Leela Kempinski Kovalam Beach Resort

We are based at Choorathil House in Payyanadam, which is a part of Palakkad. It’s a different spot than you might expect for something connected to the Leela Kempinski Kovalam Beach Resort, but this is where our administrative and back-office work happens. The house is a typical local residence that we’ve converted into a working space. It’s surrounded by a bit of greenery, and it’s usually pretty peaceful, except when the birds get loud in the afternoons. We have a few rooms dedicated to paperwork and managing the books. It’s a lot of sorting through invoices and keeping track of the supplies that go out to the coast. We don't have a lobby or a concierge here. It’s just us sitting at wooden desks with our laptops. Sometimes the power goes out for an hour or two, so we just take a break and sit on the porch until it comes back on. The village life goes on around us while we handle the resort's business from afar. It’s a practical way to do things. We keep the files in metal cabinets that are starting to show a bit of rust at the bottom, but they hold everything together. We don't do much fancy talk here. It’s just about making sure the numbers add up and the orders are sent out correctly. Most of us have lived in Palakkad our whole lives.