[rameshnanda]

Originally Posted by coolclouds

GQ is the best route but if you have lot of time and looking for a pleasant drive, one way you can try Chamarajnagar route.

Park Plaza (Opp. Railway station)/ Alankar Grand should be close to your budget I guess.

Oh Man. Both these hotels are expensive and not even close to 1.5-2K . But, Alankar Grand is awesome and food is brilliant.

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by rameshnanda

Oh Man. Both these hotels are expensive and not even close to 1.5-2K . But, Alankar Grand is awesome and food is brilliant.

Grand Plaza is 2100+taxes for double but will get 10-15% discount easily

Edit: Oh I missed City Tower.. its a good hotel in the heart of the city

[rameshnanda]

Originally Posted by coolclouds

Grand Plaza is 2100+taxes for double but will get 10-15% discount easily

Edit: Oh I missed City Tower.. its a good hotel in the heart of the city

Sir, you first talked about Park Plaza and Alankar Grand. Both these hotels are expensive and room rates won't be less than 4k for sure .

What you have recommended now is Grand Plaza. Hotel City tower is way better than Grand Plaza in terms of room quality and service.

[demonashes]

Originally Posted by rameshnanda

NH7 and NH47 is always better but, you will have to bear the pain of under construction stretch from Chengapalli-Coimbatore. If you like to completely bypass this stretch and need a smooth drive and don't mind an extra 30Kms, then the route I recommend would be Bangalore-Salem-Bhavani-Gopichettipalayam-Sathy-Coimbatore. Road condition in this stretch is awesome.

For your budget of 1.5-2K, I would recommend Hotel City Tower, Gandhipuram. Link - Hotel City Tower - Tower of Taste. They have ample space for car parking. Rooms are very decent. I recommend you to book this hotel through Travelguru or Makemytrip to get a better deal.

Originally Posted by rameshnanda

Sir, you first talked about Park Plaza and Alankar Grand. Both these hotels are expensive and room rates won't be less than 4k for sure .

What you have recommended now is Grand Plaza. Hotel City tower is way better than Grand Plaza in terms of room quality and service.

Thanks for the inputs everyone. I'm not too rigid on my budget, I'll pay for a decent place. Just that I don't want to pay for something that I wouldn't even use (viz Pool/Jacuzzi). Simply an overnight stay in a clean place. City Tower looks good on their website. Will see if I can get a booking there.
Has anyone traveled on Chamarajanagar route lately? Are the roads good?

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by rameshnanda

Sir, you first talked about Park Plaza and Alankar Grand. Both these hotels are expensive and room rates won't be less than 4k for sure .

What you have recommended now is Grand Plaza. Hotel City tower is way better than Grand Plaza in terms of room quality and service.

Brother.. sorry if I mislead you. Please find Park Plaza available at a cheaper rate. I was little confused about the rates as my company got a sweet corporate rate in some of these hotels.

[rameshnanda]

Originally Posted by coolclouds

Brother.. sorry if I mislead you. Please find Park Plaza available at a cheaper rate. I was little confused about the rates as my company got a sweet corporate rate in some of these hotels.

Never mind. Rs. 2600 for Park Plaza is great value for money. They quote more than 4k in their website itself.

[rameshnanda]

Originally Posted by demonashes

Thanks for the inputs everyone. I'm not too rigid on my budget, I'll pay for a decent place. Just that I don't want to pay for something that I wouldn't even use (viz Pool/Jacuzzi). Simply an overnight stay in a clean place. City Tower looks good on their website. Will see if I can get a booking there.
Has anyone traveled on Chamarajanagar route lately? Are the roads good?

I haven't done this road (Chamrajnagar) recently. Check post no. 386 in this thread. People are claiming that the road is in very good shape.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post2566255

[jkrishnakj]

I took the this route on my return from Coimbatore to Bangalore on the 13th. Roads continue to be good. We encountered very heavy rains after crossing Dhimbam and had to considerably slow down. The other thing that can slow you down are the narrow roads thru villages. I would still go with this route.

[pareshraheja]

Update: Thanks all for the route suggestion. As I finished my meeting in Blr early on 16 Nov, decided to leave the same day.

Now, the obvious choice was to take the more scenic route. Made a few blunders but all is well that ends well.

The first blunder was to cut across the heart of city from Sadashivnagar to reach Kanakpura road. But, as we crossed Metro cash and carry things improved and I was surprised to see the pace of the Metro rail construction. Was there 3 years back and the works had not even started. When we crossed under the NICE road, I told myself how stupid I was not to climb onto it near Jindals on Tumkur road. It would have saved us some time and muscle effort.

The road was good all along except for a few patches. The only difficulty we faced was finding the directions within towns. But, it was worth it.

Reached Charmrajnagar at about 6 pm and halted for some Dosa and coffee at Mayur's. Left there at 6:20 PM and that’s when the fun and adventure began.

Caught a white TATA Safari with number 7777 and kept tailgating him right upto Sathy. Man, this guy was quick and experienced. Was doing a constant 100-110 in the dark through the forest.

