A Stay At Chidambara Vilas - A Luxury Chettinad Heritage Resort Near Kar...

#iTaste #ChidambaraVilas #chettinadresorts A Stay At Chidambara Vilas - A Luxury Chettinad Heritage Resort Near Karaikudi - Part 1 Built-in the early 1900s this TSK villa now stands as Chidambara heritage resort run by the Trichy Sangam hotels. Chidambaram Villas Resort is situated in a village called kadayapatti that’s 25 km between Pudukotai and Karaikudi town. Google maps location; Chidambara Vlas Heritage Resort

We booked a full board package for a couple, that costs 8000/- INR including a kid below 12 years old. The Bed & Breakfast package will cost around 6000/- INR

The usual check-in is at 12 pm but since the rooms were occupied we were told to come a little later, so we drove past kadayapatti to Karaikudi to have our lunch at Sri Priya mess, an excellent Chettinad cuisine. Check out my YouTube & Blog link for Sri Priya mess below ; Youtube; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JjuObXfOV8 Blog; http://i--taste.blogspot.com/2021/08/authentic-chettinadu-cusine-at.html After lunch, we traveled to Chidambara villas at kadayapatti 25 km from Karaikudi town. We arrived around 2 and were welcomed by resort staff. The welcome was kind of traditional by putting an angavastram (a shoulder cloth worn with veshti around our necks) and with a ginger health drink.

We were then taken to our rooms.

The first thing that caught my eyes as I entered the room was the large manual fan hanging above the bed. Attached to a string that runs above our heads when we sleep, the fan operates when we pull the string. These types of fans were available in those days when there was no power nor a mechanical working fan. The hotel has maintained the same style so that the customers can feel how it was during those days.

The air condition is available but stays hidden behind the TV cupboards, this is mainly to avoid the AC in plain sight. The study table and dressing table all in the wood had excellent craftsmanship to them. Small draws in the study table to keep jewels and a lid that draws from inside to close these small drawers... they were amazing.

The curtain that they had used in the room was an old Chettinad pattu saree which was stitched to a curtain that can be rolled up or down.

The room also had a kettle, tea, coffee & milk powder packets. The wardrobe had a safe, two bathrobes which in no way could have fitted for me, and two pairs of use & throw slippers. I haven’t seen slippers like that before which was kind of different. The washroom also had a lot of woodwork. Clean towels, toiletries, bathtub, shower cabin... At 4 in the evening, we got our coffee in a flask along with a brass Dabara set. The brass dabara is a cup and saucer made of brass metal and is the right way of drinking authentic filter coffee... you can see this in a lot of places in Kumbakonam. They also gave some complimentary snacks like murukku and adhirasam sweet.

There was a small cookery class conducted in the evening where they showed us how to cook Chettinad chicken gravy and a sweet with kowni rice which had a sweet Pongal taste. The cookery video will be posted on my itaste- food talks youtube channel. We also had a house tour where the manager talks about the history of Chettiars and how they built this villa and also about the details of the mansion which will be in another video and blog A good resort stay with excellent food, which I will post in detail soon.