Taj Connemara: Difference between revisions
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| date = 21 April 2016 |
| date = 21 April 2016 |
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| accessdate = 13 Aug 2016}}</ref> Taj Connemara has a total of |
| accessdate = 13 Aug 2016}}</ref> Taj Connemara has a total of 147 rooms, which include 143 double rooms and 4 suites. The hotel has 2 meeting rooms which include a ball room that can accommodate up to 400 people in a theatre style and up to 600 people for cocktails. The conference room of the hotel can accommodate up to 30 people in a theatre style. The restaurants in the hotel include The Verandah—a 24-hour coffee shop serving Indian, Continental and Thai food, The Lady Connemara Bar and Lounge—serving exotic cocktails, spirits, wines, beer and light snacks in a colonial ambiance, Raintree—an ethnic, open-air restaurant serving Chettinad cuisine from Tamil Nadu. |
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| publisher = The Finest Hotels of the World |
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| url = http://www.fhotels.net/asia-india-tamilnadu-chennaicity/tajconnemarahotel.en.html |
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Greeneries in the hotel include a dramatic old [[raintree]] and two sturdy Nagavalli trees.<ref name="Hindu_CloseDownForAYear"/> |
Greeneries in the hotel include a dramatic old [[raintree]] and two sturdy Nagavalli trees.<ref name="Hindu_CloseDownForAYear"/> |
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Revision as of 03:19, 26 February 2019
| Taj Connemara | |
|---|---|
 Taj Connemara in 2007. | |
 | |
| Hotel chain | Taj Hotels |
| General information | |
| Location | Chennai, India |
| Address | 2, Binny Road, off Anna Salai Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600 002 |
| Coordinates | 13°03′46″N 80°15′41″E / 13.062809°N 80.261508°E |
| Opening | 1854 (as the Imperial Hotel) |
| Management | Taj Hotels |
| Other information | |
| Number of rooms | 147 |
| Number of suites | 4 |
| Number of restaurants | 2 |
| Website | |
| https://www.tajhotels.com/en-in/taj/taj-connemara-chennai/ | |
Taj Connemara, Chennai is a five-star hotel in Chennai, India. It is a heritage hotel in Chennai.[1] Classified under the Taj Group's business hotels section, the hotel is considered the oldest hotel in the city.[2]
History
The property of Taj Connemara was originally a house bought by John Binny from The Nawab of Arcot in 1799.[3] The property was later bought by T. Somasundara Mudalyar[3] and built as the Imperial Hotel in 1854 under the proprietorship of Triplicane Rathinavelu Mudaliar, renamed Albany in 1886 when it was leased to two other Mudaliar brothers, and re-established as The Connemara in 1890,[4] named after the then Madras Governor during 1881-1886, Robert Bourke, baron of Connemara, a rural area in Counties Galway and Mayo in the West of Ireland,[5] later becoming a Spencer's hotel. In 1891, Eugene Oakshott, owner of Spencer's, then a little shop near Anna Circle, bought the hotel and its nine acres to build a showroom. Oakshott wanted to give Spencer's a facelift, so he decided to build one of Asia's biggest departmental store. In the 1930s, James Stiven, director of Spencer's, modernised the hotel starting in 1934, and the modernisation was completed in 1937.[6] It sported an art deco look when it was reopened in 1937.[7][8] According to a hotel press release, the 1937 renovation, estimated at ₹575,000, boasted about its "cool refreshing air delivered through the newest air conditioning apparatus."[3] According to the first published tariff of the hotel, the cost of a room on single occupancy was ₹10 with breakfast and that of a room with all meals was ₹17.80.[3]
Spencer's leased the Connemara to the Taj Group in 1974.[9] The tower block and linking pool was designed by architect Geoffrey Bawa in 1974, and the work was completed in 1977.[3] The deluxe wing of the hotel was destroyed almost completely in the "Friday the Thirteenth" fire in February 1981, which broke out in the Spencer's building. However, the main building of the hotel remained unharmed because of the high-rise wall in between the two buildings.[3] In 1984, the Taj Group of Hotels acquired the hotel for a 100-year lease from the Spencer's Group.[3][10] The hotel saw two renovations in 1990 and 1995.[3] The hotel was again renovated in 2004 and 2005, when the hotel was re-designed with the launch of the loud Distil bar and chic pan Asian restaurant Hip Asia,[3] It is also when 65 rooms in the hotel were renovated.[11]
In 2008, historian S. Muthiah wrote a book on the heritage of the hotel, A Tradition of Madras that is Chennai—The Taj Connemara,[2] which reproduces an advertisement from 1880 that states the hotel, called The Imperial Hotel then, promises "extensive premises… cool and fitted with every convenience" and wines from the "celebrated house of Messrs. McDowell & Co."[10] The book gives a rare collection of photographs of old Madras roads, buildings, interiors of the hotels and the hotel's tariff since 1939.[6] According to Muthiah, the British rated Connemara as one of the best hotels in the world.[12] Although the building was purportedly 200 years old by the turn of the twenty-first century, dating back to the original garden house bought by John Binny, according to Muthiah nothing of the old structure remains. The oldest part of the hotel is that built in the 1880s and 1890s.[3]
