So here's where I was (or a hotel in pictures)
I was most impressed by the understated elegance of this place, located in Mamallapuram just outside Chennai (MAA), when I was there over 2 days for a conference. It is a Club Carlson property, and though I am not a regular at their hotels, I still managed to get my points for this stay. I must admit that I didn't get to explore the property much (at all, actually), but that doesn't detract from my impressions of this as a spectacular resort facility!
The welcome was in some sense, traditional - a garland of small shells.
I headed straight for my conference, and for obvious reasons, I can't share pictures of the large, well-appointed ballroom where our conference was taking place. But I did manage this some from the foyer area leading to the banquet rooms.
During the break, I went back to my room to make sure I got a few pictures, and those are going to be the meat of this post. And of course, there's a large (and I mean, L.A.R.G.E) meandering pool that is almost at the doorstep of every room (except the beachfront villas that I didn't get to visit). This pervades the entire main section of the property, and looks really beautiful at night.
Now, to the rooms...Parts of the exterior - particularly the small verandah just outside the room, and the heavy wooden door - are done up largely in the traditional Pallava / Tamil style of architecture. The verandah has an inclined seating facility built into the wall, which is quite convenient for the early morning cup of coffee.
There's a small vestibule, that leads to the rest of the room. A clothes closet branches off to the right, but the rest of the room is in plain view. As you can see, the room itself is quite spacious, in spite of the king size bed, the couch, the lazy chair with the ottoman and the work desk.
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| Closet |
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| View from the vestibule |
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| Bed and antique furniture |
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| Same bed, different perspective. Minibar in the niche to the side of the bed |
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| Look ma! Lots of space!!! |
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| Lights on |
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| View from the window |
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| Looks a bit prettier in the evening, don't you think? |
A sliding door to the right opens up into the bathroom, which is certainly larger than your average hotel bathroom. The bath supplies, however, didn't leave much of an impression.
In the evening, I found some fruit, a small box of cookies and some chocolate, with the next day's weather forecast handwritten, on the table. Nice touch!
The property generally offers complimentary unlimited wi-fi, and I found the access speeds to be extremely good. I didn't get to use the restaurant much because of my conference, and all meals were separately served. However, the food they served us was quite spectacular - across all cuisines they had on the buffet.
Will I return here? Is there any doubt?
[Update - March 2014]
- What's good: room size, beach attached to property, great swimming pool, excellent F&B
- What could be better: many rooms are a really long walk from the reception area, distance from city, bath amenities could be a whole lot better
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