Hotel Nest Inn, Chennai

Chennai Hotels Egmore : Hotel Nest Inn

Since ours was a last-minute decision to come to Chennai, we hadn’t done a lot of research regarding places to stay or eat at. At the Chennai airport as we stood around reading our guidebooks and calling recommended hotels for a price check and availability, some of the airport staff approached us with brochures of hotels that they were probably getting a commission for. We politely declined their offers and instead simply took a taxi to the Egmore area hoping to find a hotel somewhere along the way. Our taxi guy took us to a couple of hotels and we finally settled on Hotel Nest Inn. On hindsight, though, we should have probably stayed closer to the central part (Mylapore area) of Chennai as most of the attractions are around there.

Located within walking distance of the Egmore railway station, we selected Hotel Nest Inn purely because of its newly renovated rooms. In fact, a major portion of the hotel is still under renovation and only rooms on certain floors are complete and ready for occupancy. We were assured that all work would cease after 6pm and they kept their word; at no point during the 4-night stay were we ever disturbed by the construction work. However, the hotel lift felt a little rickety and unsafe; hopefully that’ll get updated soon too!

Our double-room was large with Scandinavian-style furniture that gave the space a neat and functional look. A 26 LCD TV was hung on the wall and took up minimum space. An armoire was provided for storage. However, there was no vanity mirror, which I missed sorely. The bathroom was small but extremely functional with liquid soaps provided at the basin and in the shower. Hot water was available 24/7.

The room tariff included a buffet breakfast, which was provided at an on-site restaurant facing the street. This was a generous spread of idlis, vadas, pongal, fruits, toasts and omelets on request along with tea or coffee. We once had lunch in this restaurant as well and found the food quality to be really good at both times.

Overall, Hotel Nest Inn provided us with a very comfortable stay at a reasonable price. However, since it’s located a little away from the main tourist attractions, we spent Rs.200 a day, on an average, commuting in auto-rickshaws.

Rating: 8 out of 10