Grand Continent Mahabalipuram

The pool and landscaped grounds made it easy to relax, and the food was delicious with plenty of variety. Our rooms were clean and spacious, with modern amenities, and the property was beautifully maintained. The staff were warm and welcoming, going out of their way to make our stay pleasant. It seems like a peaceful getaway for families or couples. Highly recommend it for a relaxing, memorable vacation.

The Grand Continent was a terrible experience, and I wouldn’t recommend it. The restaurant menu looks impressive and is overpriced, but many listed dishes aren’t available. The room’s supposed sea view felt misleading; I’ll post photos so people can judge what you can actually see from their sea facing room. Cleaning was below standard, and the TV was just a showpiece because its channels didn’t work. I had to request Wi-Fi credentials every day and use a chit they handed me. Aside from the woman in the restaurant, the staff weren’t well behaved. One bluntly said, “the cook is not there, so what can I do. I can't cook,” instead of replying politely, even though I was ordering during the designated kitchen hours. Huge letdown.

The property looks nice from outside and the location is excellent. That’s about all I liked. We booked a suite, then only learned on arrival that the swimming pool “isn’t working.” There had been no email, call or other notice. The ground staff seemed untrained and chaotic, with basic requests met by blank stares and simple problems dragging on. Wi-Fi was down, and we had to call several times before anyone got it working. Breakfast was badly bottlenecked, with guests waiting outside for seats at the indoor buffet. Service could disappear mid-task too: one staffer brought just one glass of water and walked away. Orders were often wrong. I asked for a masala omelette and got a cheese omelette, with similar mistakes on other items and no checking. At checkout, while settling the in dining bill, we noticed every item was charged 100 rupees more per qty on the second day. Both charges were for in room dining. We shared images of both bills for comparison, and there’s some confusion about this too. For a view and location this good, it’s a shame the operations are so poor. The staff need full-fledged training in guest communication, basic hospitality, order accuracy and capacity planning. Until that happens, this hotel isn’t worth your time or money. I rarely write scathing reviews, but this stay deserved one. Rating: ★☆☆☆☆ (1/5), for the view and location alone. Everything else failed.

The first day of our company’s three-day residential training was excellent. The next day, everyone from our company got food poisoning, and the training was cancelled. We couldn’t confirm whether dinner or breakfast caused it. Some people had to get trips and be admitted to hospital afterwards. It was a really disappointing stay and a terrible experience.