We were at the CP Kochi for three nights in December 2024 (over Christmas). It was a paid stay with Diamond status.

Overally, we were happy with most aspects of our stay and would return if we needed to be in the area. It's a clean and pleasant hotel with friendly, eager staff. But some aspects were disappointing and -- on this occasion, at a very busy time -- it didn't feel like a flagship hotel or a property operating anywhere near IC level. (Sorry, Atacama40 -- but remember we booked this months before your review, so you're not in any way responsible! )

We booked a "King Junior Suite" with lounge access and were allocated a room on the 5th floor, facing the highway. I had been in touch with the hotel in advance to request an early check-in. Our room was not quite ready when we arrived, just before 11:00. We were shown to the lounge, where we had coffee and biscuits while waiting around 20 minutes for the room to be ready. So far, so good. (Hoping for an upgrade would have been unrealistic, but a higher floor would have made us smile.)

The room was clean, comfortable and spacious. We could hear the highway, but not to an annoying extent. We were soon brought a welcome tray of fruit (two apples, two delicious bananas) and four very sweet milk chocolate pralines. There was a single, small-ish TV that had a few international options including CNN World, BBC World and DW, alongside Indian channels.

The biggest disappointment was the lounge. It is open from 11:00 to 20:00, with "happy hour" from 17:00 to 19:00. Outside of "happy hour" the only things available were biscuits and a very limited range of hot and soft drinks. During "happy hour" there were a few snack items (we only went once, and tried a couple of things: tasty but definitely only snacks). There was a variety of hard liquor available, with mixers, so if we were G&T fans we'd have been impressed, but no wine and the only 'beer' was US-style Budweiser.

There were no staff or facilities to enable check-in or check-out to be completed in the lounge.

The fact that the lounge doesn't serve breakfast -- not even a minimal coffee and croissant -- meant that Mosaic restaurant was the only option. We had to wait for a table on two out of three mornings and the place was very, very busy. No black flag Diamond treatment for us -- although on our last day I did see a white "IHG One Rewards Platinum Elite" flag on another table. No one could explain its significance or the process by which those guests were identified as having status.

Even though the restaurant was really busy, to the extent that it wasn't a relaxing place to be, breakfast was still positive overall. The staff were keen and efficient, the buffet selection was extensive and everything we tried was really well prepared.

We had lunch at Mosaic on the day we arrived and had dinner there one evening. The staff were friendly and flexible, happy to take our a la carte orders despite being really busy with large family groups who'd come for the festive buffet. Diamond status got us a 30% discount on food and (non-alcoholic) drinks.

The "Connexions" bar was extremely chilly and didn't really seem prepared for guests wanting beer rather than spirits or cocktails. I think I'm right in saying that they had 11 different beers on the menu, but in reality no more than two or three were actually available.

I'm sure that some things would have been different if the property hadn't been full and if our stay hadn't coincided with Christmas, so this report is just a data point to sit aside those from Atacama40 and BuildBackBetter . It's definitely not a negative review, just not so glowingly positive.