We stayed for 4 days at the Periyar House Hotel within the Periyar Tiger Reserve in May this year. We had a deluxe room which was very large and clean with a large bathroom and a sit out on the first floor overlooking the hotel garden and a tall tree which Nilgiri langurs and Giant malabar squirrels as well as many exotic birds used to frequent. The staff were very pleasant and courteous, always smiling. The hotel also booked the boat ride tickets for us. We spent our time in leisurely walks through the trails near the hotel and saw wild boar, sambar, giant squirrels, many butterflies and even a rare Nilgiri Marten. We also did a morning boat ride when we saw elephants, bisons, boars and sambars.
Additionally we did a whole day bamboo rafting programme run by the forest department, when we also saw a lot of wildlife. The hotel is most convenient for those who want to enjoy the forest and to do a few of the wildlife activities offered by the forest dept. It is very reasonably priced, much cheaper than the other two hotels within - Lake Palace and Aranya Nivas. The only negative point was the food. Quite tasteless. The room rates include breakfast and dinner buffets. Breakfast is alright with the usual south indian tiffins plus omelettes, cornflakes and so forth. If you eat well at breakfast it lasts you till evening. Dinner was however, most disappointing. In their attempt to please the north indian palate, the taste suffers.The hotel cooks should stick to simple food or local cuisine which they ought to be able to cook well.
The plus point is that you will never overeat at dinner time! As it is a good 3km walk to the main entrance where other restaurants / hotels are, you will not be tempted to go out to eat. All in all, it was an excellent, comfortable stay and we would certainly go back again.The previous time we were staying at the Irrigation Dept guest house also within the forest, but this hotel was much more comfortable.