Wednesday, June 18, 2014

A good place in Ooty

Hill stations are the best place to get away from the heat. But getting the right place to stay is the biggest hurdle.
Had been to the Nilgiris (Ooty) last week and found that the Grand Manor is an ideal place to stay. From outside it may not grab your attention but the perspective changes once you are inside. 



The location is very close to the Botanical Garden (about 3 minutes on foot) What I liked best about the place is its cleanliness and neatness. For some, the rooms may look small but who needs huge rooms for staying at a hill station.




The problem with Ooty is that you have to go for very high end hotels to get a decent and respectable place. Garden Manor has filled in that vacuum by offering a decent place for an affordable rate. I liked the rooms which faced the stadium. Being a sportsman I enjoyed viewing the young ones playing football, basketball and volleyball (yes all are enclosed in the same stadium)
The stairs are wide and the corridors are neat and clean.



They have provision for car park near the entrance as well as an additional open air car park. Many hotels don't provide food but here you can get breakfast and dinner (but this is purely based on advance order) 
Unlike other hotels which provide hot water from a central place, here geysers are fitted in every bathroom which ensures constant hot water as per your requirement.
The overall ambiance of the place too is good with some interesting paintings put up at strategic places.




I found this canopy over the potted plant out of place, but the staff explained that a bird decided to build its nest in the plant, and they tried to shield it from the rains. And indeed there was a bird, oblivious of all the activity around.



The owner and partner Mr Antony is pleasant to talk to and has some interesting stories to tell about the old Ooty and how things are slowly changing. I suppose that is the story everywhere.


This place is close to the famous  Modern Store. Hope to write about this store in my next blog post.

18 comments:

Shivani Singh said...

Great pictures...crisp sharp shots. Looks like you've caught the rear of the red vented bulbul. That the staff build a canopy over the nest makes me give brownie points to Garden Manor too. Yeah sure will look forward to ur Modern Store pics and story but staying so close to the Botancal gardens won't u be taking some shots of those not to be found or seen in the plains flora??? Hope you do.
Thanks for stopping by at my post and leaving behind ur signature in ur typical style. Feel happy :)
Also remember to get some Nilgiri Tea and some homemade Chocolates...they are good...apart from spices ie if u r planning on doing some shopping at Modern Stores.
21 years in Chennai...OOTY WAS OUR PREM KEE BOOTY...HAHAHA :))

Bikram said...

lovely pics.. right next time I go to ooty.. well when the FIRST time i go , i will stay here for sure :)

Bikram

Optimistic Existentialist said...

Looks like an awesome place. Love that bedroom. And that bird shot is fantastic :)

Jim and Sandie said...

I love your bird shot. Always a good deal to find a decent price for a clean, safe place to stay.

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fabulouspetite said...

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Joy said...

Seems a nice place to visit:)

Chirasree Banerjee said...

Hotel looks lovely! Ooty reminds me of my honeymoon time!
Glad to visit your blog.

Connie said...

It does look like a lovely place to visit. I like the artwork they have there.

Rama Ananth said...

Lovely hotel. In fact Ooty has quite a number of Heritage hotels which are really good. The Turf View of Mahindra Resorts too is one of them, it was previously Dashaprakash. It is also right in the center of the town. Though rooms are small,but is very comfortable. We could see the toy train leaving everyday at 7.30 in the morning. Ooty is really a good place to unwind, and one should avoid visiting all these touristy sights and just relax in any one of the resorts/ hotels there.

Arti said...

Looks very homely and inviting. Also looks very clean. Great pictures and review, next time I am planning for ooty, I know where to stay.

Beate said...

What a nice place to stay in! Love that horse painting :) And the bird nesting in that little tree is so awesome, you got a really good shot there :) I would have loved watching it and it's so sweet that they put the canopy up there :) Have a wonderful weekend!

Alka Gurha said...

Thanks for this one. We are planning a visit and were looking at Savoy, Fernhill and others. Someone else suggested home stays. But this looks like a good option too.

Corinne Rodrigues said...

Lovely! I do prefer Wellington and Coonoor though, Joe. But then I'm baised - what with having lived in Wellington as a child.

padmaja said...

Some lucky bird that came across good hearted humans, love that touching action!

Locomente said...

Awesome pictures...
Nice place :)

Dimpy Roy said...

Nice place to stay. Thanks for sharing. When it comes to places to visit in Ooty, it's like a nature lover's dream come true. While there's the Upper Bhavani Lake and the very famous Botanical Gardens as the famous Ooty tourist places, you can also go in for an experiential trip. The almost ancient Tea Factory is one of those places to visit in Ooty that can let you experience a very different world. Here, you can see the tea production unit's inside out, getting an insight into the whole process of such manufacturing units. Check out Ooty tourist places.