Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Old world

It is one of the remnants of a time when hotels were supposed to be a "home away from home". Charming, with many of the minor niggles that every home has - paint flaking off from a part of the wall, a drip that can be stopped only by gagging it with a dishcloth, or those ketchup stains on the carpet from that awesome party, which no amount of scrubbing can get rid of. Such things may have been cute a couple of generations ago; unfortunately, Madras Hotel Ashoka is still stuck in that calendar. 

There are a couple of things from that age which are worth staying at this hotel for. One of course is the chance that you get one of the better rooms, with space enough to host a ball. The feeling of space is heightened by the property - the lawns not actually manicured, but kind of spiffed up and the trees channeling the breeze into your room.

And the restaurant. That's something that no one can complain about, not even travellers who might have spotted something that shouldn't have been in their rooms. Madras Hotel Ashoka has positioned the entry to the property in such a way that it is Abhinandan, the restaurant that you are taken directly to. In a way that is okay, for the majority of visitors seem to be Chennai-ites going over for a quick bite or a leisurely lunch!




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