-
I’ve just scraped-in 241 flights to Chennai the day before my voucher expires! We’re planning a month in India, based in Chennai so we can see some IPL games next year (I’m CSK & OH is team GT).
If anyone has anything to contribute about Chennai, please dive in. Should we rent a place or live in hotels? Any recommendations for anything at all?
TIA 🙂I’ve just scraped-in 241 flights to Chennai the day before my voucher expires! We’re planning a month in India, based in Chennai so we can see some IPL games next year (I’m CSK & OH is team GT).
If anyone has anything to contribute about Chennai, please dive in. Should we rent a place or live in hotels? Any recommendations for anything at all?
TIA 🙂Which month? IPL is usually March to May which coincides with the hottest and most humid season at chennai. Have you been there before?
There’s little to see in chennai. A day or two for the shore temples (an hour away) and the beach. Unless you are keen on temples, skip the city and fly elsewhere like kerala or karnataka or goa in the south.
Hello & thanks for taking an interest!
O/W is 31st March & return not available yet so sometime late April. Yes, we’ll miss the final but hope to see a good few games, not just in Chennai.
I’ve lived & worked in Delhi & Mumbai and travelled in many (diverse) areas. Heat isn’t an issue and we’re “India aware” as far as all the caveats go.
Is Chennai not pleasant enough to use as a base and take overnight trips to regional matches?I’ve been to Mumbai, New Delhi, Jaipur, Agra, Kochi & Chennai. I’d be happy to visit any of them again apart from Chennai, the Crowne Plaza is OK if you have status, avoid the Intercon. The place really didn’t have anything going for it at all.
Probably OTT for a month but we loved the Leela Palace….
The place really didn’t have anything going for it at all.
Oh dear, not encouraging. I don’t recall if I’ve been in Kochi but I’ve seen all the other places in depth and I would expect that not many other areas would equal them for magnificence.
However, I suppose I’m not really looking to find out if it’s a tourist heaven but rather if it has readily accessible pleasant, leafy suburbs where we can just live in a decent place day to day, enjoying the ambiance & lifestyle between attending cricket matches.
And yes, you’re thinking I could have made that clearer…and you’re right;-)Probably OTT for a month but we loved the Leela Palace….
Great, thanks, I’ll have a look at that. Are you willing to share where you stayed & other details please?
the Crowne Plaza is OK
Sadly the hotel has been demolished to give way for apartments. It got its own wiki though.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crowne_Plaza_Chennai_Adyar_Park@BBbetter That’s a shame, decent hotel but not in a particularly nice location.
However, I suppose I’m not really looking to find out if it’s a tourist heaven but rather if it has readily accessible pleasant, leafy suburbs where we can just live in a decent place day to day, enjoying the ambiance & lifestyle between attending cricket matches.
The city offers very little that is unique or relaxing or enjoyable. Its a decent city from a logistics point of view, with a functioning airport and midrange hotels, but nothing else. If you must need a leafy suburb to relax, look at Alwarpet.
Best to get out and spend time elsewhere between the matches. There are plenty of places to visit in that country or region.Btw, as GillyDee mentioned, leela palace is probably the best hotel there. ITC Grand Chola is another to consider.
about an hour and a bit down the road south from chennai is the fishing village thats also abit of a beach and tourist destination of Mamallapuram, ive stayed here a few times rather than stay in chennai itself, and its easy to taxi to airport to/from here.
A couple hours further south is Pondicherry, worth checking out for the mix of old french and indian vibes, the white town area just back from the sea front was the french area of town and still have some nice buildings, nice for a few days, pretty relaxing for anywhere in IndiaPondicherry is supposed to be lovely, Mahabalipuram is definitely worth a day trip. Rick Stein went to a seafood restaurant there if you can find the video.
If you are a massive cricket fan and you havent visited it before, Dharamshala is one i would suggest. A bit of pain to get to, but its a stunning setting for a game of cricket.
Pondicherry is supposed to be lovely, Mahabalipuram is definitely worth a day trip. Rick Stein went to a seafood restaurant there if you can find the video.
Yes Pondicherry is lovely for a few days. Chilled ambience with small heritage hotels and good food. You should take a trip out to Auroville.
Hotels – we stayed at the Leela Palace but I would stay again as the beds were rock hard and they had no mattress toppers. We stayed at the Taj Connemara a lovely heritage hotel for our last 2 days and if we ever go again that is where we would stay. Service was wonderful.
We did stay at the IC Mahahalibalipuram and although it wasn’t perfect we enjoyed it especially as we got the VIP treatment due to being friends of Mr @strickers😂. We were only Diamond Ambassadors but were given access to the lounge offerings on the beach.
The driver who took us to the sites also took us to what he said was the restaurant that Rick Stein visited but it wasn’t. Our driver from Pondy took us to the right restaurant.
@qc One good turn deserves another.
The place really didn’t have anything going for it at all.
Oh dear, not encouraging. I don’t recall if I’ve been in Kochi but I’ve seen all the other places in depth and I would expect that not many other areas would equal them for magnificence.
However, I suppose I’m not really looking to find out if it’s a tourist heaven but rather if it has readily accessible pleasant, leafy suburbs where we can just live in a decent place day to day, enjoying the ambiance & lifestyle between attending cricket matches.
And yes, you’re thinking I could have made that clearer…and you’re right;-)Will there be cricket matches in Cochin as it could well fit your criteria for finding somewhere pleasant to live as well doing boat trips on the backwaters as well as to the tea plantations in Munal. Kerala has the advantage of being the most educated state with most signage in English as well as Malayalam.
I really liked the Welcomhotel By ITC in Chennai, it’s a brilliant hotel. Can’t say much about the area though, I was there for a wedding and was getting taxis to and from the various wedding events. Didn’t have much of a chance to explore.
Would also recommend a visit to Pondicherry, I used Uber intercity to get there from Chennai and found it to be comfortable and good value. I had a very enjoyable few days at the Promenade hotel in the white town. I also stayed at the Radisson resort which is just outside Pondicherry, it was good for a day or two but I found myself bored after that and swiftly moved on.
If you decide to visit Pondy, some nice authentic hotels at Pondy managed by CGH earth. They may even be available on other sites like SLH or Mr & Mrs Smith. Just a note of warning that it can get as hot as 35-40 degrees sometimes during the day.
And talking about CGH earth – their hotels are worth considering for an authentic experience in south India.
Just reiterating my appreciation for everyone’s helpful input; I’m very grateful and (when I have time to check back here), I’m finding everything really interesting and will research each suggestion carefully.
And no, @qc sadly there are no IPL teams in the whole SW quarter of India (roughly). The 10 teams are from Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Mullanpur and Lucknow. We’re looking towards Kolkata for away matches, although OH supports the Ahmedabad team.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
Popular articles this week:
