I am a European, resident in Chennai for a couple of years.
The Promenade was rather a disappointing hotel of very little character. Food un-interesting. Staff pleasant, but pre occupied with goodness know what. Rooms okay, but didn't like the nails sticking up out of the floor boards. The bathrooms need to be completely re done.

We really enjoyed this boutique hotel, which would not be out of place in stylish Eurpoean seaside resort (though with higher prices!).

All public areas of the hotel were very well designed, including the comfortabe bedrooms. I agree with a previous TA review that whilst the bathrooms are stylish, they do need a little TLC, though having said that they were significantly better than in many 4/5 star hotels in Europe and the US.

The hotel is located opposite the beach enabling you to people watch from your window and listen to the polic band playing at night.

We only ate breakfast att he hotel, though there was agood range of Western and Asian food on offer.

The only real weakness for the hotel is the satff's attitude, though they were pelasant they seemed pre-occupied / too busy to listen or deal with enquiries. An example is how part way through checking out the guy at the reception started making calls to ask about other rooms. Though this is a small issue I think that if the hotel wishes to attract a boutique hotel clientele the service needs to be improved.

Though the hotel is not a traditional hotel (and there are many in Pondi), we would probably return if we went back to Pondi.

We stayed in a seaside view room in the Promenade hotel this March. Check-in was efficient and the staff were very helpful, meeting us at the car and handling our bags. The rooms were well designed with comfy beds, satellite television and a good view of the sea. The bathroom was a little run down, however, with cracked tiles and very limited hot water!

The restaurant served a mixture of Indian and Western food. The choice of Indian food was not very good and the standard was also below par. The staff were very attentive, however, and the prices were reasonable.

All in all a hotel with a lot of potential. The staff and views are the main draws.

It's interesting to find a designer boutique hotel like this in India. Aesthetically, it's actually really nice... but I'm not sure how long it will last. The bathrooms are already a little worse for wear. Nothing serious or offensive. The place is really clean, but you'd just expect the finishes to be a little more impeccable.
Overall, we had a really good experience in this hotel. The location is really wonderful—right on the seafront. So, you can easily join the locals as they wander up and down the promenade in the evening. The staff were really helpful and pleasant... although we did ask them to book a table at a restaurant (Satsanga) and when we turned up there, they had no trace of our names. Still, the service at the restaurant was so stressed-out and chaotic that I could definitely not say that the hotel was to blame.
The breakfast was among the best that we experienced in our two weeks in southern India.
Still, if we went back to Pondicherry, we'd probably stay at some place a little more traditional. The town has a lot of local flavour and it would have been more pleasant to stay in somewhere a bit more typical—rather than a western-style designer boutique hotel.