Soul & Surf, the new surfing and yoga hotel created by the British couple Ed Templeton and Sofie Radecki, is set to open in the beach resort of Varkala in Kerala, India.
Soul & Surf is India’s second, and the South Indian region’s first hotel, dedicated to surfing and yoga.
Templeton and Radecki, the British couple behind the project, left careers in their homeland several years ago to undertake a world tour. Passionate about surfing, they were particularly impressed when they landed on the wave rich Kerala coast of Varkala.
The couple, who subsequently settled on the South Indian coast, have been running a lower key operation for the last few years, introducing the local community to surfing, a sport that is totally new to the area.
This year, Soul & Surf is expanding to its cliff top home overlooking Golden Beach. The new hotel will have 15 rooms, the new Soul Food Cafe, a surfing school with ISA qualified instructors, a daily yoga programme, as well as a range of other activities for guests looking for a holiday. The surfing school is claimed to be India’s first and only one of its kind.
The hotel is located in a heritage Kerala-style house. Most of the rooms are on the ground floor within a more contemporary building spread across three levels. The accommodation on offer ranges from basic en-suite rooms for the more budget conscious, which are good sized rooms with balconies and optional AC, to larger, more stylish rooms with AC.
The hotel claims to have a relaxed ambience where guests can participate in any activity of their choice. They are offered the opportunity of guided morning surf safaris or group lessons for those who are still learning. They are also offered sunset yoga lesson, or can retreat to enjoy the sociable Soul & Surf vibe.
Open from lunch until dinner, the Soul Food Cafe serves local Kerala delicacies, adding flavours from other parts of Asia and the world. Soul & Surf hotel charges start from GBP185 per person, per week, which includes accommodation, breakfast, daily surf guiding, mineral water and use of yoga mats. Daily yoga and surf lessons are available from GBP130 per person per week, or can be booked on a daily basis.
Soul & Surf is one-hour drive from Trivandrum airport, the other option being flying to Cochin International airport, with a transfer to the hotel of about four hours.