In September 2010, the hotel was rebranded and renamed as Vivanta by Taj—Connemara, Chennai.[13]
The hotel closed on November 1, 2016[14] for a major makeover to re-create the theme of its early past and reopen as an intimate high-end luxury hotel. Aiming at recreating old menus and cuisines, the renovation would retain only the Verandah and Raintree restaurants, refurbishing all the rooms, lobby and banquet halls to look more like the hotels early years. The renovation would be made by the Mumbai-based engineering consultancy Structwel Designers and Consultants Private Limited.[3] The hotel reopened on October 20, 2018[15] as the Taj Connemara. The renovation took 22 months, cost 900 million Rupees, and involved 1400 workers.[16]
Given its centuries-old background, the hotel boasts some historical snippets:
- The stone pillars in the hotel's Raintree pathway and the wooden carvings in the grand staircase wall, both of which date back to the 16th and 17th centuries, are from old temples of Mahabalipuram.[3]
- The lobby has a grand piano that dates back to 1922, which used to be played in the ballroom in the evenings during the post-war era, and is still played on weekdays.[3]
- Nagavelli well, located in the hotel, never dries up even during the peak of summer when all other wells in the city dry up.[3]
Location
Taj Connemara is located on the eastern banks of River Cooum on Binny Road, off Anna Salai, abutting the Spencer Plaza, one of the most prominent landmarks of Chennai.
The hotel
Built on a 4.2-acre land,[3] Taj Connemara has a total of 147 rooms, which include 143 double rooms and 4 suites. The hotel has 2 meeting rooms which include a ball room that can accommodate up to 400 people in a theatre style and up to 600 people for cocktails. The conference room of the hotel can accommodate up to 30 people in a theatre style. The restaurants in the hotel include The Verandah—a 24-hour coffee shop serving Indian, Continental and Thai food, The Lady Connemara Bar and Lounge—serving exotic cocktails, spirits, wines, beer and light snacks in a colonial ambiance, Raintree—an ethnic, open-air restaurant serving Chettinad cuisine from Tamil Nadu.
Greeneries in the hotel include a dramatic old raintree and two sturdy Nagavalli trees.[3]
Notable associations
For decades, the hotel has been integral to the functioning of several clubs and associations in the city. The Rotary Club of Madras has been meeting in the hotel every Tuesday at 1:00 p.m. since 10 May 1929, and plaque has been erected past the ballroom to mark this. The Wednesday Club has been gathering in the hotel since 1975, taking "the same table at Verandah every week, and always have the lunch buffet." The Madras Book Club has been meeting in the hotel since the 2000s.[3]
See also
References
- ^ "Deluxe - India Hotels" (PDF). Worldwide Tours. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help); Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ a b "Taj Connemara proud symbol of our tradition". The Hindu. Chennai: The Hindu. 26 August 2008. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Muthalaly, Shonali (21 April 2016). "Taj Connemara to close down for a year". The Hindu. Chennai: The Hindu. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Kataria, Dayanad. "Inaugural Session" (PDF). Seminar on Conservation of Heritage Buildings/Precincts in Chennai Metropolitan Area. Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Chacko, Philip (January 2011). "Jewel in the Chennai crown". Tata. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ a b Haripriya, V. (25 August 2008). "Tracing its roots". Ergo 360°. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Sitalakshmi, K. R. (5 August 2006). "Art Deco buildings in Chennai". The Hindu. Chennai: The Hindu. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "Do Chennai's art deco buildings have a future?". Madras Musings. XIX (6). 1–15 July 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
{{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/the-story-of-vivanta-by-taj-connemara/article7550586.ece
- ^ a b Ramanathan, Malathi (5 September 2008). "Not just smiles and style". Business Line. Chennai: The Hindu. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "Taj gives a facelift to Connemara". The Times of India. Chennai: The Times Group. 9 February 2004. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "Chidambaram's bid to save Chennai's heritage". NDTV Travels Beta. Indo-Asian News Service. 25 August 2008. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "19 Taj Hotels migrate to a new brand" (PDF). Introducing a brand new signature in hospitality: Vivanta Hotels & Resorts by Taj. Taj Hotels. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2010. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help); Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/taj-connemara-turns-back-the-clock/article24928267.ece
- ^ https://www.hotelnewsresource.com/article101603.html
- ^ https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/taj-connemara-turns-back-the-clock/article24928267.ece
