How I booked it:
I booked our 2 night stay using four 25k annual free night certificates I had in mine and my dad’s Marriott accounts. The rate at this hotel is usually 20,000 points/night or around 8000 INR + tax per night so it’s not exactly the greatest redemption, but it isn’t bad considering the rate is flexible. I needed that given that travel plans change and flights sometimes get cancelled.
Airport Transfer:
I contacted the Courtyard Madurai a couple of days before our arrival to request transport to the hotel. Arriving in a new city, I’m always overwhelmed by the number of cab drivers who want to make me “an offer” and I’ve had some bad experiences with some “offers.” For a Toyota Innova (aka minivan) the rate came out to around 1400 INR or 16 USD for a 30 min ride. If you get a Taxi or Uber the rate will be around 700 INR, but alteast with the hotel car, you are guaranteed a certain standard. The driver as expected had a sign out for us at arrivals and took the ladies’ bags as soon as we approached him.
Arrival and Check In:
The Courtyard Madurai is the city’s only five star hotel and is located about 3.3km or a 12 min car ride from the famous Meenakshi Temple of Madurai. There are even rooms at the hotel from which you could see the town centre and temple. Unfortunately we were not given one of those rooms. Check in was a fairly swift process by Indian standards. They didn’t take too long making copies of our passports and visas and we were soon on our way to our room. The receptionist mentioned that breakfast was included for us as Marriott Platinums at the hotel restaurant and that drinks and snacks are available between 4-6 pm at the MLounge across from the reception desk.
Twin Room:
The room itself was your standard room with two twin beds and a restroom with a walk-in shower. Though the hotel claims to be “five star”, the shower and toilet were horribly designed with water from the shower easily permeating out from under the shower door. There was also a lot of visible wear and tear.
The beds were comfortable enough for our two night stay and outlets were conveniently located right next to the bed.
Unbranded and sealed water bottles were provided alongside a coffee pot on the mini-bar. On the desk the hotel left a welcome amenity of a few cake bites. No I didn’t eat half the cake, that’s how many pieces there were 🙂
Our view out the window did not include the temple so that was a bit of a bummer, but there was more green than usual for India 🙂
M Lounge:
One evening we decided to check out the executive lounge for a quick evening drink and snack (for us teetotalers that’s just a tea or diet coke). It’s a well designed space located just off the lobby and is frankly just a part of it.
It was not like there was an amazing collection of food to be had, but our tea came with some cookies in this, dare I say ‘cute’ looking shopping cart?
Breakfast @ Madurai Kitchen
Breakfast was served from 6:00AM to 10:30AM at the hotel restaurant which was unoriginally named “Madurai Kitchen.” As Platinum members, it was included as an elite perk, though I find most rates in India to offer breakfast anyway. The hotel offered a wide assortment of Western and Indian options with the Western options being ok at best if you ask me.
Don’t get me wrong it was a fabulous breakfast arrangement for a Courtyard, but didn’t quite measure up to some other hotels I’ve stayed at in India. We did have dinner at the restaurant on the evening of arrival. I didn’t get a picture of much more than the veggie panini, but the food was excellent. It was definitely a cut above the quality at breakfast.
Bottom Line:
The Courtyard Madurai is a very solid choice for a stay in Temple City and is likely one of the best hotels in the city. I would give it very high marks for a hotel located in a not so major Indian city. The staff, especially the hotel drivers, were terrific (I’ll talk more about them in successive posts). If I hadn’t stayed at so many hotels in India lately I would say the breakfast here was nice.
Introduction: Xmas in India & NYE in Singapore
Lufthansa Business Class DFW-Frankfurt-Delhi
Lufthansa Business Class Lounge B @ Frankfurt
Hyderabad to Madurai: A Pictorial Journey
Courtyard by Marriott Madurai
Focal Point: The Temples of Thanjavur & Madurai
Fragrant Nature Munnar
Singapore Airlines Regional Business Class Hyderabad – Singapore
Andaz Singapore
SilverKris Lounge Singapore
Singapore Airlines Long Haul Business Singapore – Los Angeles
Hyatt House LAX/Century Blvd
