Varkala Accommodation -
Reviews and Recommendations

"Varkala accommodation" was last updated on April 20, 2014

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When you arrive in Varkala, you'll discover that most of the accommodations is heavily concentrated on the North Cliff, anything from resorts to small family bungalows "hidden" in the jungle. Most of them are in walking distance to the beach. If you want a quieter scene and don't mind walking a bit to the "action" in the north, you should head for the guesthouses on the South Cliff.

As you walk along the beach, you'll see dozens of signs saying: 'cheap room'. You won't exactly have problems finding a room in Varkala.

In the high season, you should book a room in advance since Varkala is popular beach destination in Kerala. We traveled there in March on a weekend and a lot of the "good cheap options" were fully booked.

Here are the places I stayed at in Varkala!

Review of
Signature Residence

Room at Signature Residence in Varkala, India

Outside one of the bungalows at Signature Residence in Varkala, Kerala

Varkala accommodation: Room at Signature Residence

Price per night: Rs 1300-4000

Our bungalows at Signature Residence were clean enough, and there was no sign of mosquitoes (there's a mosquito outlet in the room). The bathroom was also clean, with Western toilet and lukewarm water.

All the bungalows have a terrace with a chair and table where you can just relax, dry your clothes and so on. Their terrace was my favorite place to be :-)

Some of the other girls we traveled with, had another bungalow which was closer to the reception. That bungalow was also clean, but neater because it was newer.

We arrived late at night because the train to Varkala was 1,5 hour late. I called the reception to let them know, and they were very easygoing about it.

The best part was its location. It only takes two minutes to walk to North Cliff, where all the restaurants and shops are.

They also have laundry services, and a restaurant where they serve breakfast and lunch (additional cost). They serve Indian and Western dishes.

If I return to Varkala, I would stay here again! :-)

Where: North Cliff

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Review of
Shiva Garden

Double room at Shiva Garden in Varkala, India

Price per night: Rs 250-1200

Shiva Garden is a great place to stay – a social place where many budget travelers spend their nights. It's because Shiva Garden is one of the few places in Varkala that offers cheap dorms for Rs 150 per person.

The room we got was simple and comfortable, came with a clean attached bathroom – with Western toilet and lukewarm water. There was also mosquito net in the room.

In their garden you can relax, chat with others and grab a bite. But the service is sometimes slow. Not a big shock though, it's India.

To me, the staff was welcoming and helpful. But my travel partner didn't think so. We told them that we wanted to rent some bikes, and they said it was OK.

But when we were ready to pick up the bikes, the lady at the reception told us that she had rented it to other people (which was a couple of hours later). There was only one bike left.

As a solution, she suggested we rented this one bike. But the bike didn't look solid, and it looked like it was falling apart, so we said no.

I didn't care much about the treatment, but my travel partner did. I don't know if it was a glitch in communication or something else.

Where: North Cliff.

Every rickshaw and taxi driver knows about Shiva Garden.

Read reviews of Shiva Garden at TripAdvisor

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Recommended
Varkala resorts and guesthouses

Here are some other guesthouses in Varkala that have received overall good reviews :-)

WT = Website tariff

RD = random dates. It means that I've used Hostelworld's online booking system and the numbers below represent the given price at a random date in November (high season in India).