Raheem
Residency’s heritage is rich and genuine. Showing
definite British colonial influences in its design,
its history is documented back to the end of the 19th
century when Mr Raheem’s ancestors, textile
merchants, moved their family from Gujarat in northwestern
India to the thriving port town of Alleppey. We assume
that it was at this time that the Raheem family bought
the existing colonial house and called it Raheem Bungalow.
Today we are glad to report that the current Mr Raheem
and his wife, Mrs Mymunnah, are now happily living
in Cochin city since we bought the property from them
in 2003. Mr Raheem remains a regular visitor, together
with his extended Muslim family and he is very celebratory
about the restoration which we at Personalised Holidays
India Pvt Ltd., a small Indo-European private limited
company, instigated with the passion of a modern-day
custodian of one of the old treasures of Kerala. In
changing its use from a private home to a boutique
hotel, we took the liberty of changing its name from
Raheem Bungalow to Raheem Residency.
Alleppey
is a quaint town with all the hustle and bustle of India
but on a manageable scale. Its traders did business
with Greece and Rome BC. The Portuguese landed in the
16th century but were sidelined by the Dutch who built
warehouses for storing pepper and other spices. The
then Maharaja of Travencore gave them a run for their
money and power returned to the local rulers who set
about cultivating coconuts, building roads etc. The
British made their contribution too and it was in 1859
that the first modern coir matting factory was built,
an industry which provides Alleppey’s main income
today.
We
are located across a quiet road from an undeveloped beach.
Please note that we are not at all like Kovalam Beach
where there are lots of restaurants etc. We are the
first high-ranking hotel at this beach which is rarely
used by anyone except for Indian families on a Sunday
afternoon and Raheem Residency guests.
As well as the beach Alleppey has a delightful network
of canals meandering through the town and beckoning
the beautiful backwaters into the centre. And the boat
jetty, which takes you on your backwater cruise, is
only 10 minutes from us.
Now the Tourism Dept has started regular beach cleaning,
dredging of the canals and landscaping of the canal
banks, and definite plans are afoot for beach beautification
and the restoration of the old pier, built by the British,
opposite our hotel.
;)
;)
;)
