There are numerous reviews on Munnar which will help the fellow travellers, a lot. Here is my own review after visiting munnar in the first week of February-2007.
We started off to Munnar after visiting Nelliampathy on 1st of February. On the way we visited the famous Athiraplly waterfalls , featured in many of the south indian movies. This place was very good, but the climate was very hot. The journey on ghat roads can be very painful for those who vomit due to the moving of the vehicle on the ups and downs of the ghat road. I have used the AVOMINE tablet before starting the ghat road journey inorder to overcome the vomitings, etc.
We reached Munnar on the evening of 1st of Feb. We stayed in the Sprindale resort located in Devikulam , which is 6 KM off from Munnar center. The resort is suited for budget travellers. The food was not good, so we had to eat at Saravana Bhavan in Munnar center, during our 3 day stay in Munnar. Please don’t get carried away with the beautiful and scenic photos of the hotels/resorts in the websites. It is a good idea to visit the hotel first and then book it , in off-season. But in on-season, it is always better to book in advance and then later you can shift if you are not comfortable.
Now coming to hotels/resorts in and around Munnar, I have used one full day for just visiting the hotels/resorts just to see how exactly they look like. Chinnakanal is around 20 KM off from Devikulam, where lot of big resorts are there like Club Mahindra, Sterling resorts, Cloud 9, Fort Munnar, Siena Village, etc.
As far as nature/scenic beauty is concerned, the best hotels to stay are : Great Escapes resorts, Cloud 9, Club Mahindra , Fort Munnar, Black Berry hills, Tall Trees. But these hotels are on the high end of the budget ( around Rs.3700 to 5000).
For budget travellers , I suggest Elysium Garden which is 2 KMs from Munnar center.
Poopada, Misha Holiday home, Munnar Inn and all other hotels are located in the heart of the Munnar center , so you can only view the shopping areas over there, no scenice beauty around these hotels.
I personally suggest Great Escapes resorts, Black beryy hills and Cloud 9 for those who just want to enjoy the nature by sitting in the midst of the trees and clouds. These 2 resorts have great views and surrounded by trees allover. A perfect time to visit these resorts is in monsoons/september.
Pls be noted that the Eravikulam park is closed for 3 months (Dec-March), So we were also not able to visit this park. Mattupetty lake and Kundale lake are the 2 must visit places.
Finally a word of caution. Munnar is generally hot owing to its medium altitude and other climatic factors. So you need to wear a cap if you go out in sunlight. Nights are cool.
I feel that February is not the right time to visit Munnar. The best time is in Monsoons to enjoy the light showers and cool climate. I wonder how people can bear the heat is Summer months. Also don’t forget to book a cab for your entire trip in Munnar.
Hope this review will be useful to fellow travellers.