Dune Mansion Calve

We stayed for five days and felt very much at home thanks to the wonderful staff. The traditional tamil mansion is in great shape and well cared for. