Chennai, Tamilnadu

Chennai, Tamilnadu

Travel:

You are in Bangalore. Let’s assume you have 3 days off (Friday, Saturday and Sunday). Now, say, you want to visit a Beach and at the same time travel as less as possible. The 1^st place that would/should come to one’s mind is Chennai.

Chennai...

Route:
345Kms, 5 hours 12 mins.

BANGALORE (Electronic City) – Hosur – (on NH7) Krishnagiri – (on NH46 or AH 45) Vaniyambadi – Ambur – Pallikonda - Vellore – Wallajah – (on NH4) Sriperumbudur –

Sriperumbudur to GINGER:

Sriperumbudur – (stay on NH4 till Ponnamale Telephone Exchange and take Ponnamale Flyover and you will be on SH 55). One will reach the place with no difficulty from here on. 

Toll:

Good roads come with a price. Please find the toll details below:

Attibele to Hosur -> 25

@Krishnagiri -> 55

Krishnagiri to Vaniyambadi -> 70

Vaniyambadi to Wallajah -> 70

Wallajah to Ponnamale -> 30

Total: 250 (one trip). 500 (to and fro).

Note: Toll amount is subject to change. Please keep Rs.200 extra as a precautionary measure.

Advice: Kindly carry sufficient 5’s and 10’s along with few 20’s and 50’s else be ready to receive a small biscuit packet or chocolate for not tending exact change J

Food enroute, 
Breakfast: Most of us would plan our journeys in such a way that we would like to have good breakfast at a nice family restaurant.

Just within an hour’s drive after leaving Electronic City, you can reach Kamat (recommended hotel for breakfast)  

I must admit it. Kamat chains of restaurants are good and indeed they serve quality food which is a bit expensive for the common man.

Lunch: By Lunch time, say 12:30 to 1:30, you should be nearing Perumbudur. Very fewer options if you go in seek of good restaurants on the stretch from Perumbudur to Ponnamale.

Journey after Lunch

Used Nokia Maps from Ponnamale Flyover to reach GINGER. Nokia maps proved very useful

If you start by 7am in the morning, one should probably reach the ginger hotel (see below) hotel by 3pm.


Stay:

GINGER (from Tata Group, Specifically designed for IT profressionals), 

IIT Research Park, 11th Floor, (Yes, 11^th Floor. We were as surprised as you might be now)

Near MGR Film City,

Behind Tidal Park,

Taramani,

Chennai–600116.
Found to be a ideal place to stay and proved closer to all the tourist locations.

Feedback on Ginger Hotel and Staff
The hotel seemed quite interesting. It is a specifically designed for IT professionals. They are neatly maintained however, look small in size but comfortable. Though there is a food lounge below in the tower, we preferred ordering from other restaurants (the menu cards are available in the rooms). One might need to order food only for dinner in case you end up reaching your room by evening. Otherwise, it is always suggested to have food in Adyar. There are many restaurants in the near by vicinity. Just hop into A2B (Adyar Anand Bhavan) for authentic Chennai food. 
The Ginger hotel staff is courteous however, it is mostly self service type, which means one will not find any one helping you with your luggage or other helps.

Summarized Feedback on Ginger Hotel (location).

Pros:

·         There is enough place to park your car.

·         Airport is close by (13Kms)

·         Adyar is Closer (3.4 Kms) That also means A2B is Closer

Cons:

·         Hotel is in 11^th Floor.

Feedback on Ginger Hotel (hotel and staff).

Pros:

·         (Not sure)

Cons:

·         Hotel is on 11^th Floor.

·         Rooms are small

Places Visited, 

• Elliots Beach (Besant Nagar Beach 
• VGP and Golden Beach  
• Anna and MGR Memorial 
•  Marina Beach

Here’s how you can plan:

After you have reached the hotel after a long drive, take a break for an hour for relaxation and to freshen up.

Once you are up and running, the best thing to do is to go to a beach. Apt time would be to reach beach by around 4:30 PM.

Drive to Elliots Beach / Besant Nagar Beach,

Advice: Be slow and stay on left while driving because you may tend to miss the turns in reaching the beach. Also, drive carefully as we’ve seen Rash Driving by the bikers.

Use of Nokia maps proved very useful (if you are new, like us, to that place).

- Nearing the beach -

Once you have reached, the main challenge here is finding the parking space for your car.

The entire stretch of road perpendicular to the beach would be fully occupied by vehicles.

Advice: Drive slow and stay on left.

- The Beach –

Decent crowd and one can have good fun. Waves are normal like any normal beach.

- Entertainment near the Beach (FREE) –

There is Roller Skating practice happening on farther end of the beach. A concrete arena made especially for Roller Skating practice. Open to public J

One can see children of all age-groups taking part. We were amazed to see a 2 yr old (girl) doing a fantastic stunt in skating. She was the Show-Stopper who took the entire crowd by surprise with her skill considering her age.

- Food and Entertainment (Not for FREE) –

There is International Food Mall besides the beach which is very much similar to a Food Court at Malls. Cost is a bit on the higher side and it is Self Service.

Further inside, there is play area for Childre

There is lot more eateries surrounding the beach area.

= My advice for Food (Probably for your dinner) =

Drive to Adyar.

Q: What is the 1^st thing that would come to our mind about Adyar?

A: Adyar Ananda Bhavan (A2B)

Best Hotel for Breakfast and Dinner!!

Interesting fact: Cost of all items are mostly decimal values like Coffee: 25.32 etc

After all this you would certainly be tired for the day. Drive back to your hotel and sleep!! 

·       Besant Nagar Beach

Besant Beach

 Marina Beach

Marina Beach

 Elliot Beach

Elliot Beach

St Thomas Church

 Anna and MGR Memorial

VGP and Golden Beach

Food:
Best Hotel for Breakfast and Dinner: Adyar Ananda Bhavan (A2B) at Adyar. Try Mini Tiffin for breakfast it is nice and will fill in. The hotel has first floor and it is worth sitting here and having food peacefully.

Best Time to Visit:  Not preferable during summers. Otherwise, anytime.