Top Chennai (Madras) Hotels

Madras is a good starting point for visiting South India. Many shops and malls. Famous are the silks of Kanchipooram which are sold in Madras too.

Don''t hire a car in Chennai unless you have a driver with it, the traffic is mad. If there is an inch of space on the road, someone will claim it and rules of the road do not exist, unless its ''first come first served!''

Chennai is a busy crowded city, and the hotel is located close to the center of town. Good shopping center close by, and good restaurant connected to the hotel.

Chennai itself is not the greatest destination--go south to Mamalapurum and then on to Pondicherry.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO USE TRAVEL AGENT SERVICES WHEN POSSIBLE ANYWHERE IN INDIA. THE UNCERTAINTIES OF TAXI CABS, AUTO RICKSHAWS, AND SO FORTH, ARE FAIRLY GREAT; USE OF HOTEL OR TRAVEL AGENT TRANSPORT FACILITIES IS RECOMMENDED WHEREVER POSSIBLE. BECAUSE WE KNOW THERE CAN BE PROBLEMS WITH THE FOOD IN INDIA, WE TEND TO STICK TO FIVE-STAR HOTELS FOR EATING, EVEN IF WE DO NOT STAY IN THEM. IT WORKS OUT FOR THE BEST. IT IS ALSO IMPORTANT TO BE DISCERNING ABOUT BOTTLED WATER, WHICH IS SOMETIMES PACKAGED IN UPSETTING (LITERALLY UPSETTING) WAYS. WE HAD A DRIVER FOR MUCH OF THE TIME WE WERE IN INDIA, THOUGH OUR BUDGET DID NOT ALLOW FOR AN AIR-CON CAR. HAD WE HAD SUCH A CAR TO USE, IT WOULD HAVE SAVED US, WE THINK, FROM CHEST CONGESTIONS WE DEVELOPED, ESPECIALLY FROM BOMBAY. WE STRONGLY BELIEVE THAT INDIA IS A WONDERFUL COUNTRY TO VISIT; DO NOT LOOK FOR THE DOWNSIDE BECAUSE IT IS CERTAINLY THERE, BUT THE BEAUTY OF THE COUNTRY, ITS TEMPLES, ITS PALACES, AND INDEED, ITS PEOPLE, IS TRULY OVERWHELMING. WE HOPE TO RETURN TO INDIA AGAIN AND AGAIN.