Kalari Kovilakom - the Palace for Ayurveda

My review is about my recent interaction with the place. I had stayed in 2008 for a 1-month panchakarma and had a good experience, felt great afterwards. The cost was around USD 220,- per night, if memory serves correctly. I had contacted them again this week to enquire about the same sort of programme. The price has since roughly quadrupled. However, many of the marketing photos are still from 2008. I know this for a fact, because I am in at least two of them. I do not remember having given them my consent. I doubt that I would have, since one really doesn’t look one’s best on these occasions. I wanted to know what the difference in room category was - the difference in price is up to EUR 4,000 more for a three-week stay. They claim the rooms are too different, so they can’t specify. They actually don’t have that many rooms, so I don’t see why they can’t provide individual photos per category. You don’t go there for the room, but at that price difference, at least I would like to know what I’m getting. I also remember, during my stay, we had one extremely rude, unpleasant guest. It turned out, that he had met the owner on some trip, and got invited to stay for free. He was a real nuisance and not conducive to the healing environment of the other paying customers. The facilities and rooms are beautiful in a minimalist way. The old palace has been nicely restored. But - everything is very basic and old fashioned. There is no pool or gym space. The garden is small. The retro quality may be part of the charm, and 16 years ago, the pricing was appropriate. From the photos I was sent, no upgrading has been done to justify the current price structure.