Our family of four that included our grown up daughter and son, spent four nights including an overnight's stay on the houseboat. The whole period of stay was delightful and relaxing. The houseboat stay and the cruise in the Vembanad Lake was an experience that will linger on in our memory for long.

Equally delightful was the stay at their Heritage Home, a well refurbished ancient home done up tastefully. It was just like staying in your own home with all the comforts but being looked after by somebody else. Crispin keeps a constant track on your comforts and his wife Soni is a gracious and thoughtful host. Enjoyed the tastefully prepared food, that had enough variety from day to day. Makes a homestay all the more comfortable and really enjoyable vis-a-vis a hotel because of the air of informality and the personal touch provided by the hosts.

We booked a three-night stay at the Kodianthara Heritage Home (including one night in their beautiful Heritage houseboat) and thoroughly enjoyed our stay. Our hosts were delightful – both Crispin and his wife Soni went out of their way to make our time with them a memorable one. From offering to wash our clothes to bringing meals to our room, nothing seemed to be too much trouble to them. The staff was extremely friendly and accommodating as well, especially Rahul, who would cheerfully make time to give guests a unique experience of the backwaters by canoe. We have been recommending Kodianthara Heritage Home to other folks since we returned home, and would gladly stay there again if we could.

We spent two nights in Kumarakom - one at the homestay and one on the houseboat. Both experiences were unique in itself... The folks were very nice and accommodating. They ensured that we were served food that was to our liking for all our meals and while it may have been a tad on the spicy side, there is something divine about Kerala food. The staff may have overestimated the quantity that two women like us were able to eat but I guess that's Kerala for you....

The houseboat was incredible... We spent a wonderful afternoon admiring the backwaters of God's own country - an apt name... The night on the houseboat was comfortable...

Would recommend this option...

My husband and I and our son and his girlfriend rented 2 rooms for 3 days, one of the nights at the 2-bedroom houseboat.
Some of the advantages of a homestay over a hotel is that you meet other people at the meals, and that you may get good, home cooked food. Crispin's home is beautifully located in lovely, green surroundings at the Kumarakom countryside. Good for pleasant walks along the channels. Rooms were smallish and simple but with necessary space for clothings etc, mattresses good, bathrooms ok. We had AC-rooms but found the fans sufficient.
Food was absolutely lovely, Kerala cooking has become my favourite. Meals were very pleasant - all guests around the same table sharing experiences.
I also appreciated Crispin and Sony's caring for my cold with hot water, steam and cough syrup!
We were not very bothered by moskitoes - even at nighttime.

We all loved the houseboat trip! Waking up early on the misty lake is pure magic, slowly watching the activities by people and animals. The houseboat itself was good value - maybe not top luxury but comfortable and clean with a lovely sundeck which we only could use half the time because of the Kerala rain. Food on board was nothing like the food at the Crispin house, but was good and seemed fresh. We had to buy beer/wine and take onboard, and the local shop were out of beer that day so we had to do without.

All in all the stay at Kodianthara was a lovely experience and I would recommend it to anybody who want to experience the warm hospitality at Kerala backwaters

2 small issues:
1.The lovely veranda is rather dark - even in the middle of the day - If you like to read I recommend bringing some kind of reading light.
2.We had planned to call the nice driver who took us from Kochi - in his clean Innova for the return trip to Kochi. Instead Crispin insisted on arranging a local car which turned out to be extremely dirty, did not have seat belts available in the back seat and had much less space than the Innova.