[PatchyBoy]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

Deluxe : Family (1800 per room).
Are these rates OK with all who are coming ?
Or do we search for other places ?

I am OK with this rate. Should I go ahead and make the booking?

Cheers,
Rajan

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by bottle

biju, me and saiyan are confirming for super deluxe , so thats 2* 970 i guess ?

It is 970 with 3 people sharing the room. With only 2 people, their rate is 1250 per person. You could ofcourse have another person share the room with you two, which would bring the room rent to 970.

Originally Posted by PatchyBoy

I am OK with this rate. Should I go ahead and make the booking?

Hold on, Rajan. Let me talk to them today, get the final rates and we can do a bulk booking instead of everyone doing individual bookings. Will let you know via this thread.

As per what was posted on this thread and the PMs I got, this is the list of people who are either confirmed or are tentatively confirmed . I have mentioned their room preference also alongside.

Confirmed list :
1. supremeBaleno (Deluxe)
2. esteem_lover
3. nitrous (Executive Suite)
4. bottle (Super Deluxe)
5. saiyan (Super Deluxe)
6. nickatnite
7. Patchyboy + wife (Deluxe)
8. headers
9. AnandTheLeo (SuperDeluxe)
10. FieryEnzyme (Executive Suite)
11. mail4ajo
12. neoranjit
13. phoenix

Not confirmed yet :
Arka + Deep
iraghava + 1
condor + 1
iceman91 + friends
brraj
mclaren1885 + others
kb100
Rahulkool
madan80
khan_sultan + 1

I hope I did not miss anyone. If so, please excuse and add your names to the list.
Do correct the list to add your room preference or if you see any mistake or if you want to change the room preference. Just ensure that you copy the whole confirmed list onto your post with your correction made, so that we can see the confirmed list at a glance instead of having to go through various posts. Thanks.

[supremeBaleno]

I talked to the manager Mr.Iyyappan just now. He says he is not authorised to give discounts on weekends and will need to talk to his MD and will let me know tomorrow.
What I have asked him is as below :
Deluxe rooms @ 600 per head (3 to a room)
Suites @ 800 per head ( 4 to a room).

He said that since his MD is close to the owner of NTS Travels, there is a slight possibility of discounts, but he is not committing anything. My gut feeling is that he will get back with "no discount" reply.

And he mentioned that weekends are typically fully booked for them. So we need to confirm and send across the money by mid-August atleast. So, guys firm up your plans by mid week and confirm ASAP.

I googled some other Pondy options, but they are costlier than this. I am really suprised Pondy is costlier than Goa. :-(

[bottle]

^ will wait for your update on rates. its better we do a bulk booking rather than individual

[prabhuav]

Hey I might be able to make it if there are some families in.

[nitrous]

@Prabhuav: Patchy boy and his better half are joining. Khan_sultan would also join with his wife if you're bringing your family along.

[amohit]

Originally Posted by nitrous

@Prabhuav: Patchy boy and his better half are joining. Khan_sultan would also join with his wife if you're bringing your family along.

And the fourth family comes in here.
I'm also in!
Me and my wife.

Regards,

[supremeBaleno]

Wow, from the way Bloreans are showing interest, looks like this is going to be a twin-city meet rather than a Chennai meet as it was originally intended.

[VJ_MAVRICK]

I am also planning to come down from Bangy and how soon do i let you guys know about the hotel reservation as my wife and brother too might join.

[supremeBaleno]

headers, esteem_lover, neoranjit, nitrous, nickatnite,
guys can we meet up one weekday night (today or tomorrow or day-after) to discuss this meet and firm up the plans ?

P.S. : I am sorry that I am not here on Fri nights or weekends. But if weekday nights are inconvenient, maybe you guys could meet up on a Friday and firm up plans - stay, time of leaving Chennai, return etc etc.

I googled a bit and came across Banyan Beach Resort with tariff of Rs800 upwards.
Unable to reach the phone numbers mentioned. From pics, it looks like cottages on the beach.

@shekaran, if it is not too much trouble, would it be possible to get tariff details of this one and also how many rooms/cottages available ?

Originally Posted by VJ_MAVRICK

how soon do i let you guys know about the hotel reservation as my wife and brother too might join.

Looks like we would need to firm up reservation plans max by 15-16 of this month and pay up the rent in advance around that time.

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

I googled a bit and came across Banyan Beach Resort with tariff of Rs800 upwards.
Unable to reach the phone numbers mentioned. From pics, it looks like cottages on the beach.

That is closed i think.

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

@shekaran, if it is not too much trouble, would it be possible to get tariff details of this one and also how many rooms/cottages available ?

Shekaran if you could also visit a couple of those beach side resorts close to James Court, it would be nice to know the different tarriffs.

I am sorry SB i cannot confirm my hotel bookings right now, but i am in for the drive all right.

[supremeBaleno]

There is also the Govt owned SeaGulls resort at Chunnambar, which is quite economical. Anyone stayed there or have any idea how good/bad it is ?

