PART 2
NOTE: The Hotel fares are not accurate for 2003!
Also, you may have to add a prefix of '2' before the actual phone number (after the STD code) as the numbers have changed!
Rajeev Kumar
Where To Stay:
There is a whole range of options, all within a radius of the maximum of a ten minute drive. You could check out:
The Connemara : Definitely very upper crust - 5 Star - a single room comes for Rs. 4100 + 35% taxes and the double for Rs.4500 +35% taxes. Room only. The Executive option gets you breakfast on the house and airport transfers (for Rs. 5,800 and Rs 6,300 respectively). You have a 24 hour multi cuisine coffee shop, a Continental grill, a Chettinad cuisine speciality restaurant, a swimming pool/health club and so on. This fine hotel is about 2kms away from the Consulate. They can be reached at 91-44-8520123.
The Chola Sheraton : Same category - 5 Star - with the usual frills of the swimming pool, health club, 24 hour coffee shop and speciality restaurants et al. Its less than a kilometre from the Consulate on the Radhakrishnan Salai (it frequently goes by its older, still colloquially used name of Cathedral Road). Single occupancy rates per day are Rs 5,000 plus taxes and double occupancy costs a marginally higher Rs. 5,300 plus taxes. You could call them at 91-44-828101 or e-mail at
fom.chola@welcomgroup.com.
The Taj Coromandel : Very definitely 5 Star . This segment cannot be complete without a referance to the very lovely Taj Coromandel on the Nungambakkam High Road, less than a kilometre from the Embassy - of the most blue blooded hue even in this rarified stratosphere of exclusive hospitality. Has all the works and then some in more in terms of a certain attitude/style. For Rs. 5,900 (+ 35% taxes) you get what they call their Superior room (which it certainly must be!) - double occupancy comes for Rs. 6,400 (plus the taxes). And then you have the Luxury version at Rs. 6,200 (plus taxes) for single occupancy while the double occupancy rates are Rs. 6,700 (plus 35%, of course). Call them at 91-44-8272827.
The Quality Inn Aruna : - 4 Star - A ten minute drive from on the Sterling Road end of the same part of the town. A single room will set you back by Rs. 2,600 + 35% as taxes and the double room comes for Rs.3,000 + the same taxes. They offer breakfast on the house and other than the coffee shop/restaurants/pool/florists/book shop they have a disco - they claim a health club too will be functional in 3-4 months. They can be reached at 91-44-8271881.
So yes, if you have the money to spare, these establishments promise to make you wish your work hadn't got wrapped up quite so fast!
The Palmgrove : - 3 Star - At Rs. 1300 plus taxes for a double room (they don't have the single room option and the only alternative would be their cottages which come for Rs. 2,350 plus the taxes) , a five minute distance from the Consulate, no swimming pool but a TV in every room and 2 vegetarian restaurants - this is in the mid-price segment. Reach them at 91-44-8271881.
The New Woodlands : 3 Star - This star rating is a claim which doesn't quite match up to the general facade of the hotel. Still, this is one of the oldest (nomenclature notwithstanding) players in the hospitality industry here, with a certain sense of space so lacking in the matchbox-highrise style of congested construction. They have tariff choices ranging from a double AC room at Rs. 650 + 25% taxes or the Deluxe AC version at Rs.975 plus 25% taxes or else the single nonAC room for Rs.300 + 20% tax - all with TV and (chargeable) phone connection while a swimming pool is available too. Just 1½ kms from the Consulate on the Radhakrishnan Salai (Salai just means road in Tamil, the State's official language) this is recommended for its modest charges, heresay reputation and good location. Their number is 91-44-8273111.
If all you need is a room somewhere (like the old song goes...but let it go no further for what you get may or may not be luverly) in the general 2 km radius around the Consulate you also have the Nirmala Dakshin (91-44-8520505) near the LIC building on Anna Salai or the Savera (91-44-8274700) on the Radhakrishnan Salai or even the 4 Star President on the Kodambakkam High Road (at 91-44-8271881). Please note that this list is the result of a comprehensive but not exhaustive survey.
