Five-star Fort Kochi, Kochi
Brunton Boatyard
Twenty-two rooms built on a Victorian boatyard at the mouth of Kochi harbour, where ships, fishing boats and the odd dolphin pass the windows.
Opens the hotel's own website. We have no arrangement with the hotel.
- Rooms
- 22, facing the harbour
- Opened
- 1999, by CGH Earth
- Restaurants
- Three, plus dinner on the pier
- From the airport
- 52 km from Cochin International
The hotel
A shipyard rebuilt in lime and teak.
The site was a Dutch boatyard first. Under the British, George Brunton and his sons built ships here from around 1895, and their choice of timber made their name. When English yards complained to the Admiralty about warships built in India, the work dried up, and after 1947 the yard fell derelict. In 1992 CGH Earth leased the land from the Port Trust.
Rebuilding took five or six years, in brick, lime, wood and terracotta laid the way Malabar builders worked in the nineteenth century. The hotel opened in 1999. Hand-pulled punkahs hang from the lobby ceiling, with a palanquin, a billiards table and a ship's anchor below. Portraits commissioned by co-founder Jose Dominic show the people who shaped Kochi. The rain trees in the courtyard are said to have been planted by the British.
- The harbour mouth Ships, fishing boats and dolphins pass close by, and the sun sets over the palms of Vypin Island.
- Dinner on the pier A table set on the old boatyard pier, arranged to order with the kitchen.
- Ayurveda An Ayurveda centre on site, and a pool in the garden that the room patios open onto.
Rooms & suites
Four-poster beds and harbour windows.
Timber ceilings, terracotta floors and lime-plastered walls, with old teak furniture, maps and photographs. Each room has a small foyer and a patio over the pier and the sea.
- Rooms Sea Facing Room A four-poster bed and a bathroom almost as large as the bedroom, with a tub and a separate shower. Some bathrooms look straight onto the harbour.
- Suite Deluxe Sea Facing Suite Spread over three floors, with a living room, a dining area, a pantry and its own patio.
Dining
Three kitchens and the catch of the day.
Restaurants as listed by the hotel. Shown for information.
- History Dishes of the communities who settled in Fort Kochi Second floor; First Class Railway mutton curry
- Armoury Kerala and continental First floor, swords and guns on the walls
- Terrace Grill Seafood The day's catch, open air, usually shut in the monsoon
- Pier dining To order On the boatyard pier
Good to know
Before you go.
- Monsoon The open-air Terrace Grill usually closes for the monsoon months.
- Next door The Chinese fishing nets, St Francis Church and the lanes of Fort Kochi are all within walking distance.
Getting there
Flying to Kochi.
Cochin International at Nedumbassery is 52 kilometres away by the hotel's count; allow about an hour and a half by car, our estimate. Private jets use the same airport, which has its own business jet terminal with customs on site.
- Malé 1 h 20
- Mumbai 1 h 45
- Delhi 3 h 00
- Dubai 4 h 00
- Singapore 4 h 35
Questions
What guests ask first.
- How many rooms does Brunton Boatyard have?
- Twenty-two, set around a garden with a pool on the harbour front of Fort Kochi.
- Why is it called Brunton Boatyard?
- It stands on the yard where George Brunton and his sons built ships under the British from around 1895. CGH Earth rebuilt the site and opened the hotel in 1999.
- How far is Brunton Boatyard from Kochi airport?
- The hotel gives 52 kilometres to Cochin International. By our estimate the drive takes about an hour and a half.
- Can SkyCourtage arrange the flight to Kochi?
- Yes. We arrange Business and First Class seats on scheduled airlines and private jet charter to Kochi, with one final price, our margin included. The hotel is booked with the hotel or through our booking partner.
Also in Kochi
Other hotels worth the trip.
- Grand Hyatt Kochi Bolgatty Twenty-six acres of gardens on Bolgatty Island looking over the backwaters, with villas that have their own plunge pools.
- Taj Malabar Resort & Spa, Cochin Opened in 1935 at the tip of Willingdon Island, with tower suites that watch the sun set over the shipping lanes.
- The Malabar House Seventeen rooms filled with antiques in a Dutch colonial villa on Parade Road, with a pool in the garden.
Staying at Brunton Boatyard?
Book the room, then the flight.
Rates and availability come from the hotel itself. For the journey to Kochi, a Business or First Class seat or an aircraft of your own: tell us the date and we come back with one final price, our margin included.
Opens the hotel's own website. We have no arrangement with the hotel.