Four-star Willingdon Island, Kochi
Taj Malabar Resort & Spa, Cochin
Built in 1935 to lodge steamship passengers at the tip of Willingdon Island, with a Heritage Wing in the original building and a tower that faces the sunset over Kochi harbour.
Opens the hotel's own website. We have no arrangement with the hotel.
- Opened
- 1935
- Rooms
- 82 rooms and 11 suites
- Setting
- Tip of Willingdon Island, on the harbour
- From the airport
- About an hour from Cochin International
The hotel
A port hostel of 1935.
In the 1920s the engineer Robert Bristow built the modern port of Cochin, and the sand dredged from the channel was heaped around a small natural island to make Willingdon Island. Shipping lines would only call if their passengers had somewhere proper to stay, so the government put up a hostel at the island's tip in about two months. It opened on 8 March 1935 as the Willingdon Island Hotel, later the Malabar Hotel.
The Indian Hotels Company took it over in 1984 and reopened the original L-shaped building as the Heritage Wing in 1987. A Tower Wing followed, its rooms looking west over the shipping lanes towards the Arabian Sea, and the hotel was refurbished again in recent years. Between the wings sit an infinity-edge pool at the water and the J Wellness Circle, for Ayurveda and yoga.
- Sunset over the harbour Tower suites and the Luxury Sunset Seaview rooms face west, with ships passing on the way into port.
- Ayurveda J Wellness Circle for Ayurvedic treatment, yoga and meditation.
- Three pools An infinity-edge pool by the water, an outdoor pool and a pool for children.
Rooms & suites
Heritage Wing or Tower Wing.
Eighty-two rooms and eleven suites, split between the original building and the tower. The grander suites come with a butler.
- Heritage Heritage Room 38 square metres in the 1935 building, some with a view of the Arabian Sea.
- Tower Signature Suite with Balcony 52 square metres in the Tower Wing, with a balcony over the harbour and the sea.
- Plunge pool Luxury Suite with Plunge Pool 60 square metres in the Heritage Wing, with a private plunge pool.
- Largest Grand Luxury Heritage Suite 109 square metres in the Heritage Wing, facing the water.
Dining
Seafood from the harbour.
Restaurants and bar as listed by the hotel. Shown for information.
- Rice Boat Seafood The hotel's seafood restaurant
- Dolphin's Point Coastal Coastal cooking
- Pepper Global and regional In the hotel
- Mattancherry Bar Cocktails and finger food Known for its signature cocktails
Good to know
Before you go.
- Arrival Check-in from 2 pm, check-out by noon. Ask ahead for an early arrival or late departure.
- Pets Not accepted.
- Renovation The hotel has been renovated recently; sources date the work to 2023 and 2024.
Getting there
Flying to Kochi.
Cochin International is the airport for scheduled flights and for private jets, which use its own business jet terminal. The hotel puts the drive at about an hour, longer in heavy traffic.
- 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.
- When did the Taj Malabar open?
- In 1935. The original building is now the Heritage Wing; a Tower Wing came later, and the hotel has since been renovated.
- How far is the Taj Malabar from Cochin airport?
- About an hour by car, according to the hotel, depending on traffic.
- Does the Taj Malabar accept pets?
- No. The hotel does not take pets.
- 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.
- Brunton Boatyard Twenty-two rooms on the site of a British shipyard, every one of them facing the harbour.
- The Malabar House Seventeen rooms filled with antiques in a Dutch colonial villa on Parade Road, with a pool in the garden.
Staying at Taj Malabar Resort & Spa, Cochin?
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.