Hotel De L'Orient, 18th Century, Puducherry — Hotel in Puducherry

Well, well, well, let me spill the beans about the not-so-fabulous Hotel Dune De L'Orient. If you're dreaming of an amazing boutique hotel in the heart of the former French White town, let me burst that bubble real quick. My apologies for the bait and switch, my friend.

Now, don't get me wrong, the exterior of this place will dazzle you. The open courtyard with countless plants and artifacts will make you go, "Oh, what an authentic experience this will be!" But hold your horses, because the devil is lurking in the details. And trust me, it's not pretty.

I'm no newbie to boutique hotels, oh no! I've stayed in a bunch of 'em, all maintained by Neemrana. So, I know my stuff. Just because something is old doesn't mean it's automatically beautiful. The rooms at this joint feel like dungeons that were built to protect humans from World War II bombings. It's like they went to a garage sale and picked up any old wooden furniture they could find. And some of those pieces haven't seen a dust cloth in ages! To top it off, the walls and ceilings are practically a haven for spider webs. Yikes!

Now, get this, I paid a whopping 7 grands a night for this disaster! Can you believe it? And don't even get me started on the breakfast they throw in for free. Let's just say it's as disappointing as the rest of the place. And if you're picky about your toiletries, bring your own, my friend. They'll hand you Medimix soap and some uncovered vials of who-knows-what that's supposed to pass as soap and body wash. Oh, and did I mention they give you blue towels? Blue towels! Who in their right mind does that in a hotel?

I could cry right now just thinking about the mistake I made booking this place. But I don't want you to suffer the same fate, so I'm writing this review to save your poor soul. Steer clear of Hotel Dune De L'Orient, unless you enjoy feeling like you're locked up in a spooky dungeon with questionable toiletries and blue towels. Spare yourself the horror, my friend.

Now, I must say, this review isn't meant to bash the place entirely. It's just a friendly heads-up for other visitors, you know? Maybe if the management works a bit harder on cleanliness standards, things could improve. After all, these hotels provide jobs for the locals, and I appreciate that they're not importing fancy folks from far and wide. So, there's that silver...

We chose the neemrana hotel because we had stayed at several other properties with very fond memories. At 50% discount we jumped at the chance to stay in such a wonderful place like Pondicherry and that too at such a quaint place. Overall everything was fine. Mind you we only stayed 2 days so it was not enough time to discover the downside if any. We reached very late on a Friday night and called ahead as we were sure that we would miss dinner. The kept aside the food we order one fish curry and one vegetarian curry. It was certainly different and well made so thoroughly enjoyed it. The room!! turned out to be an attic converted with an open bathroom. LOL not very nice taking a dump was a controlled affair of trying not to make too much noise. So we aplogized to each other before entering and doing the business. My friend is rather large so the climb up to the room was somewhat of an adventure which give the discount we did not mind. Taking a bath was OK not great, the space was sooo small one really needed to keep the arms close the body. The morning breakfast was limited and for me adequate. I feel others may find it insufficient. I did however sit for along time downstairs reading my kindle and literally emptying their coffee pot. Strong, flavoursome. The boast fresh croissants which were nice to go with the coffee and preserve. What I enjoyed most despite all the small issues is the colonial old time feel, the interesting non linear structure of the rooms, the antique furniture . If it wasnt for the rather humid weather would have liked to sit in one of the more spacious rooms and write a book... or something like...

If you love the ambiance of White Town and at the same time wish to enjoy to stay at a heritage property then you may consider to book your stay here. The building, huge gate and nice courtyard are definite plus points. But the entire hotel depends on two very efficient persons - Mr. Suresh and Mr. Stalin. They are always eager to help. Without their help the stay would have been horrible. First the management of the hotel needs to realise that there is no conflict in providing better service in a heritage stay. People come here to enjoy their holiday. Hotel needs to provide comfort as per tariff. Most of the employees don’t understand English or Hindi. It becomes really difficult to convey your requirements to them. The hotel doesn’t provide necessary items like kettle or hair drier in rooms. The buffet spread is very ordinary and repetitive. Bathrooms are dimly lit which makes shaving a tough job. Mobile network is bad due to thick walls of the building. Hotel provides wifi which is also very slow. Still I would like to thank Mr. Suresh and Mr Stalin for their kind...