Kings City Residency — Hotel in Puducherry

I will try to keep this concise - hopefully the photos speak for themselves. I have absolutely no idea how this establishment is rated so highly on TripAdvisor. I find it incredibly suspicious considering the state of the room we had. If anyone from TripAdvisor sees this I strongly suggest the reconsider awarding this hotel their certificate of excellence again any time soon.||||Essentially the room we were given was awful. Cockroaches on the floor, filthy walls, power outlet hanging out of the wall, stained pillows with ripped cases, dripping air conditioning unit (for which their solution was to put a towel under it), and limescaled dirty bucket in the bathroom. The "solutions" we were offered were inadequate. The only saving graces were the politeness of the staff when we complained, and the relative (certainly not complete, however) compliance of the management with our refund demands. For cheap, liveable accommodation this is just about fine, but the photos online are not representitive of the room we were given, and for almost the same price you can find far nicer accommodation within a few minutes' walk (we recommend the Executive Inn if their prices are similar).||||Assuming the photos are uploaded in the order I see them now they show: 1) the stained pillow on my bed on arrival, 2) the bathroom, 3) exposed pipework and wires in the bathroom, 4) power outlet hanging from the wall by the bed.||||There were two other photos I wanted to upload but the TripAdvisor site is not allowing me for some reason (saying I've already uploaded 10?). But these show the limescale and dirt inside the bucket in the bathroom, and the grime and stains on the inside of the flimsy bathroom door. You'll just have to take my word for these I...

I was thinking, 'it can't even be 'one star'. There is no provision for that. So made it two. That is for the staff. I don't think, there are more than 4/5 persons. They, without exception, were 'polite, helpful, courteous and friendly. All over the hotel, 'TripAdvisor' certificates are displayed. To start with-- --The entrance is NOT 'physically challenged' friendly. --Then you come to the room, 'NO WINDOWS'. In one corner, a drape was covering a glass pane. That is supposed to be the window. Overlooking 'A DRAINAGE CHUTE'. --Enter the bathroom, which is 8/10 inches above the room level. If you are one of those, who use it them half asleep, you will be lucky if you dont trip on your way back. --Stay inside the bathroom stench, as there is NO EXHAUST FAN. --No light above the mirror. You are not supposed to shave. --Near the ceiling , where the ac duct runs thru, 'FUNGUS GROWN ALL THRU'. --NO room service, you have to go the street corner for your...

So this hotel does have a good rating and may have good rooms but the room which I got was not that great. It was on the fifth floor. Lift was there till 4th floor and there was a literally a small wooden circular staircase to go the fifth floor. Room was small. It did have a even smaller hall. About 1 feet space was available on both side of the bed. It was not properly ventilated. One could not stay for 5 mins without the AC.

We barely spend time in hotel during day, so that didn’t affect us that much.

Good points were its location. It was very close to French Colony and white town on one side and to the MG Road market on the other side. Also, major restaurants and churches, railway station is not far. Also, the washroom was decent. The shower was really powerful. This matters a lot if you take a dip in sea, a bad shower could take you hours to get rid...