A total scam and disappointment. They charge premium prices for a low cost experience. The worst luxury hotel we have ever stayed at, and we have been to 50 countries… Here is everything that went wrong during our 2-night stay. - The property is old and not maintained - No electricity in the room one evening - Phone not working - Reception woke me up at 8:45am to ask for my phone number?!! - Disaster of NYE show (dangerously high volume, bright lighting in the face, cold food, table not ready, never took our drinks order, forgot our drinks order, gave us a broken glass, no spoons and plates at the buffet, waitress didn’t know how to open beer, DJ who cannot sync music properly…) - Booked garden facing room but got a wall facing room instead - Garden and flowers not maintained - Breakfast: waiter forgot orders or got it wrong - No double lock in the room - TV not working - Menu QR code not working in the room - Wifi too slow - No hot water - Street dog roaming in the corridors - Rooms are not decorated and have no charm - location: too far from north cliff. Have to use a tuk tuk to get there

Spacious, nice restaurant and good breakfast. Nice pool , clean and good sunbeds. 10 min auto ride to North Cliff

Food is very good especially veg. Children would love to eat Dal kichdi which is complementary too. Access to resort from Varkala sivagiri station was convenient. If people wanted to see the north cliff especially shopping and dining, we can take the road uphill by walk or auto. If u want to access the beach down, best route would be taking a walk close to Janardanaswamy temple. Kaveri elephant park is worth watching.

Pool was good. Taste of food was good.

Rooms were stuffy, old and need maintenance. Staff on duty during breakfast buffet were not experienced enough to manage the busy hours. Though staff apologized for this, it was a never expected one from such a restaurant.

The location and view was amazing. It was serene throughout.

The food could have been way better, the place is not worth the money, there are better properties at this price point is what I feel.

THE IMPECCABLE SERVICE FROM THE STAFF. FANTASTIC LOCATION.

THE PROPERTY NEEDS SOME URGENT TLC. IT HAS BECOME VERY OLD AND IS NOT UPTO THE TAJ STANDARDS ONE WOULD EXPECT.

The property is on a good location on top of the cliff, with great views of the sea. Breakfast buffet was good and filling. Rooms are comfortable. The restaurant served good food, and so did the room service.

The property is way too overpriced for the facilities it is providing. We stayed at the Gateway Varkala for a single night. Being a property of Taj, we had great expectations. Unfortunately all of that was shattered. The rooms were good, but way too overpriced in my opinion. The pool definitely needs maintenance, with a lot of tiles getting chipped away. The property is very much understaffed, the staff who checked us in is also the security, and is also the restaurant staff etc. It was very hard to get connected with the frontdesk reception as our TV didn't have channels that we wanted to view.

Really nice hotel with nice pool and restaurant. Breakfast had an extensive selection of both Indian and Western options. Rooms are clean, and good size with a very comfortable bed. Staff were all really helpful and polite.

The location is a little away from attractions and transport is necessary to get anywhere, but this is compensated by the peace and quiet of the setting.

They must do paste control. There were wall lizard, cockroaches and even a small snake also. I showed it to the staff.

Great position and nice rooms

All was good

the setting and greenery were beautiful the pool was fabulous and the breakfast also ok

it was very dated - old and new but needs a lot more work doing to it - they are currently painting it but have had the property since 1995 and it is not the upper end Taj that some may expect, but only managed by the company

Amazing stay! Would definitely recommend this property.

The location and room was good and the hospitality is good as well

Lack of facilities and breakfast spread was not good. The turnaround time for services were a bit slow

fantastic pool, food and staff. we really enjoyed our stay and appreciated being upgraded to a room with an ocean view.

we didn't love Varkala. it was good to be at the Gateway so we could just enjoy its facilities and food. the beach was very exposed with wild waves so it was great that we could retreat to the hotel.

Great location, very nice arrangements for Christmas eve, food was good

Though some staff were nice and friendly as well as professional (front office and F&B staff were very nice), some, specifically at the spa were very unprofessional. They were trying to force a conversation when my wife was getting relaxed and sleepy and at the end of the service even “asked” for tips

staff

away from the cliff beach

We were revisiting Gateway Varkala after 3 years and weren’t disappointed. Clean, good size rooms, nice breakfast, lovely helpful staff and nice spacious pool and close proximity to the beach and Varkala cliffs/restaurants. Even had a baby high chair which was very helpful.

The place was very nice and rooms were exceptionally well .Staff were accomodative .

Food and food services shuld improve a lot . The service itself is very late and breakfsat buffet was not as per excpectations. The food is also too expensive for the quantity and quality here. Food is only thing dissapointing .

There was a staff member at the pool at all times and I felt safe to leave my child there briefly in his care. He was very attentive to our needs and made sure that our chairs remained in the shade. The spa took special care of my daughter as she had her first massage. The staff overall, were very protective of her, wanting to make sure that she was well cared for. Naresh, in the restaurant, called us by name every morning, and made sure that my daughter had a snack for the next part of the trip.

Check in could have been a bit more streamlined but serving apple juice is a nice way to make it easier. Also, I had hoped for some suggestions for the next part of the trip and the staff didn't seem to know much about the area we were travelling to.

food was good at breakfast buffet

A number of things were disappointing - as soon as we walked in we noticed loud renovations underway. next the check in process took over 20 minutes which was annoying with little kids. for the rest of our stay we had to constantly call them and ask them to fix something or provide something that should already have been there like towels and shampoo. some of the food items were very less for the steep prices. the pool tiles are chipping off and have a lot of mould build up. there is just a treadmill and cross trainer in a hot dusty room called the gym.