Any & All Info About Chennai please…
 

I’ve just scraped-in 241 flights to Chennai the day before my companion voucher expires! We’re planning a month in India, based in Chennai so we can see some IPL games next year (I’m CSK & OH is team GT).
If anyone has anything to contribute about Chennai, please dive in. Should we rent a place or live in hotels? Any recommendations for anything at all?
TIA :-)

What kind of budget do you have to spend on accommodation for the month?

Ah, good question. We don’t tend to do budgets, we operate on an “evaluate the options” system. I suppose we have a range that would preclude over £5k for the month, unless that’s not realistic and then we could reassess.

That's a fairly good range for a place like Chennai. Take a look at the ITC Grand Chola.

Mahabalipuram and Pondicherry are a day trip away and a must visit. India in April is generally a no go becuase of the heat (I really feel for the foreign IPL players who are clearly doing this for money) so plan wisely, things that you would normally do in a few hours in winter will require a day and drain energy from you.

I frequent Chennai for work, and in terms of walkability and being relatively nearby interesting places (like Tokyo Diner, which is a surprisingly good omakase speakeasy), I recommend Taj Coromandel (Taj Connemara is also nearby but honestly not as nice in my opinion). ITC Grand Chola is very good too, but I personally think it's in a very isolated place (same goes for the Park Hyatt).

The city really lacks a decent nightlife, but the beaches are probably the best for any urban beach in India. Definitely go to Pondicherry for a few days.

If you find a nice beachside place that sells cheap cold beer during your research on Chennai, please let me know because I've been looking for such a place as well :)

Thanks RanChin , you’re the kind of source I need!
We have a combined age of 134 so nightlife isn’t on our list of needs! Restaurants are as maximum exciting as we frequent.
I suppose I’m not really looking to find out if it’s a tourist heaven but rather if it has readily accessible pleasant, leafy suburbs where we can just live in a decent place day to day, enjoying the ambiance & lifestyle between attending cricket matches.
And yes, you’re thinking I could have made that clearer…and you’re right;-)

Thank you for that. I’ll certainly research Mahabalipuram and Pondicherry for some sightseeing but as I have elaborated when replying to RanChin , we aren’t really looking to fill our time with tourist attractions and would prefer to self-cater as we like to just live in the ambiance. More Marigold Hotel than packed schedule.
And I’m part lizard, I just soak up the heat in bliss against the time I’m trapped in a European winter.

Due to the presence of Japanese and Korean industry, Chennai has one of the largest diasporas from those countries in India. Some restaurants to check out over your month in Chennai (which will also show you the different parts of the city):

• Kuuraku (also in Mumbai and Bangalore, they do Yakitori)
• Hokkaido Japanese Restaurant (they do seafood)
• Oyama (really solid Japanese style curries)
• Dahlia (very very low key ramen spot)
• Aeseo (solid Korean food all around and also has a karaoke floor)
• Another Kitchen (proper KBBQ)
• Tokyo Diner (hidden inside a bakery, they do a 10 course omakase Japanese fusion menu, you’ll have to find it on Instagram, not on Google maps)

Not quite Japanese or Korean but Avartana at the ITC Grand Chola gets a lot of praise for its South Indian seafood focussed tasting menus. Also the Farm is a bit away from the city proper but is a very very solid farm to table restaurant (established around 50 years ago) and farm shop (if you wish to buy fresh veggies while self catering).

Lovely! Thank you. After a month in Japan last spring we are big fans of the cuisines you mention.

Many thanks again for your help. If you become aware of a nice, tranquil self-catering place please do let me know and if I find that cold beer beach spot I’ll be sure to pass it on!

:)