The drive through the forest and the ghat’s was nothing short of spectacular. Was wondering how will it be to drive through in the day. The best part was the discipline everyone follows on the ghat. The way the trucks were coming up was unbelievable. Came across at-least 5 such hairpins where the turning radius was not sufficient for them to turn. They would stop right next to the wall and then reverse the truck in the middle of the hair pin. (read : 3 point u-turn in the Palio). The other vehicles behind would wait at-least 20 feet away and that too patiently. I pinched myself and asked: are we in India, then pinched again and asked: are we inTamil Nadu.. WoW!

We reached Sathy 2 mins to 8 PM and this is where we made the next blunder. Was so impressed by the Safari guy that kept blindly following him not knowing that through Sathy town there are two exits; one to Coimbatore and the other to Erode. 20 km down the highway to Erode stopped for a bio break and this is where we lost the safari guy. Kept driving till the point where a milestone read Erode 44 km. Slowed down and started asking the locals along the road for way to Coimbatore. Some suggested we go back 20 km to Sathy and then take Coimbatore road whereas other suggested a few shortcuts. Decided to go through the shortcuts and after 20 minutes reached the Coimbatore road.

Finally reached our guest house by 10 pm.

Planning to return to Blr today via NH 47 plus NH 7

[luvurride]

Originally Posted by rameshnanda

But, remember that the rains started just before Diwali and there are chances that road might have been affected. Lets check it out if any one traveled in this stretch after the rains.

Thanks @rameshnanda for making me remember this route which I've comfortably forgotten for more than a year. Did try this on my trip to Coimbatore last week and was pleasantly surprised with the improved road conditions! You are right: Thoppur-Mecheri is recently tarred except for some bad patches as soon as you enter the road from Thoppur. Otherwise roads were good till Mettur. And even better after Mettur! But gets really bad about 5km before Ammapettai with some big pot holes, most definitely due to rains! Ammapettai-Anthiyur-Athani-Sathy is all good. Overall it took me 6.30hrs from Whitefield to Ramanathapuram, Cbe. It was raining throughout and we should've had about a 45min stop at AAB, Thoppur for snacks and a 15min break at Anthiyur for Tea. Considering that it was a night travel, I think the timing is decent.

[Rajesh1968]

Hi All,

I did the Bangalore to Tiruppur over the weekend, do it once in a quarter, it seems to be an uneventful drive. The roads are similar to GQ, but toll seems to be high. Similar to GQ no restaurants, both veg or non veg, barring the one at A2B at Chinnar and befor Thopur ghats and Krishna and Kamath on the BLR - KGIRI stretch. Beyond A2B not many good ones unless you go to Salem.

The drive took us about 4.5 hours with a 30 minute break included

[arun_josie]

How is the Mist/Fog condition in Bangalore - Krishnagiri/Salem stretch? Any one traveled very recently? I am planning to take this stretch to Nagercoil on 24th, 4:00 AM start.

[bantejas]

All,
Has anyone taken the NH-209 to Coimbatore recently? Any idea on how the road conditions are? I know that it is bad near Chamarajnagar and highway is beautiful otherwise. End destination for us is Palghat. I am going with a friend's family in an ANHC (they have a 3 year old along with them).

Thanks,
Tejas

[kala]

Originally Posted by bantejas

All,
Has anyone taken the NH-209 to Coimbatore recently? Any idea on how the road conditions are? I know that it is bad near Chamarajnagar and highway is beautiful otherwise. End destination for us is Palghat. I am going with a friend's family in an ANHC (they have a 3 year old along with them).

No issues near Chamarajnagar, the road is quite good there too.

Rough roads for about 2-3 kms on either side of Kollegal town, that's probably the worst part of the whole route. They were doing some maintenance work in those areas the last time I passed through - about 3 weeks ago, so could have improved.

If your end destination is Palghat and you're travelling in the next few days, please do check on the road blockade situation before venturing on the trip.

[m8002?]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

How is the Mist/Fog condition in Bangalore - Krishnagiri/Salem stretch? Any one traveled very recently? I am planning to take this stretch to Nagercoil on 24th, 4:00 AM start.

Last year left around 5am and it was bad till Hosur ( visibility around 10 min ) but it improved after that. One qualis guy driving fast crashed into the divider before attibele junction.

Originally Posted by kala

No issues near Chamarajnagar, the road is quite good there too.

Rough roads for about 2-3 kms on either side of Kollegal town, that's probably the worst part of the whole route. They were doing some maintenance work in those areas the last time I passed through - about 3 weeks ago, so could have improved.

If your end destination is Palghat and you're travelling in the next few days, please do check on the road blockade situation before venturing on the trip.

I am tempted to take this. How is the mist in the mornings? Planning to leave around 6 am. A little apprehensive since it a 2 lane undivided road. Is it easy to find the way in small towns like Malavalli, Kollegal, etc?


Also, any good hotels for breakfast on the way?