Radha Regent, Chennai

Hi, I am an Indian national and my wife is a US citizen. This was the first time I took her to my hometown Chennai. We stayed at the Radha Park Inn for 8 days. It was wonderful. The air-conditioning worked great, the service was prompt and courteous. The hot water worked great and the house keeping was prompt in getting us what we wanted. Hair dryers are available upon request but while alarm clocks are a feature in US hotels, wake up calls are the norm in Indian hotels and alarm clocks are not provided. The shower has a bath tub - believe it or not, a lot of hotels have open showers in India, a bath tub or shower enclosure can be a luxury in many places, so ask for it always. The internet connection was real fast though it cost Rs.125 per hour, which still was somewhat reasonable. It cost us $80 per night to stay there, the rates may have gone up to $90 per night with taxes after tariff increases in October, we obtained our reservation earlier than October. One thing I did notice is that they give summary charges upon check-out and do not break down the long distance phone charge by every call you made. So it does help to keep an approximate track of your own charges. However, their charges tallied up just fine with my records when I checked out. The breakfast was included. It contained a combination of Indian and continental cuisine. It had cereal, french toast, someone available to make omelettes for you with veggies and cheese, boiled eggs, plain toast, muffins and then of course a barrage of Indian breakfast food too. Coffee and tea were included in the complimentary breakfast but not water. We always opted for mineral water when we ate there. The breakfast is inside Cafe In The Park, which is one of 2 restaurants inside the hotel. The other one is Oriental Blossom, a place offering chinese and japanese style cuisine. All of them are reasonably priced. Then you have a pub named Geoffreys for having drinks, if you love smoking and drinking, that is a good place for you. Yes, you do get tired with the choices in the breakfast after a while. The rental car, if arranged through the hotel, may be a bit more expensive than outside the hotel ($40 as opposed to $30 for 10 hours/100 kms during a day with a driver) but it is worth it since the drivers tend to know routes and tourists better when the car is booked through the hotel. Besides, the hotel's reputation is at stake too. Once, we had to pick up some tailored clothing somewhere. The driver from the hotel made sure to keep us under the daily hour limit and took his personal vehicle to pick up the stuff for us the day before we left Chennai. (I couldn't have expected this kind of service in Delhi which we visited for 3 days prior to going to Chennai. Delhi is over-priced and it is just like living and eating out (if you choose an upscale place) in New York City or London. The streets, living conditions and service in Delhi definitely don't warrant their asking prices, but that is my personal opinion.) I would definitely give this hotel a 4-star for class, and a 5-star for service. Sriram