Place to sleep: Marvel Houseboats, Cochin, India

About this place:

Marvel Tours offers one and two-bedroom houseboats in the Kerala backwaters. They are staffed by a captain, engine driver, and cook. These Kettuvallam rice barges are constructed of jack-wood held together by knots of coir (coconut shell fiber), but are modernized with air-conditioned, solar-lit bedrooms with bath and a covered open-air dining and lounging area.