The ITC Grand Chola Chennai – In the lap of luxury..

I am writing this at 3 AM now and still I am damn excited about the day that has just gone. A star hotel entry?? Me?? It would have been a joke had there been no Indiblogger. A scene from a Tamizh movie flashes in my mind. A local boy hero will travel for the first time in plane and the heroine, his Manager would ask him if he is travelling in flight for the first time. The hero would giggle and say,”This is the first time, that I even see a plane”. And that was my expression, this morning.

The moment I made entry with my Bike in the afternoon, I was given a “Valued Guest” tag for parking. There started the exciting day, with me completely amused with the hospitality. The amusement is continuing even now. I entered and made few friends and before I was directed to the “Rajendran” hall for the registration, I simply went around the Main courtyard out of my inquisitiveness. The marvel and splendour blended with luxury reflecting in each and every pillar and corridor, I couldn’t simply resist myself from gazing around.

I entered “Rajendran” hall, which was a perfect example for Humility and not “Showing-off”. Spread over a lakh sq.ft and with a whooping capacity up to 2000 guests, this hall looked very timid initially. But then, when I realized that, it’s just a part of mighty “Rajendran”, I was flabbergasted. I literally walked the entire corridor like a kid, to see how big it would be on a full house occasion.

                                                       

Now, soon after the registration, I met my schoolmates, Ganga and Sahitya known for electrifying every occasion since school. Then on, I moved to maximum possible gangs of informal chats and made few friends. It was amazing to know the new dimensions of blogging, right from wooden carpentry, Digital photography, Android applications, tasty delicacies and recipes and what not… Once we kick started with 60 seconds of Introduction, I introduced myself as the kid of the hall as I was just a year old in Blogging. After few jolly fun events, we started the awesome journey of ‘tour de Chola’ and not to forget the awesome evening snack we had. I was confused, what to take and what to drop.

My team of ten members, with Neelam & Shafiq, our lovely and patient guides, started our entourage around the splendour. No wonder we had lesser time in knowing the complete architectural splendid bliss about the “ITC Grand Chola”. 

The Majestic Entrance:

We were first taken to the Main entrance where, we were explained on the way as how the ITC’s tradition of professional hospitality blends with the cultural splendours of “ITC Grand Chola”. It was simply awesome and we couldn’t stop ourselves from clicking pictures. Be it the highly comfortable cushions in the waiting lounge near the entrance, or egg shaped couches that cuddled with us when we sit giving us a perfect soothing, it was completely mind-blowing.

Then we were taken across the retail Outlets of ITC, which boasts of branded apparels and the hand-made artistic chandeliers above us and the metal coated finishing symbolizing the power of antiques distracted me despite our pretty looking guide’s serious explanation.

The Suites:

When we entered the suites and rooms, I never felt like going out. It was comfort personified and with the designs customized to the guest expectations, these suites amused me to an extent that I was wondering what not could be done with these iPads provided in every room. When I said, I never feel like coming out, my guide hinted that more exquisite things are to be seen and I quickly got ready for more excitement.

The Eat-outs:

When you first checkout the Madras pavilion, you tend to think this three meal dining experience would be the best. But then, we enter the Café mercara and I could not stop myself from getting distracted of those Changing colour ambience.  Then we made it to the Peshawri, for north-west delicacies, I was too busy in checking out the menu. Now comes the ultimate delight in the forms of Royal vega, PAN ASIAN and Ottimo, the to-be soon functional restaurants. The delighting part is the amount of work, ITC has put in research and ground work for these thematic eat-outs.

Beyond the eatery…

With a mood for some rocking party with the discotheque, one should never miss I-Place, the fun-pub, as they portrait. For a serene, soft and peaceful time at the bar, the Tranquebar always embraces the guests. Not to forget, The Cheroot and Nutmeg for some envigorating smoking session and for some tasty pastry gourmet stuff, respectively.

Relax..

To burn the mental stress, we have the kayakalp spa and to burn extra calories, just in case of yummy cuisines here, we can hit at the state of the art Gym and customized swimming pools at the 5^th floor of the building. One should never miss the breath-taking view of the busy city from here.

Then we headed back to our Rajendran and by this time, we were told about the importance of promoting and preserving the performing and fine-arts. The ITC Grand Chola provides a perfect ambience for an art-exhibition or a soft music concert.

The interesting part…

Here comes the interesting chat with Neelam, wherein the inquisitive blogger in me posed many questions to her. And from her patient answering, I was able to figure out few facts like…

 The world’s most green hotel whose maximum electricity comes via wind-mill sources of ITC.

Try hitting the entrance barricades with a robust BMW truck and you would end up in damaging its body, my fellah. Regression tested secure barricades and fool-proof security measures ensuring the safety of guests round the clock. (I had pointed out the 26/11 incident for this)

Now, Airport is at a throw-away distance and having placed in the heart of the city, ITC Grand Chola boasts with so far the best connected and the most luxurious hotel in the city. 

Now, in Rajendran, we had the announcements for best tweets and finally even I got luckier with as I got this prize for everyone. My team had won a tweety prize, as well.

After the photo session and with “Thank you” and “Bye”, I made several new friends and thanks to ITC Grand Chola for the wonderful evening of my life. With these happy moments and with a surprise gift of a Peshwari dinner, My evening got lit up completely and it continued to glitter through my late night updates and tweets.

ITC Grand Chola - A dream come true in the lap of luxury..