Hey TFians ,
Since i recieved the Taj 10k voucher for the 4L Amex PT milestone, been wanting to do a Taj stay . With a newborn tagging along, and an International trip being planned in Nov of this year, felt like this would be a good chance to get experienced in all aspects : Points redemption, night stay at a new place with a newborn, crowds, a break from routine ,travel etc.
So i decided to book a 1N stay at Taj Fisherman cove ( Since wifey wanted a beach side outing) and this is how it felt/went.
Booked the 29th to 30th March 1N stay in a Superior King Bed with "Garden View" with Breakfast package under standard rate for 18k + Gst which came out to 21.5k . It was 2 adults ( me and wifey) and a 0 year baby. I had a B'day Month offer from Tata Neu for the same spot for 13k but since i dint want to spend a single penny , i went with the costlier option. I had actually emailed Taj Mgmt requesting to be permitted for offer rate with Amex voucher but i never even got a response. Since i dint want to take a gamble, i went with the Standard rate.
29th March :
Started from our home for the 1.5hour drive to the location at 11.30 AM and decided to have Lunch enroute . Booked a restaurant through ED which was 30mins from the Resort , reached the location, got seated and we ordered. 5 mins after taking our order, we were told that they will not entertain bill payment via ED. Got pissed off since the 2 main reasons for using ED was 1) obviously the offer and 2) so we get guaranteed seating since we have a newborn along with us. I immediately pinged ED support, got a phone call from them, gave the phone to the Hotel manager and boom, magically they accept ED payments now. BTW food was actually yummy.
Reached the hotel at 2.20Pm, got our welcome garland/necklace made of shells, a non-alcoholic beverage and was seated. I was shocked to see the amount of crowd that was getting checked in.
5mins later, after all the signing and stuff, we got our keycard, and reached our room.
IT WAS SPACIOUS AND NEAT.
We actually had checked out a few reviews and we felt the room might be small and some comments even mentioned things were old. NOPE. Our room was spacious, clean and smelt so good. Bathroom was clean AF.
We had a rocking chair which really helped with the baby, Sofa, Desk, ample walking space . The hot water in the Sink wasnt working always, but the Iron box, Locker, pair of slippers etc were great. The Size was what really threw us off and we were already quite happy with how good the Room felt.
BTW the "Garden View" Sucked. But we anyhow kept the curtains closed the whole time so we ignored it.
After changing, we decided to have a walk around the location.
They had given us an activities sheet which is basically things to while away time but it sort of worked. We quite liked the fact that they actually put effort into things. It also mentioned sunrise and sunset timings.
There were ducks running around and the front desk gave us bread crumbs to feed them, there was a painting canvas ( just 2 paint colours available), rangoli, origami etc. The Location also had beautiful multi colour flowers, mango trees, hammocks, swans flying around. It was an amazing view. Chennai heat though bled our strength dry .
After all of this, we went to the beach for the sunset, juice and snacks and walked around. It felt great.
For Dinner, we hit up "Bay View" restaurant which a few of my friends said is one of the best seafood restaurants in Chennai. The Pricing of the Menu was insane but since it was all via points, we decided to just enjoy. Ordered the Fish grill, Crab Rasam , idiyappam, Prawn mango curry and more. The Fish was just amazing, just melted in our mouths, it was one of the best grilled fish ive had ever. The other dishes were good, nothing exceptional.
Bill came out to a whopping 7.5k for 2 people xD . I then hit up the J Wellness center for a Sammardhana full Body Ayurvedic Massage. Except the initial "Guests are god, hence we touch the guests feet" introduction they did, It was a worth massage.
30th March :
We went to the beach at 6 am for the Sunrise, and it was beautiful. Took so many pics and enjoyed it a lot. Boats in the water , sun in the background slowly raising up was a sight to behold. For a night owl like me, it was a new experience.
After 8.30, we hit up "Seagull" for our Morning breakfast. The Restaurant was so full, they had arranged Buffet in an additional building. The spread was AMAZING. They had all south indian dishes i.e idli, vada, dosa, poori, pongal, kichdi, as well as Kachori, porridge, sausages, Malabar paratha, lacha, roti, baked fish, chicken curry and more along with breads, eggs, muffin and croisants and more. 4 kinds of juices, 2 kinds of coffee was the best part of it.
Weirdest thing though was seeing a hotel member walk around the seating area with a mosquito bat, killing what i assume are mosquitoes.
After this, we went back to the room, watched some tv, packed and then went to the reception for checkout.
Total cost came out to 36k and i had 2k left in my voucher, so i ordered a hyderabadi mutton biriyani and a Chicken fried rice takeway to make it 38k rounded.
Used up 3 Amex vouchers i.e 10k milestone voucher + 2 x 14k worth taj vouchers from 24k collection . Paid the bill, checked out and went back home to reach by 2Pm .
Verdict : It was an awesome experience for everyone . Might actually do it again next year with parents too.
Good : Wife will be very happy for a while. Lots of memories and pics. Learnt how to redeem points and plan things with points. Can handle travel with a newborn much better
Bad : The cost , even though it was points , felt too much. I wish they allowed me to book discounted rate and redeem amex. The crowd was a lot, which was surprising.
P.s : They gave us a small gift which was a black marble elephant. Looks beautiful.
