S4 Sruthi Service Apartment

The biggest problem became clear once daylight came back: the apartment was dirty, with cobwebs, dust, grimy curtains, a broken kitchen cabinet and a dripping tap. Sewage water around the building brought a terrible smell and swarms of mosquitoes. They bit us even with the AC running, and there wasn’t a single bedsheet. One of my children was covered in bites; the rest of us developed eye and throat infections. We needed doctors after returning home and took 10 days to recover. The road was dug up, the property was down an interior dead end, and rides kept going to a different place about 1.5 km away. Nothing was conveniently walkable for a family. We checked in on July 3, 2025, for two nights, five of us including my elderly parents and two children. We’ve visited Chennai every year for 23 years, but this was a frightening experience we won’t forget. There was no power when we arrived, and apparently no backup. From 4 pm until 9:45 pm, we kept hearing that electricity would return in 30 minutes. We were left in a dark room with mosquitoes, a foul smell, and no way to open the windows or doors without letting it in. After I repeatedly called the manager, Elumalai, he said that if power hadn’t returned by 7:30 pm, he’d arrange a car to take us elsewhere and bring us back. He went off duty without telling the next person or leaving a note. At 9:45 pm, the night manager, Satish, knew nothing about the arrangement and refused to relocate us or send a car. We stood by the road for 45 minutes before they sent us to S4 Residency, 64, L.B.Road, Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai City Center. That place felt unsafe for a family, with beer bottles outside all the rooms, and none of us slept. In the morning, night manager Mutthuraj refused to get us a cab back and was rude when I said I’d review the hotel. He went behind me and asked my son to sign a paper. We paid for our own cab, returned to the apartment, and spent the rest of our stay frightened. Our trip plans were wrecked. The apartment had none of the things its website showed or promised. Nobody called to apologize. The way we were treated felt irresponsible, and the website photos seemed misleading. I intend to report what happened to the relevant authority. Other people with similar experiences should speak up publicly so families don’t go through what we did in another city.