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.