morning you want to go — when we call to confirm your room, or any time before. We’ll book it with the boat operator so you’re not waiting at the jetty. Please give us a day’s notice where you can; on busy weekends the boats fill up.

Boats run from 9 am to 5 pm. A boat takes 12 to 20 people and costs about ₹1,500 per boat, paid to the operator, not to us — so a full boat works out under ₹100 a head. Early morning is by far the best time — the birds are active and the water is still.

November to January. The winter birds arrive, the weather is cool, and the mornings are clear. The lagoon is worth seeing at any time of year, but if you can choose, choose then.

• A hat and something for the sun — there is almost no shade on the water
• Drinking water
• Binoculars, if you have them
• Comfortable shoes for the boardwalk

Check-in from 12:00, check-out by 11:00 — most guests leave between 9 and 11. We’re flexible about both when the room is free either side; just tell us your times in your request or when we call, and arriving late is fine — someone will be up to let you in.

Yes. Home-cooked meals — veg or non-veg, breakfast, lunch or dinner — can be arranged with a few hours’ notice, and the price depends on what you’d like, so tell us when we call. The Darga market, a four-minute walk away, is where we buy fish in the morning; there are also small restaurants in town.

Each room sleeps up to four and has its own attached bathroom with hot water. Most are air-conditioned; B2 is fan-cooled and priced accordingly. Rooms open onto a shared living room with a sofa and television. Wi-Fi reaches some of the rooms — ask for one of those if you need it; mobile data works well throughout.

• Please carry photo ID for everyone staying — we’re required to record it
• Quiet after 10 pm; there are other guests, and neighbours
• Smoking and drinking are not allowed inside the house or the rooms. There is a separate party area in the grounds for exactly that — enjoy it there, without disturbing the neighbours
• Please don’t bring pets without asking us first
• Please treat the garden and the rooms as you’d want your own treated

2/549 Darga Street, Jambuvanodai, on the Vedai–Muthupet Road, Muthupet 614738, Thiruvarur District. 350 metres — a four-minute walk — from the Muthupet Darga. Open in Google Maps →

Thanjavur about an hour and forty minutes; Trichy airport about two and a quarter hours; Chennai around seven and a half. Vedaranyam is an hour, Point Calimere an hour and a quarter. There is parking inside the gate.

Muthupet has a railway station on the Thiruvarur–Karaikudi line, and buses from Thiruvarur, Thanjavur and Pattukkottai stop in town. If you’d like to be collected, tell us your arrival time beforehand and we’ll arrange an auto or a cab for you — the fare is paid to the driver.