Lakeside Guest House
Lakeside
House was built in 1993 as the home of Joe Homan, founder of the Joe
Homan Charity caring for many of India's poorest children. Its stunning
location soon led to its development as a speciality, independent guest house with five en-suite, twin bedrooms.
During 2002, six attractive deluxe Time/Lease cottages were added to the eight acre location and these are also available for renting. Each cottage has an unobstructed, superb view of the 300 acre lake, just 100 metres from the Lakeside property and allowed us to increase the number of visitors we could accommodate. No further development is planned for this site.
The Lakeside Guest House is located close to the temple city of Madurai and Dindigul town. It offers magnificent mountain and lake scenery, rich in bird life. Especially beautiful is the scenery found in the Lower Palani Hills and on the plains immediately below the Western Ghats. It includes the Kamaraj dam, which is fed by two mountain rivers. This location was painted by the famous Daniels landscape Artists (uncle and nephew) in the 18th century. It is here in Tamilnadu, South India where the Lakeside Guest House awaits you and with which our company has a direct and personal link. Excellent bird-watching around Lakeside, plus the many other bird species of the nearby hill country, has led us to organise Bird Watching tours.
A wild cactus garden to the left of the large lotus pond is balanced by an area of colourful formal garden. A wide grass path flanked by brilliant bougainvilleas sweeps down to the lake where walking, swimming, fishing, painting and bird-watching are popular.
Breakfast is taken on the lake view verandah, while lunch is in the open-ended living area. Each evening, the floodlit pond and fountain are a soothing and relaxing feature where two small kingfishers roost, quite unconcerned on a bough over-hanging the pond.
The "Happy Hour" and evening meals are normally enjoyed on the large roof-top terrace overlooking the lake and mountains. A multi-cuisine kitchen offers vegetarian and non-vegetarian culinary delights, with Indian and continental meals. Although house menus are fixed, tell us your preferences as our cooks seek to please and will happily produce alternative dishes, demonstrate their cooking & pass on their recipes.
Relaxation apart, the area is great for hill climbing, walking, fishing and swimming. The two hour walk around the lake offers excellent bird watching. To date over 150 species have been identified including varied egrets, and kingfishers, nightjars, pittas, kites and buzzards.
While enjoying the tranquil and magnificent Lakeside location, a full tour programme includes visits to places of interest including the fabled Temple City of Madurai, a shopping evening around Dindigul’s bazaars, a picnic trip in the coffee / pepper hill country, a rural craft tour, and more. Many guests come annually for the sheer serenity of the location, the friendliness of the staff and the guest house facilities.
