Mahodadhi Palace - A Beach View Heritage Hotel in Puri — Hotel in Puri

As a seasoned traveler and vlogger, I have visited "Mahodadi Palace" multiple times. The first time was in December 2018 when we booked our stay through "Makemytrip". However, subsequent trips to Puri proved to be a disappointment as we could not find any booking information for this place on any website. In April 2024, we decided to make our anniversary trip special by staying at "Sonar Bangla". But even then, we had to rent a scooter and venture out to Mahodadi Palace to inquire about bookings. To our dismay, we were informed that the palace no longer took online bookings due to some incident and only accepted direct calls or references.

Despite this setback, in rathyatra, for jaganath darshan we managed to secure a room for two days at a steep price of approximately 3500/- INR per night. As we drove up to the grand entrance of Mahodadi Palace, my heart was filled with memories of our previous stays here. The intricate architecture and regal charm of the palace never failed to impress me before.

But upon reaching the hotel in the morning, our excitement quickly turned into misery and disappointment. We were made to wait for check-in and when we finally entered our room, it was a far cry from the luxurious haven we remembered. The once immaculate walls were now stained and peeling, the furniture old and broken, and every surface covered in a thick layer of dust.

We immediately called the staff for cleaning but even after their best efforts, the room still looked unkempt and uninviting. Our hopes for a relaxing vacation were dashed as we discovered that basic facilities like food service were also unavailable. The entire hotel area seemed neglected and poorly maintained.

My partner and I couldn't believe our misfortune as we looked around our dingy room. The bathroom was in shambles with a cracked bathtub and moldy tiles. Even the bedside stand was covered in dust, making it clear that no one had stayed here in a long time.

As if these disappointments weren't enough, we soon discovered that the air conditioning was faulty. The room turned damp and musty as water leaked from the machine, almost ruining our belongings.

It pains me to say this, but our experience at Mahodadi Palace was far from good. The once splendid palace has clearly fallen into disarray and our stay here was nothing short of a nightmare. It breaks my heart to compare it to our past glorious stays, where every corner radiated beauty and elegance. But now, it felt like a forgotten relic, abandoned and...

Once the house of a certain king, this building has now been converted into a hotel with rooms that have four-poster kingsize beds under high ceilings and spacious verandahs that lets you do more than stretch your legs. The rooms are in need of some more maintenance and polish if it has to retain the tag of a top class hotel. Our room, on the ground floor, had a leaking air conditioner, a frequently malfunctioning TV, and a non usable hand shower in the bathroom. Nevertheless, the hotel has a couple of huge pluses which make it a worthwhile place to stay during short visits to Puri. The first plus is of course the location of the hotel, situated as it is in the heart of swargadwar, which is the buzz of all beach activity in Puri. The second is its open space within its boundary and even though the open space is more like a extended open front patch outside the house and not too colourful or well kept, it helps provide visitors with that sense of space that is so relaxing and rejuvenating. The third, and an important plus for foodies like me is its restaurant that serves some simple yet wonderfully soothing food. Be it the grilled pomfret or the kadhai chicken and naan, every dish that we tasted here filled us right up to our hearts with delight. The high point, and highly recommended by me, of their restaurant is the local delicacy, Pakkol bhaat, which is wonderful in taste, presentation and its ethnicity! We had a wonderful stay at this hotel and would love to go back. A word of advise to the hotel though is that they should try and increase the length of the screen that seperates the balcony of the adjoining rooms to provide a bit more privacy, maybe. And also some collection of beer for the thirsty visitors at its bar would be more...

As everyone has mentioned, it is a heritage property. Located at a walking distance from the Swargdwar beach, the entrance isn't too brightly lit up to be noticed in dark. The actual building is distanced from the beach road by an expansive lawn with neatly maintained green areas. ||We reached around 8.30 p.m. on Friday, 6 January 2020, and were initially allotted room 110, which was the last room towards the left of the reception. Though the room was suite, and hence huge, it had total of 3 light sources, one of which was in the bathroom. It was so dim that we had to resort to using our phone's torchlight. Upon multiple requests it was changed the next day to 107 (or 109, can't remember), which was a lawn facing one and had an attached balcony. This was again a suite but a much better one than the previous. ||Amenities:||-Cupboards||-TV with STB||-Toiletries like soap, shampoo, showercap etc||-Tea kits||-Water bottles/drinking water||-Pool in the hotel||The beds are done up like those of royalties, with sheer curtains. ||||There are 2 restaurants at the gate of the hotel, one a pure veg, and the other one serving non-veg as well (inside the premises). ||||Pros:||-Location!||-View||-Feel||||Cons:||-Maintenance||-Little overpriced||||We were 3 in a room, and stayed for 2 nights, which cost us around 10.8K. This included breakfast, which you could avail from the Veg Restaurant near the gate. It is not a buffet spread, but consists of a fruit salad, tea/coffee, juice and a main item...