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Stayed at ITC Grand Chola Chennai: A delightful & surreal experience

18th October 2024, 08:03 by Deepankar Sadekar

As you enter the hotel premises, the logical left takes one to the first entry, which is typically where guests drop off to check in.

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Introduction:

"You Only Live Once" - and use that one life to experience someplace frequented but never stayed at. This is a brief account of my experiences during my first ever hotel stay in Chennai, and a real grand one at that - at the ITC Grand Chola!

Disclaimer: This is just a review of a great place to dine and stay; I am in no way associated with this establishment except that I completed my first visit there as a happy guest.

Summary of my experiences:

Likes:

Simply grand in appearance.
Extremely well kept for such a large property in its 12th year.
Hasn't fallen back on style despite being over a decade old.
Pleasing demeanour of the hosts and hostesses.
First time experience at being seated at check in any hotel.
Fantastic food - options and quality (although this time I only savored the multi-option buffet breakfast).
Designated smoking rooms.
Ample underground parking (though my car was handled by the valets).
Lot of tree cover around the hotel is still intact.

What could be improved:

Communication skills of the hosts/hostesses at the reception; they could be clearer when they explain what facilities guests are eligible to use; had to ask more than once to understand what they were trying to convey
Shower area in the room is showing its age - needs to be spruced up to bring it to par at newer hotels
Tab lighting controls - sometimes, the center chandelier light on on the Tab control shuts the other lights off

About the ITC Grand Chola (facts and numbers may not be accurate):

Inaugurated in late 2012, the hotel was touted to be the largest standalone hotel in India then.
One of the largest hotels in India, built on 15,000 sq.m of land
Built at an investment of INR 12,000 million
600 rooms
World’s largest (TBC) Platinum rated Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) Green hotel
One of the largest pillar-less ballrooms in the country
Energy requirement met through renewable sources
Multiple food and beverage locations
Rooms categorised as - Executive Club, ITC One, Tower, Serviced Apartments, Suites
Full room control on Tabs

My timeline with ITC Grand Chola:

Circa 2012: My visits to star hotels in Chennai was almost once a month, primarily to host company clients or visiting execs. The first time I set foot at the ITC Grand Chola was in late 2012, a few days after their hotel was inaugurated. In fact, back then, many wings of the hotel were still not ready. We, as a group, have dined multiple times at:

Madras Pavilion, where the offerings then were not commensurate with the overall grandeur that the hotel presented
Peshawri, serving cuisine from the northwest was class (and guess what - to keep the tradition there, no cutlery in this restaurant then. Not sure if it has changed now)
Pan Asian - quite good

How did the opportunity to stay here arise?

We were six of us and did not want to gatecrash at any of our relatives' places in Chennai. It was a quick trip to Chennai to help our guests with some shopping, with the best and quality options being available in Chennai. We were almost fixated with staying at GRT Grand or some equivalent hotel, when I suddenly thought, "There is no way we are ever going to stay in a hotel in Chennai since all our stays are at close relatives' places. Why not up the ante and try the Grand Chola? This would be an experience both for us and for the guests".

Booking, options and confirmation

Surprisingly, the ITC Hotels website offered the best rates, and when the option selected was three to a room, the Towers option was the best. Booking was seamless and all it asked for was a credit/debit card number for a pre-auth.

Travel to Chennai

Two cars, with one being my good ol' Grand Vitara. We had a tough time navigating a huge hold up short of Ratnagiri (near Vellore) on a festive day, but finally, we were at Hotel Alankar for a well deserved lunch. Post that, we headed straight to Mylapore,Chennai to do round#1 of purchases. No prizes for guessing what the shopping was about. Those familiar with Chennai know how bad Mylapore is with parking, and compounding the misery is the in-progress CMRL work, but being a Sunday helped and we parked at the official parking at Thirumayilai MRTS. All shops were at walking distance from here.

At the Thirumayilai MRTS parking:

Initial impressions at the Grand Chola:

We arrived at the hotel after round#1 of shopping. As you enter the hotel premises, the logical left takes one to the first entry, which is typically where guests drop off to check in. This is a rather small entrance. This is the first time I saw guests being seated during their check in.

The Lobby