It was a pity that we stayed at this hotel Madras Hotel Ashoka in December 2007 as a family of 4.
We have stayed at many international hotels before and this was our worst experience. The customer service is non existent and the so called manager had no manners. This should not be called an international hotel.
They advertise the terms as 24 hour check in and check out but never explain this to the customer what this means at the time of chech in. Their charging policy is only on the invoice when you check out.
You will realise that any minute over the 24 hour you stay they charge you for a full day whereas most hotels charge extra hours as part day.
We stayed one full day and 2 hours and were told to pay for 2 full days. When we questioned the man at the desk was so rude that we had to ask to see the manager. This man was sitting in a cubicle next to the main desk. We were asked to go there and see him. The normal culture is for the 'manager' to come to the customer. He was also rude and had no capability to explain things and was uncompromising and non communicable. As we had to catch a flight we decided to settle and leave. In the bill we found a separate item of bill for over 2300 rupees under restaurant bill which we were not aware of. We refused to pay this amount and got out paying for the 2 days room rent.
As you go along the spiral stair case of the hotel to your room you can get the smell of urine every where. There is a display on the wall 'DO NOT PAY TIP'. But as you go along you are swamped with porters around you fighting for each piece of baggage and they all expect some tip or they won't leave. As we asked for some cold water one asked for money and I gave him 100 rupees. He left with the money and brought 2 bottles of water and eventually we found that he put the bill in our account. The restaurant was always chaotic with too many people around.
You will do yourself a favour if you avoid this hotel which in our experience is a house of horror. Don't be fooled by the advertisement. If you go to their official web site, Ballal group,you will also inadvertently download a virus!
Look around elsewhere to stay while in Chennai. We sent an official complaint to the Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation which is a government agency but never got any response from them.
Thomas Mathew
London