We had booked a single bedroom houseboat for 24 hours during our stay at Alleppy. The houseboat left Alleppy at around 11am and went around the backwaters till 6pm. After that it dropped anchor for the night.
One would fall in love at the first look of a houseboat. Ours was one of the smaller ones but just fit for two people. The open place in front was for dining. There was one bedroom with attached bathroom and the kitchen was at the back. There are double decker houseboats and houseboats with more number of bedrooms.
The tour of the backwaters from afternoon to evening was heavenly. This is one experience that one should not miss. The backwater is like the main road and service roads in any of our cities. There are water buses, garages for motor boats and small bridges like flyovers in cities. The lunch cooked by the driver and his helper was just awesome. Authentic kerala dishes.
By 6 pm the boat dropped anchor. It usually drops anchor on the banks of the backwater. The problem starts from then. As the evening progresses, insects and flies starts to come out of their slumber. We could not sit in the open spaces where we enjoyed our afternoon. To save ourselves from the insects and mosquitoes, we had to sit in our bedroom with all doors and windows closed. Soon it became suffocating. Had to switch on the AC and unfortunately the AC was too big for the small room. So whole evening and night was spent in swtiching on and off the AC. We even couldnt get out of the mosquito net. It was pitch dark outside and there was nothing we could do. We should have taken a houseboat with TV to spend the evening
So I would suggest tourists to take a half a day trip. Leave by 11am and come back to allepy by 6 pm. Its better to rest in your hotel room than in the houseboat.