India trip - Intercontinental Resort Chennai.
I recently had an extended business trip to India. Visiting several customers who have large offices in Chennai and Delhi.
First stop was Chennai so I stayed in the intercontinental hotel resort south of the city mainly to keep away from the pollution and chaos of central Chennai.
Intercontinental hotels are part of the IHG group and generally the top tier of their brands, much more swank than Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza.
It's an interesting architectural style, looking quite brutal on initial view with the bare concrete and stark geometric lines. But the landscaped grounds and water features help soften it up. The rooms are beautifully appointed, you even have the choice of full light or moody soft light for the walk in wardrobe.
We are welcomed with a large platter of fruit and naughty desserts.
The food at the resort was amazing, you could have a la carte or a massive selection of dishes with the buffet.
We pretty much ate buffet for breakfast and evening meals, I know we like a good Indian in the uk but I couldn't pass up the opportunity for such tasty and diverse food as this.
I did feel a bit sorry for the head chef one night as he wanted to cook fresh pasta for us. We had to decline but politely explained that we very rarely get the chance to have this sort of food.
They had a great variety and swapped things around very frequently so you never got bored. There must have been at least 50 dishes from salads, a wide selection of mains and a huge choice of desserts.
They certainly like their desserts!
The resort lead out onto well looked after gardens and then the beach. I was hoping to be able to go for a run down the beach in the mornings but it was blocked off either side so you only had access to a small bit of sand.
Luckily it did have a nice bar where you could also order food. Not as good for the healthy lifestyle but better than nothing.
It did have a well appointed gym so I used the treadmill most days. I forgot how soul destroying running for an hour plus on a treadmill could be. Also, even though it was air conditioned it couldn't really help with 95% humidity. So I finished in sweaty mess at the end.
Not a bad view for a treadmill run.
