We were jet-lagged zombies when we first arrived from Dubai at 5 am - Jane and I slept until noon (we can finally sleep horizontally!) and then took it easy for the first day - a pool swim and easy meals in the hotels two restaurants. Here we stayed at the Vivanta by Taj, a high-end regional chain in the city center. The hotel provided many amenities: pool, sauna, spa, wi-fi (@ $8/day), a.c., a bar (with limited hours), cafe, 2 great restaurants and 24 hour security.
While this was by far the finest hotel in Trivandrum, certain aspects of the facilities (and all Kerala hotels we visited) differed from typical U.S. hotels. Firstly, security is much tighter (at least in appearance) - with several guards at all entrances 24/7. When we pulled into Vivanta, we halted to allow one guard to inspect the car's belly with an extended mirror. Oddly they only check the front end of the car... so I guess no one puts bombs towards the rear? Then our bags go through a scanner and we walk through metal detectors - every time we enter.
Inside, the large lobby is beautifully decorated with shining granite floors and me-sized floral arrangements that changed daily. Although this space and our private rooms have air conditioning, the temperature & humidity changes dramatically as we move through stairs and hallways to our room. It's actually pretty shocking. At the same time the hotel's different interior spaces contain sequences of strong odors - like cooking oils or spices, cleaning supplies, tropical flowers and sometimes septic smells. It's very typical for the electricity to flicker in and out throughout the day (and with it the wifi).
Similarly, communication is a constant challenge. Most simply because I don't speak any Malayalam or Hindi and many Malayali's English is quite basic and obscured (to my ears) by heavy accents. It's a mutual struggle to understand each others words. But also, in an area that prizes being exquisite hosts, it is considered quite rude to state anything in the negative. So even if there is NO WAY that the hotel can supply a particular service I might request, the Malayali would not say 'No' directly. Rather they would respond with a vague sort of optimism...that I had to interpret to mean no.
I imagine it could be beautiful to have one's mind always framed in the positive, but to a north-easterner who's used to much more bluntness, it is a challenge to comprehend!