Secondhome4u is a very Good Homestay / Hotel at Trivandrum, in lushgreen surroundings I would say that it has the advantages of Homestay and Hotels.
This homestay comprises of two adjacent bungalows, with a farm in the backyard. The host family stays in one of these bungalows. Rooms are available in the other bungalow if you require more privacy like a Hotel. You can stay with the Family if you are fully for Homestay.
The family who stays there comprises of four people, Mr Jameskutty, his wife, son and daughter- in -law. Family is nice and they speak Malayalam(local language) and English. They understand Hindi, but not fluent in Hindi
The bungalows are located in lush green surroundings , away from city conditions. By road it is around 15 km from Trivandrum city. Pickup is included in the tariff. The host himself came for the pickup, which was a welcome change. Rooms are spacious. Air-conditioned double room costs only Rs. 1500/- per day.
Check in time was flexible.No charges for the kids (less than 12 years). Came to understand that Non- A/C rooms are available at Rs. 750/-. Unless you are looking for a budget hotel, go for A/c room as climate in Kerala can be hot & humid. Also, if you travel in Group, the full bungalow costs only Rs. 3500/- per day. With 2 a/c rooms, 2 non- ac rooms (all double bedded with attached bathrooms), dining hall, living area, kitchen, balconies, that is a good bargain).
Bed coffee, Breakfast is part of the package. (Food was good) If informed one day prior, host told us that our choice of food may be made. If need be, Lunch, Dinner, etc would be available at extra cost on prior intimation. But we did not try as we were visiting places.
Nearby places to visit are Kovalam beach (around 6 kms), Trivandrum city (many locations like Veli lake, Padmanabha Swamy temple, ZoologicalGarden, Napier Museum), Kanyakumari about 75 kms highway (southern tipof India), Neyyar Dam & Wildlfe sanctuary, Ponmudi Hill station, etc. The host could arrange trips in a Travera vehicle (not only Trivandrum, but almost full of Kerala on short notice), but don’t take this for granted. If you need any such arrangements, you may inform him in advance. Rates of these taxi packages were also reasonable.
The room was spacious, tidy. (Locker facilities was not available, but a steel almirah with a lock was there.). Room service was available on call, Laundry services was available. Refrigerator, washing machine, ironing facilities, Bath tub, etc are available if you book the entire bungalow.
Only drawback that I noticed was that they did not have facility to accept credit cards & not having pools. They told that they have recently started and planning of adding these facilities in future. Similar facility in a Good Hotel would have set back us by twice or thrice. Hence, we did not worry about card payment.
Altogether , a very nice experience, and I recommend that you visittheir website. The photos of the place would tell you much more https://secondhome4u.com. The contact person is Mr. Jameskutty 0- 9447144374