Kerala in Luxury

I flew into Cochin one December morning, glad of the humidity, like a welcoming hot flannel after Britain’s bitter cold. I was staying a short walk from the shore in the heart of the old fort at Malabar House, one of a group of boutique hotels set up by Joerg Drechsel and his Catalan partner, Txuku. ‘We were told we were doomed to fail,’ says Joerg, a determined-looking German in his early sixties. ‘When we first opened Malabar Escapes in 1997, people were still travelling round India in groups of 20 or more, but it’s not about mass tourism or backpackers any more.’ In 2008, the four hotels that make up Malabar Escapes were the first in India to be welcomed as members of Relais & Chateaux, the global association of small luxury hotels and gourmet restaurants, putting Kerala firmly on the map as a new luxury destination.