Palais de Mahe - CGH Earth — Hotel in Puducherry

Since 2003 we are spending our winter holiday ( January-February) in South-India and mostly at CghEarth properties. They are eco-friendly, charming, perfectly maintained and have a staff of excellence. We came back to Palais de Mahe where we had stayed 5 weeks in January - February in 2013,2014,2015,2017, 2018 and 2019 for a 2 months stay ( 3rd January-2nd March 2024). The hotel in French colonial style with classy furniture and mirrors is strategically located in the French Quarter within walking distance to the beach, key attractions, restaurants,shops and the Tamil Quarter. From the moment we arrived until the moment we checked out we experienced the gracious hospitality of General Manager Dinu Ramakrishnan and his friendly and efficient staff . We stayed in Room 206 which is palatial, clean, with a large king sized bed, a sitting area, dual airconditioning very easy to control, minibar, fans, tv, safe, wifi, hairdryer and a very nice view on the swimming pool. The excellent breakfast served " à la carte"( see photo 1) includes a variety of freshly prepared fruit juices, a nice fruit platter, honey, jam butter, dosas, different preparations of eggs as well as croissant, toast and curd. We opted daily for Masala tea and French pressed coffee : both very good. We went several times to the elegant restaurant ( 2nd floor) overlooking the pool on one side and the street on the other side. We especially liked Tandoor chicken, squid ularthu ( a quick sauté with onion ,tomato with Kerala spices) and fish moilee . At Palais they have a nice selection of indian wines; Our favored were LA RESERVE ( red) and rosé wine both from the GROVER factory. We daily enjoyed a very relaxing swim in the charming pool.On 25th February we celebrated Jean-Paul's birthday with all the staff.Jean-Paul received beautiful and useful gifts and flowers. GM Dinu Ramakrishnan offered a delicious cake prepared by Arul with dark chocolate . It was shared with the staff. That day the housekeeping staff with the help of some members of the engineering team decorated our room with pictures of Rolande , Jean-Paul and the friends at Palais.They also installed a great number of little lights which brought a festive and romantic atmosphere . The ladies from housekeeping ( Muthulakshmi , Datchayani and Selvi ) made a beautiful Happy Birthday KOLAM in front of our room.Everything was just magnificent. An unforgettable day to cherish. We also had a guided visit by Uma in charge of the Villa , a new property of CghEarth close to Palais. It is an elegant mansion with classy furniture and includes 3 spacious rooms all very nicely decorated; This beautiful house is complimentary to Palais de Mahe. The outstanding service we received at Palais de Mahe continues over the years to reach the level of CghEarth excellence.Coming back to this hotel each year we can confirm the continuity of an impeccable service. A special mention is made to GM Dinu Ramakrishnan who is deeply committed to the highest standard of leadership and creates opportunities for his team not only to contribute but also to shine. We like to pay tribute to all the staff of Palais . At the reception Amaljith, Fakhruddin, Kalai and Jyoshna are truly outstanding in solving administrative problems and helping guests with sightseeing and shopping. Chef Kathiresan and experienced Chef Bala guide a great set of young cooks : ||Arul ( Bakery), Iyyanar, Antony,Arun, Vellapandi, Midhun and the passionate, talented and creative Jagadesh ( photo 2).At the restaurant Johnson, Prasad, Nithya,Veeraragavan,Dharani, Mani, Saroj and Deepan are doing a great job.All members of housekeeping ( Jinto, Santosh,Dinesh,Mutulakshmi, Datchayani, Selvi, ||Vijay, Sridhar, Alfin and Tony always smiling accomplish their daily work to perfection and the laundry done in the house arrives the same day. A special mention to Santosh( photo 3) whom we have seen flourish all over the 10 years we know him to become a skilled and experienced house keeping team player. He helped us each year solving practical problems and packing and made everything possible.Nikitha ( Human Resources) the teams of Engineering and Security as well as the Accountants also play a key role in the organization of Palais de Mahe.||||Huge Thanks to all the staff for making our stay so very memorable and special||||Warm regards||||Rolande and Jean-Paul ||||Knokke-Heist||||Belgium||||PS We highly...

