For vacation, my favourite place is Kerala. You get choice of places, resorts, comforts you like; and all major chain of resorts are present in India. Most of the star properties in Kerala are well-maintained, connectivity from Chennai being easier and cheaper too. This year for summer holiday’s last week I went to the recently opened property in Vayalar, Kerala called Vasundhara Sarovar Premiere. It is about 60kms from Cochin International Airport, taking about 2 Hours by road.
Vasundhara Sarovar was a nice looking property tucked in the middle of a small village with rows of cottage industries making coir. 
We went as a large family with about 10 Adults and 4 Children, so we took all the 4 Deluxe Suites and then 1 Floating cottage. The Floating cottages were rooms with all comforts but floating on a small man-made lake, which itself was on the shore of the massive Vembanad lake. 
The resort also has an option of staying in one of their houseboats which goes for two days in Vembanad lake before returning, I didn’t opt for this.
The floating cottage had a Jacuzzi Pool inside which was hours of fun for the kids. 
In the evenings there were boat rides in Vembanad lake that were enjoyable especially the beautiful sunsets.
During the few days, we stayed at the hotel, the food was good, the choices in the buffet for all 3 meals were impressive and tasty. On my request, the Chef managed to organize especially for our group Spice Icecreams (Cardamom, Pepper, Ginger).
Armed with my Nikon D7000 I tried various portraits of family members on different backgrounds and the Monopod I had bought recently was helpful. Unlike a Tripod, Monopods are easy to carry, setup, lightweight yet provide the stability the camera needs for good shots. One of the photos I liked was the below night shot taken by placing firmly the camera on the ground far away from the scene.