The things you will need to get done:
Photocopying of Documents : Diagonally across the road from the Consulate on the other side of the Gemini flyover (officially the Anna Salai flyover) you have the commercial/office buildings of the Parsn Manere and the Parsn Commercial complexes which house every concievable utility/shop likely to be needed by anyone on official (or mostly even any other) business. Check out Kwality Xerox on the Ground Floor of the Parsn Commercial Complex (Phone 91-44-8275027) where you can get multi colour xerox/ photocopying of any size on a Modi xerox plan copier, laser printing, a promised rate of 150 copies per minute plus bulk photocopying and binding. You could also opt for Karthik Graphics (91-44-8274480) on the 1st Floor (shop no.26) at the Parsn Manere who have a Modi Engg Plan Printer AO size and computerized xerox A3 size option on paper, tracing paper and OHP film besides ammonia printing - but of course, the basic purpose of photocopying is easily accomplished for this location is chock-a-block with such little shops with the competition keeping the prices low (an average of Rs. 1 per copy) and the service uniformly reliable. The area falls totally silent on Sundays with most shops downing shutters on this, the weekly holiday. Other than that you can find one or the other open from 9 to 9.
Passport Size Photograph: Leaving behind the smaller shops you could opt for the reliable, brightly laid out and well-equipped Konica Colour Lab on Nungambakkam High Road (at 50 meters from the Parsn complexes, opposite Indian Oil Bhavan on the first floor of the Apex Plaza, right above the aptly named Landmark bookstore). They charge Rs.70 for a frontal snap and Rs. 75 for the side profile, passport size (12 copies each) and deliver in 2 hours. They also have the Photo-in-one-hour facility but since the difference in quality is stark and the time differential negligible, you could plan and opt for the regular version. They work Sundays too 9am to 5.30pm and on all other days between 8.30am to 8.00pm. (Phone : 91-44-8264562 or 91-44-8275878). Very similiar and equally recommended is the Fuji outlet opposite the Parsn complex.
Where to Eat: There are some very popular restaurants available close at hand. The Palimar at the Parsn complex maintains its long-standing reputation of good food at a good price - their a la carte as well as buffet fare is a reliable bet. Just next door on the Kodambakkam High Road you have the Komala Vilas (who made it big in Singapore which is also their USP around these parts) - basically South Indian fast food presented very hygienically and pleasantly. Of much the same category and equally tasty (though die-hard loyalists exist for both places) is the fast food chain outlet of the Saravana Bhavan on Peters Road (about 200 meters away from the Consulate, very near the Thousand Lights mosque). The Drive in Woodlands is an oasis of pleasing greenery (its only and perhaps singular charm - the food is just passable) in the heart of the metro - about 100 meters away from the Embassy on the Radhakrishnan Salai. Quite coincidentally, all these restaurants are vegetarian but for sheer convenience and quality in terms of distance and food respectively, they remain the best options. For just a quick bite you have the long established Bosotto Brothers bakery on the Nungambakkam High Road or you could opt for the equally nice and nearby Cakes n Bakes.
Time to pass and everywhere to go:
So there you are, waiting and waiting and well, waiting. If you want to get your mind off the stress of not knowing, you are certainly in the right part of the city. Check out the Landmark Bookstore (directions in the paragraph above) - a veritable treasure trove of books/CDs/audio tapes/cards which is just 3 minute walk from the Embassy. You could walk (5 mins) over to the Cottage Industries Exposition opposite the Taj Coromandel on the Nungambakkam High Road and have a look at how breathtaking (and no, that's not just the price tags we are discussing here) Indian arts and crafts can be. A ten minute drive and you could be at the old fashioned, high-ceiling, spaced out Higginbothams Booksellers or the exquisite (and sometimes even affordable) Tamil Nadu Government crafts outlet Poompuhar on the main Anna Salai itself. Nungambakkam High Road (Swarowski crystal among other such exclusive names), Khader Nawaz Khan Road (various private stores selling the very best in Indian handwork and textiles - carpets, cushions and curios uncommon) or Radhakrishnan Salai (the Aurobindo Ashram outlet) - all are within easy reach. A great way to while away a few hours and find a few gifts (even for yourself!).
Conclusion : With informed choices, plentiful patience and some luck you could turn your wait for a visa into a pleasant experience - one you may not be unwilling to repeat under less trying circumstances.
Hope this helps!
