Jul 28, 2006 06:40 PM
10431 Views
Hi all
I had been to pondy with my spouse to spend the weekend. Did some decent research on the net for the hotels there and shortlisted on St James Court. On hindsight I feel that if I was willing to spend some more money "Promenade" by Hidesign would have been better.
The room rates vary from 1200 / 1800 & 2500. 2500 is for the family suite which mite not be an ideal one for couple. the 1200 rooms are situated in the front (closer to the beach) and the remaining ones are a bit behind. the rooms are decent. the 1800 rooms are of a bigger size and have a bath tub.
Though I did enjoy my stay in the rooms where St james court comes a total cropper is the quality of the food and the room service. if u want to have good food and want a good place then St james is not the ideal place. The food is way below average with half the menu items not there. in our entire stay the tandoor kitchen was not operating. Room service is another questionable thing at this place.
Mind you I have travelled and stayed at hotels in similar range ( Rs. 1000 - Rs. 2500 ) and found this place a bit on the costlier side and did not have a great value for my money. However if you want to get out of the hustle and bustle of the city life go to this place. provided u are willing to go to pondichery( which is 8 kms from there) for your lunch and dinner.
The advantages of this place is that its very calm and once u go to ur room you need not be bothered about the other things.
However if you are going to pondy with your spouse / family do not look at the lower range hotels. the reason being majority of the hotels are bookedon the weekends by people from neighbouring places like chennai etc who come to pondi to booze and create a lot of disturbacne for other inmates.
if you are not looking for a beach resort "Surguru" near ananda theater would be a decent bet. or if ur willing to go that extra mile then u can always stay at the promenade.
Some Not to be missed places in pondicherry
The Aurobindo Ashram
Auroville ( this is nearly 15 Kms from pondicherry on the ECR road). Mind you construction work is still going here and all u can see is a big dome that too from nearly 250 mts. You will have to walk nearly a KM to reach the dome.For elderly persons they do provied a battery operated vehicle.
Check out the Anglo French Textiles branch in Mission Street. You get some excellent quality stuff at great prices there. ( Buy only cotton materials)
Lallu Ice cream - one of my favourite kulfis are availble here.
The back waters too are very good for some time pass
Team Tiger