I wanted to give my husband a gift of a nice holiday. I chose his birthday week and chose to spend one half of the week in Palai de Mahe, Puducherry. This is a quaint hotel in White Town, a stone's throw from the beach. It's a 12-year old establishment that recreates the old world charm. The good: Extremely clean. Loved the way they took care of hygiene. The AC worked well. The room had ample space. I really felt good to see the cleanliness level of the room. Food, especially South Indian food, is very tasty. I have found very few hotels that are a good mix of comfortable stay and food. This hotel is on the top of that list. Service is fast except for the breakfast buffet The staff is courteous. Located in the heart of White Town.

Things that could be better: The breakfast service: If breakfast is included in your package, they offer a set menu. I was okay with that arrangement, but for two things - the service is very slow and they control the portions. I'm going to rant about what happened with us: The pongal I ordered came in a little bowl that's usually used to serve chutney. If you ask them to repeat something, they either take time or dilly-dally till we forget about it. I asked for vada dipped in sambar and had to repeat this order 4 times before they got it right. When I requested them to get us more vadas, they got us dosas instead. When I requested if they can first let us finish eating vadas before the dosas, they nodded and took the dosas back. After another 20 minutes, they served us 2 vadas. When we then asked for dosas, they got back with the cold dosas. You don't get water unless you ask for it (multiple times). The menu almost never had idli or vada for the first two days. I had to request for vada in advance and thankfully they catered to the request. They don't customise even when they can. I asked for masala dosa and they said it's not available. Soon after they gave us poori bhaji which had the same aloo masala that goes in the dosa. The food is tasty, but they make you feel like they are doing you a favour by serving you the breakfast that you paid for. The facial expression and body language made me feel that I'm trying to steal their food. This single experience takes away from all the good the hotel is trying to do for you. The rooms in the hotel are around a giant pool. Usually, parents on a holiday don't bother disciplining their children. Pools invariably have kids screaming their lungs out and the noise will definitely ring into your ears because there are only 2 floors in this hotel. If not for them, there is constant construction noise. This is when you paid top dollar for a room with breakfast...

We eventually got to bed at 2.30am due to a luggage problem at Kochi/Chennai airports. The hotel arranged for the driver from Chennai airport to wait the five hours for us which was great. We tipped him well, ||We had booked the terrace suite which is spacious. A sitting area and comfortable bed with two individually controlled air conditioners. (A tip is to turn off the one over the bed as the air flows over you). The bathroom has a shower and single sink. It is ok but not spacious. But this is a three star hotel so don’t expect too much. ||Clearly we were in need of sleep but at 7am very loud furniture movement from the floor above woke us up. (The odd motorbike outside the window too.) The noise was coming from the restaurant directly above us and people/staff moving chairs about. Very loud even when using the earplugs from another CGH property at Brunton Boatyard in Kochi Fort. There are no rugs at all just hard floors which amplify the noise. (see photo)||Our terrace overlooks the swimming pool but there is building work going on as well which is disappointing. (See photo)||Breakfast at Brunton Boathouse was good; here at Pudicherry really poor. A blackboard of what’s on offer but small portions and poor quality. A great fruit choice at Brunton; here very little. If you want anything off piste like passion fruit it needs ordering in advance. |The breadbasket consisted of a small slice of something masquerading as apple tart and a really poor croissant (my partner is French and he scored this the worst croissant of any property during our 4 week holiday. This is a bit ironic given this is an old French colony!) (See photo). |Breakfast has put us off the restaurant for dinner but there are other places to discover in town. |We were recommended to CGH Hotel Group by Abercrombie & Kent. Not one of their better recommendations in my vie and a not auspicious start to our...