KADAL THE BEACH HOUSE — Hotel in Thandiriyan Kuppam

As we leave Pondicherry I’m reflecting on the enjoyable few days we had at Kadal||||After some extensive research I chose Kadal – The Beach House for many reasons. ||• We wanted to be near the beach||• Not to far from town – so within a 15 / 20 mins tuk tuk ride||• Not to far from Auroville and again accessible via tuk tuk||• The accommodation needed to have a pool||• Separate private bathroom||• Needed to be clean ||• Required secure & fast Wifi – as I needed to take care of my business while away||||We choose tuk tuk as our mode of transport for short trips as it’s a more economical way of getting around – for example a 15 to 20 min trip was $4 AUD ||||Kadal appeared to meet all of the above points. We were not let down.||The smiling faces on our arrival, the lovely airiness of the place, its personality as its only a small accommodation offering 3 separate rooms, each with their own private bathroom. One downstairs and the other two upstairs, 2 of the bathrooms although open, are completely private and if we required there was a shower curtain we could have pulled across. The 2 upstairs rooms have their own private balcony’s. ||||We had an opportunity to meet the owner John Pier, who was very polite and has a policy that the place must be kept clean and tidy. ||So with a staff of 4, Antony the manager, Krishna the caretaker and handy man and the two ladies who look after the cleaning and kitchen duties and were ever so helpful.||||Breakfast was served around 8am earlier or later if required. It was always fresh, the fruits, fresh juice, pastries from the local bakery, eggs, toast or the traditional Indian breakfast. ||||Even though its in a small street, We felt very secure as the walls are high and heavy front door into the property is always kept locked and there is a door bell to ring on returning from outings. Krishna is also the doorkeeper and is always there apart from when he has his annual leave.||||The pool was spotless and cleaned daily and there were no restrictions on when it could be used. Often times on returning from being out for dinner we would just go for a swim around 9 or 10 pm as its beautifully lit up. ||||Serenity beach was 5 mins walk and there was a little café on the beach called Theevu Plage. We had a few meals there, which were great, the coffee and sweets were also good. It is a swimming beach and although the water is a natural murky color it is clean. There are fishing canoes on the sand, as the locals also fish from there. ||||Other guests that were staying did not feel like going out so they ordered from a recommended local restaurant, they said it was delicious.. ||||It was quiet and very peaceful; each room has a TV with accessible English movies and all rooms have both a/c and fans||||Not sure about the upstairs rooms however the downstairs room where we stayed was perhaps lacking a bathroom power point ( it wasn’t to much of a problem as we didn’t think to ask) as it may have been hidden and we just couldn’t see it.||||Whenever we needed something we would just ask and it was supplied, for example as we don’t sleep with the a/c on so we asked for an extra sheet as we found the bed cover a little warm.||||If you are considering booking Kadal and your stay is over a weekend, book well in advanced as it’s a popular place for busy people from other states wanting to get away for weekend as well as...

We stayed at this place from 7th Oct to 9th Oct. On 10th morning, my son became sick upon returning on 9th evening. This is kind of homestay where they do not take responsibility for any incident happens here. My son of 2 yrs age and I played in pool which was usually cleaned late and they didn't put chlorine in it for one week before our stay because of which once we came back to our home, my son was found infected with Herpangina Virus infection. When I informed them that as they didn't put chlorine and disinfected pool, it caused infection to my son, their manager immediately return saying that they will cover medical expenses. When I shared medical bills to them, after month of their investigation, ther manager said that their management is not responsible for cleaniness and disinfection of pool as child walked without any issue while leaving this homestay & therefore they are not liable for such issues. It may sound weird but I have all WhatsApp chat proof on it. Our stay In pondicherry was maximum confined to beaches, restaurant and inside car, we didn't find any other reason for our son to get such infection. Outside area is surrounded by fishermen village area and kind of secluded place as no good restaurant is nearby. They offered on restaurant menu card serving Italian dishes. There warden asked us to be back at stay before 9 p.m. We happen to reach late around 9.30 p.m. on 7th Oct and saw upon opening of gate that warden was drunk. We quietly went straight to our rooms. Next days of our stay we came before 9 as felt unsafe to reach late here. In looks this stay looks nice but big biting mosquitos in the evening with possibly dengue mosquitos presence and driving on narrow road which sometime are blocked by village people may make you more inconvenient making you to feel staying at wrong place. They have kids place inside room with French books. They kept cleaniness well inside and served Continental breakfast 1st day which they ordered for us from some bakery in main city. They served variety of breads along with butter and bread. It was difficult to swallow it but fortunately they served watermelon juice making easy for us to digest. We next day opted for South Indian breakfast which was much better than Continental as person prepared some items in-house including dosas though chutney they ordered from outside which was not good. They have open bathroom to terrace inside room which was nice. On last day of our stay, we had planned to go to paradise beach. We booked through ola. Ola driver came and refused to take us paradise beach .Fortunately hotel manager (Lamec)helped us book a cab who came and took us to beach and dropped us to Chennai airport. For the money we paid to them, I could have easily stayed at a 5 star resort here having room facing sea. It was not worth of money to face so many hassles to stay here. I would recommend to better off staying near or inside Auroville if you want to visit Auroville for meditation or stay in city if you do not want to visit Auroville just it see it's golden structure by walking 1km each side from their entrance to golden structure and back. Traffice is less so you can travel easily if you have a...

Kadal - The Beach House is located about 15 mins away from White town or the central town very close to the Serenity beach. The entry road to the place is very narrow. Once you open to the entrance of the place, you are awed by the entire set up. The entire place is built on a 6000 sqft. area. A swimming pool on one side and rooms on the other side. Three rooms - one on ground and other two on top floor. I would recommend getting a room on the ground for the ease of access to the pool and dining area. The rooms are spacious and bathroom in the room where we stayed was an open air one. The swimming pool is clean, well maintained and has a depth of about 6 feet towards the deeper end. The breakfast has a good spread whether you want to have Continental or South Indian. We had Continental on one day and South Indian on other two days. The place also has a barbecue and you need to let the host - Mr. Antony in advance in the morning if you are expecting to have it in the evening. Food delivery through Swiggy is also available for dinner or lunch. If you are looking forward to lazying around and relaxing the place offers enough peace and privacy to do that. If you are a group of families there are enough activities to keep the kids busy (We were a group of 2 families). The best part is that the caretaker - Krishna is very helpful and cordial. Overall an excellent experience and definitely recommend this place whenever you go to...