Palais de Mahé - Cgh Earth♡

Great experience!

10.0

Great stay in Pondicherry. This is a beautiful hotel— perfectly appointed rooms and amazing service. Highly recommend.

History and comfort in Pondicherry

10.0

A really lovely hotel with charming and helpful staff. I have a diet problem and they were excellent in making sure that I could eat well. Dinner was always preceded by a short conference with chef and waiter, excellent service. The hotel itself is an old building from the French era. Among other things it still preserves the eighteenth century room keys. They are about nine inches long. The restaurant is on the roof with a roof over but open around the sides; as I arrived with a cyclone dining that night was quite an experience. The rooms are large and comfortable with a great deal of character, I had no difficulty sleeping. I can wholeheartedly recommend this hotel for it not only provides wonderful accommodation but a true experience of the essence of Pondicherry. Enjoy your stay!

French mansion style heritage hotel

8.0

A CGH Earth is a mansion hotel set in the french quarter near to the wide promenaded beachfront. The 18 rooms were spacious with high ceilings, and featured its distinct mustard-yellow walls. Due to the compact nature of the hotel, and the fact we were only staying for two nights, we never used the central courtyard swimming pool which in hindsight was a mistake. When checking-in guest were given a lovely drink which had chia seeds and a great taste. Breakfast was delightful and catered to all tastes. The restaurant was open on three sides to allow the air to flow and give great views, and served Indo-French cuisine.

Palace de Mahe

10.0

The hotel is beautiful and close to all the great cafes and restaurants in Puducherry. Also close to the sea front. Lovely spacious rooms, great comfortable beds. Lovely pool. Renovations currently going on but doesn’t detract from the lovely experience we had. Friendly helpful staff, always keen to have a chat with you and check alls ok!

PALAIS DE MAHE IN PONDICHERRY : STILL A GEM AND MUST STAY

10.0

Since 2003 we are spending our winter holiday (January–February) in South India and mostly at CGH Earth properties. They are eco-friendly, charming, perfectly maintained and have a staff of excellence. We came back to Palais de Mahe where we had stayed 5 weeks in January–February in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2024 for a 2 months stay (8th January – 3rd March 2026). The hotel in French colonial style with classy furniture and mirrors is strategically located in the French Quarter within walking distance to the beach, key attractions, restaurants, shops and the Tamil Quarter. From the moment we arrived until the moment we checked out we experienced the gracious hospitality of general manager Dinu Ramakrishnan and his friendly and efficient staff. We stayed in Room 206 which is palatial, clean, with a large king-sized bed, a sitting area, dual air conditioning very easy to control, minibar, fans, TV, safe, WiFi, hairdryer and a very nice view on the swimming pool. The excellent breakfast served “à la carte” includes a variety of freshly prepared fruit juices, a nice fruit platter, honey, jam, butter, perfectly crisped dosas, different preparations of eggs as well as croissants, toast and curd. We opted daily for green tea and masala tea. We often went to the elegant restaurant (2nd floor) overlooking the pool on one side and the street on the other side and enjoyed a variety of South-Indian and international dishes. We especially liked: avocado salad, cilantro shrimp, tandoor chicken, curried roasted lamb shank, udon noodles, meen molee, chingri malai curry, spaghetti carbonara, spaghetti with garlic, tomatoes and mushrooms and for dessert apple tatin, tarte and also mango and stawberry icecream. At Palais they serve excellent cocktails. We mostly opted for a white town (white wine + gin + basil leaves, lemon juice + simple syrup). They also have a nice selection of indian wines our favorite were La Reserve (red) and viognier (white) wine. We daily enjoyed a very relaxing swim in the charming pool. On 25th Feb, we celebrated Jean-Paul's birthday with all the staff. Jean-Paul received beuautiful and useful gifts and flowers. GM Dinu Ramakrishnan offered a delicious fruitcake baked by Mahalakshmi. It was shared with staff. That day the housekeeping staff with the help of some members of engineering team decorated our room with pictures of Rolande, Jean-Paul and the friends at Palais. They also installed a great number of little lights which brought a festive and romantic atmosphere. A special mention is made to GM Dinu Ramakrishnan who is deeply commited to the highest standard of leadership and guides his staff to excellence. We like to pay tribute to all the staff of Palais. At reception: Fakhruddin, Jyoshna, Sai Kumar, Adrien and Bineeth ( photo 1 ) were truly outstanding and solving administrative problem and helping guests with sightseeing and shopping. Chef Kathiresan and experinced sous-chef Poornachandran guide a great set of young cooks including the passionate, talented and active Jagadesh, Murugesh, Neethu, Mahalakshmi as well as Arul, Vithya, Hari, Shahiba, Antony wilfred, Vellapandi, Akash, Suvo Debnath ( photo 2 ) At the restaurant: Johnson, Nithya, Saroj, Mugunthan, Sanjiv, Rajesh, Sayanthan, Veeraragan and Rahul ( photo 3 ) did a great job. All members of Housekeeping: (Jinto, Santhosh, Dinesh, Muthuakshmi, Datchayani, Selvi, Vijay, Arjun, Gopi, Madhavan and Uttam ( photo 4 ) always smiling accomplish their daily work to perfection and the laundry done in the house arrives the same day. A special mention to Santhosh whom we have seen flourish all over the 12 years. We know him to become a skilled and experienced housekeeping team player. He helped us each year in solving practical problems and packing and made everything possible. The very dynamic Rajesh Thamizharasan (Human Resources), the teams of Engineering and Security as well as the Accountants also play a key role in the organization of Palais de Mahe. Huge thanks to all the staff of Palais de Mahe. Warm regards, Rolande and Jean-Paul Butzler Knokke-Heist, Belgium

Beautiful stay

10.0

We had a wonderful stay here as part of a Southern India trip. The hotel is small, but beautiful, our room was well equipped with large & comfortable double bed, aircon & attached shower room. Toiletries are eco-friendly and lovely. The restaurant & food were a highlight and the service was excellent. The young chefs particularly were very interested in making sure we enjoyed the food and tried different local dishes. The pool is a lovely addition too. The area is close to the promenade & makes for an easy walking tour of White Town. Definitely stay here if you can.