Luxury houseboats set to transform Krishna river

AP Tourism’s plan to introduce luxury houseboats on the Krishna River promises to redefine river tourism by blending comfort with the quiet charm of life on the water.

Kerala-based Grandeur Cruise Group is set to bring scale and spectacle to the river with two dinner cruises capable of hosting 200 guests at a time. Designed as floating entertainment centers, the ships will feature dance decks and a restaurant. The ships will be built at Pavithra Sangamam ghat in Ibrahimpatnam and are expected to be ready in time for the festival season by Dasara.

“One will be a five-bedroom luxury dining cruise ship with a private dance deck and a full-service restaurant. Measuring 125 feet in length and spanning 7,000 square feet across two decks, it will be the largest houseboat in Andhra Pradesh with the capacity to accommodate up to 200 guests at a time,” says George Sebastian of Grandeur Group.

To talk HinduHe said the ship was designed for a world-class dinner cruise experience, with a banquet hall, facilities for corporate events, a DJ and party lounge that will offer guests the perfect mix of dining, dancing and entertainment on the water.

Simple India Group is another firm that offers two different floating experiences, a capsule house and a floating pod. The compact yet indulgent capsule house is designed as a luxurious one-room retreat, while the floating capsule offers additional space for guests who prefer a more spacious stay.

“It will be a day-long experience with check-in starting at 2 pm and check-out at 10 am the next day, allowing visitors to experience the most magical hours on the river, sunset and sunrise, from the comfort of the slowly moving boat,” says Paparao Gummadapu, promoter and CEO of Simple India Group. “The goal is to allow people to experience Krishna at his most serene and beautiful,” he says.

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu officially launched two houseboats recently. Mr Paparao, a native of Mylavaram in NTR district, is happy that interest has already started to pick up and inquiries are pouring in before official bookings open. Although the tariffs have not been finalized yet, the cost is expected to vary between ₹8,000 and ₹10,000 per night, he informed.

The momentum doesn’t stop there. Tarun Kakani, owner of Amaravati Boat Club in Vijayawada, has floated a proposal to run a three-bedroom luxury houseboat on Krishna, further expanding options for families and groups looking for a special river experience.

This new wave of luxury offerings will be in addition to the existing fleet of nine cruise boats operated by AP Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC). These include popular ships like Bodhisri, Maitri, Vennela, ML Vijayalakshmi, AP Boat, Bhavani, Jagadamba and Jalajakshi, along with a polycraft. The nine APTDC boats have a total capacity of approximately 350 passengers and are used to transport visitors from Haritha Berm Park to the picturesque Bhavani Island on the Krishna River.

With luxury houseboats, dinner cruises and bespoke floating accommodations on the horizon, the Krishna River is all set to emerge as the lifeline of Andhra Pradesh tourism in the coming days.