Alappuzha (Kerala), Sep 28 (IANS) Kerala’s backwaters is all set to welcome tourists this season with a houseboat that boasts of a swimming pool too.
Tomy Pulikattil, considered by many as a master innovator in the hugely successful houseboat industry, is the inventor of the new houseboat.
“The entire work is over and the boat would be floating in the Alappuzha backwaters this season,” Pulikattil told IANS.
The houseboat is 90 feet long and 16 feet wide and has two bedrooms on the ground floor with the pool on the first floor.
“The pool is 12 feet long, eight feet wide and has a depth of four feet. It is fitted with a treatment plant. Even though the pool might look small, it is fitted with a jaccuizi and hence swimming is going to be fun, with water being pumped at high pressure,” said Pulikattil.
Pulikattil was a successful timber merchant before he entered the houseboat industry. Among the many innovations credited to him are a houseboat with ayurveda treatment, a boat patterned on a ‘naalukettu’ , the traditional Keralite home with a courtyard, and an immensely popular conference houseboat with state-of-the-art communication facilities and capable of seating 100 people.
Though Pulikattil refuses to reveal the cost of his latest innovation, he said the tariff for the houseboat would be Rs.12,800 a night. It would cost Rs.1,500 extra on account of the swimming pool.
On an average, a houseboat costs around Rs.2.5 million.