Since i recieved the Taj 10k voucher for the 4L Amex PT milestone, been wanting to do a Taj stay . With a newborn tagging along, and an International trip being planned in Nov of this year, felt like this would be a good chance to get experienced in all aspects : Points redemption, night stay at a new place with a newborn, crowds, a break from routine ,travel etc.
So i decided to book a 1N stay at Taj Fisherman cove ( Since wifey wanted a beach side outing) and this is how it felt/went.
Booked the 29th to 30th March 1N stay in a Superior King Bed with "Garden View" with Breakfast package under standard rate for 18k + Gst which came out to 21.5k . It was 2 adults ( me and wifey) and a 0 year baby. I had a B'day Month offer from Tata Neu for the same spot for 13k but since i dint want to spend a single penny , i went with the costlier option. I had actually emailed Taj Mgmt requesting to be permitted for offer rate with Amex voucher but i never even got a response. Since i dint want to take a gamble, i went with the Standard rate.
29th March :
Started from our home for the 1.5hour drive to the location at 11.30 AM and decided to have Lunch enroute . Booked a restaurant through ED which was 30mins from the Resort , reached the location, got seated and we ordered. 5 mins after taking our order, we were told that they will not entertain bill payment via ED. Got pissed off since the 2 main reasons for using ED was 1) obviously the offer and 2) so we get guaranteed seating since we have a newborn along with us. I immediately pinged ED support, got a phone call from them, gave the phone to the Hotel manager and boom, magically they accept ED payments now. BTW food was actually yummy.
Reached the hotel at 2.20Pm, got our welcome garland/necklace made of shells, a non-alcoholic beverage and was seated. I was shocked to see the amount of crowd that was getting checked in.
5mins later, after all the signing and stuff, we got our keycard, and reached our room.
IT WAS SPACIOUS AND NEAT.
We actually had checked out a few reviews and we felt the room might be small and some comments even mentioned things were old. NOPE. Our room was spacious, clean and smelt so good. Bathroom was clean AF.
We had a rocking chair which really helped with the baby, Sofa, Desk, ample walking space . The hot water in the Sink wasnt working always, but the Iron box, Locker, pair of slippers etc were great. The Size was what really threw us off and we were already quite happy with how good the Room felt.
BTW the "Garden View" Sucked. But we anyhow kept the curtains closed the whole time so we ignored it.
After changing, we decided to have a walk around the location.
They had given us an activities sheet which is basically things to while away time but it sort of worked. We quite liked the fact that they actually put effort into things. It also mentioned sunrise and sunset timings.
There were ducks running around and the front desk gave us bread crumbs to feed them, there was a painting canvas ( just 2 paint colours available), rangoli, origami etc. The Location also had beautiful multi colour flowers, mango trees, hammocks, swans flying around. It was an amazing view. Chennai heat though bled our strength dry .
After all of this, we went to the beach for the sunset, juice and snacks and walked around. It felt great.
For Dinner, we hit up "Bay View" restaurant which a few of my friends said is one of the best seafood restaurants in Chennai. The Pricing of the Menu was insane but since it was all via points, we decided to just enjoy. Ordered the Fish grill, Crab Rasam , idiyappam, Prawn mango curry and more. The Fish was just amazing, just melted in our mouths, it was one of the best grilled fish ive had ever. The other dishes were good, nothing exceptional.
Bill came out to a whopping 7.5k for 2 people xD . I then hit up the J Wellness center for a Sammardhana full Body Ayurvedic Massage. Except the initial "Guests are god, hence we touch the guests feet" introduction they did, It was a worth massage.
30th March :
We went to the beach at 6 am for the Sunrise, and it was beautiful. Took so many pics and enjoyed it a lot. Boats in the water , sun in the background slowly raising up was a sight to behold. For a night owl like me, it was a new experience.
After 8.30, we hit up "Seagull" for our Morning breakfast. The Restaurant was so full, they had arranged Buffet in an additional building. The spread was AMAZING. They had all south indian dishes i.e idli, vada, dosa, poori, pongal, kichdi, as well as Kachori, porridge, sausages, Malabar paratha, lacha, roti, baked fish, chicken curry and more along with breads, eggs, muffin and croisants and more. 4 kinds of juices, 2 kinds of coffee was the best part of it.
Weirdest thing though was seeing a hotel member walk around the seating area with a mosquito bat, killing what i assume are mosquitoes.
After this, we went back to the room, watched some tv, packed and then went to the reception for checkout.
Total cost came out to 36k and i had 2k left in my voucher, so i ordered a hyderabadi mutton biriyani and a Chicken fried rice takeway to make it 38k rounded.
Used up 3 Amex vouchers i.e 10k milestone voucher + 2 x 14k worth taj vouchers from 24k collection . Paid the bill, checked out and went back home to reach by 2Pm .
Verdict : It was an awesome experience for everyone . Might actually do it again next year with parents too.
Good : Wife will be very happy for a while. Lots of memories and pics. Learnt how to redeem points and plan things with points. Can handle travel with a newborn much better
Bad : The cost , even though it was points , felt too much. I wish they allowed me to book discounted rate and redeem amex. The crowd was a lot, which was surprising.
P.s : They gave us a small gift which was a black marble elephant. Looks beautiful.
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