[shekaran]

Folks,
1st - St.james court will be the best, most decent accomodation(if families accompany you) for you, in both parking wise and also the food and beverages.
2nd - there are cheaper hotels, to stay, but without adequate parking, or without the sea view, which is not considered in my option.
3rd - i will look for other options within wednesday, and let you know the numbers.
4th - i have told mr.iyyapan, to get a discount, which would be what you expected. but it is a 50-50 chance of getting discounts in weekends. so, lets hope, try ....
5th - the standard rooms in the st.james court beach resort are under reconstruction, which i would not recommend to you, whole heartedly...
6th - if you are all only gents, coming, i can find less cheaper options, which have a basic bed, toilet, and without a/c, in the range of 1200 rupees/room, for 3 persons. would this suite anyone, who brings the wifes,kids along ? i doubt so....
7th - try the sooriya hotel, which has also has a good parking, in the centre of the city. here you can try the various hotels, around the hotel, for food and beverages, at a more cheaper rate, instead of room service.

i have shortlisted 3 more hotels for you, on my experience.
1.Hotel Sooriya - 90% equivalent to st.james court - food and beverages available both inhouse, and also nearby, at good economical rates. room service - good, but not the best.
2.Hotel Shree Sairam - 75% of st.james court - economical, but no food. beverages available nearby, at cheapest wholesale rate. so you have to buy to the rooms, for economy. room service - ok, manageable.
3.Hotel Aditya - 50% of st.james court, but cheaper, with basic ameneties. you have the velu military hotel, in their hotel building, so food will not be a problem. beverages, you can buy nearby, cheaply. room service - ok, manageable.

you can contact any of the above 3 hotels, and book, but pls note, that, i have suggested these as a cheaper alternatives only. so folks, dont blame me, if you have any dissatisfactions in the room service or quality.

lastly, in my opinion, st.james court would be the best decent, memorable accomodation, if any wifes,kids tag alongwith. also the sea view, and the room service would be likeable. but one last tip from me. dont buy beverages from st.james court, inhouse. you can get them, nearby, to the right of the main gate (when you enter), at a price 40% cheaper than inhouse rates. so, guys, if you dont mind some walking, some planning, you can even the room tariffs, with the beverages bill. but the food will be great, from my friends opinions, in st.james, so nothing to worry.

bye, have a nice day.

[supremeBaleno]

That's quite some information, Shekaran. Thanks a lot.
And ofcourse, we have no issues doing a little walking/planning if that will get us beverages at 40% less.

Hotel Sooriya seems to have quite some nice options in rooms at economical rates - ofcourse no attached beach with this hotel. Maybe guys who can only confirm at the last minute can try this option (if no rooms available at St.James) and use the room just to crash at night, while spending rest of the time with the gang at St.James.

If we get the discounted tariff we asked for at St.James, it would be the best bet IMO. Will know when I call up Mr.Iyyappan today.

[supremeBaleno]

OK, called Iyyappan at St.James just now and as I expected, no discount. He cites good rooms, full weekends etc as reasons for not giving discounts.

So, now our 3 main options are :

1. St.James (at the rates I mentioned previously, which are net, no breakfast and with checkout time of 24 hours). On the beach.

2. Hotel Mass :
Had asked Hotel Mass for their best rates and got a call from them just now. All their Standard Single and Double rooms costing 1800 and 2000 are booked by a group of students from Trivandrum for that weekend.

For the Deluxe rooms, the tariff offered is
Deluxe-Single - 2200 + 600 (extra person) - 200 discount = 2600 (for 3 people).
Deluxe-Double - 2400 + 600 (extra person) - 200 discount = 2800 (for 3 people).

Again prices are net, but include breakfast. No private beach.

3. Hotel Sooriya :
A/c single room (2 to a room) : 400 per person.
A/c double room (2 to a room) : 425 per person.
A/c double room (3 to a room) : 350 per person.
No breakfast and no beach.

Which of these do we go for, guys ?


Just to update the list, based on recent posts/PMs -

Confirmed list :
1. supremeBaleno (Deluxe)
2. neoranjit (Deluxe)
3. ph03n!x (Deluxe)

3. Patchyboy + wife (Deluxe)
4. amohit + wife (Deluxe)

5. nitrous (Executive Suite)
6. FieryEnzyme (Executive Suite)

7. bottle (Super Deluxe)
8. saiyan (Super Deluxe)
9. AnandTheLeo (SuperDeluxe)

10. mail4ajo
11. nickatnite
12. headers


esteem_lover (accomodation to be confirmed later)

Tentative list :
Arka + Deep
iraghava + 1
condor + 1
iceman91 + friends
brraj
mclaren1885 + others
kb100
Rahulkool
madan80
khan_sultan + 1
prabhuav + 1
VJmavrick + wife + bro

Hope I did not miss anyone. If so, please PM me or post here and I will update it when I put up the list next time. Also do PM/post to add or modify your room preference.

P.S. : Those in the Tentative list, please confirm your plans as soon as possible.