Need to know
Rooms
18.
Check–Out
11am, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 2pm, also flexible.
More details
Rates include breakfast.
Also
Don’t rush through the entrance hall – it regularly plays host to exciting art exhibitions that are worth a wander around.
At the hotel
Reading lounge, terrace, pool deck and free WiFi throughout. In rooms: a flatscreen TV, minibar, free bottled water, local bath products, air-conditioning and tea- and coffee-making facilities.
Our favourite rooms
Each room within this heritage building – set along the colonnade, with a sitting area overlooking the pool – has its own character, but soaring ceilings, arched doorways and electric punkahs are a given. Rich, red-ochre floors contrast with the clean, whitewashed walls. For a stately stay, book one of the rooms that has a four-poster bed.
Poolside
There’s an unheated, adults-only pool out in the central courtyard, with sunloungers arranged to admire the hotel’s yolk-yellow walls and white arches.
Spa
The spa is more of an Ayurveda Centre, with resident doctors available for consultations and medical advice, as well as the usual massage and facial menu.
Packing tips
Bring clothing made from loose, meditation-friendly linen; and an extra (empty) suitcase to fill with Pondicherry-procured treasure (some appliqué or pottery from one of the nearby communes).
Also
The communal areas are accessible for wheelchair users and there are adapted rooms on the first floor that can be reached by a lift.
Children
All ages are welcome, but the hotel is more suited to couples. Baby cots (free for under-6s) and extra beds are available (between INR2,000 and INR6,700 a night depending on the season and your board basis).
Sustainability efforts
The hotel uses regional materials where possible, including for the crockery, bedlinen and uniforms. Energy-efficient lightbulbs are used and food is locally sourced and organic.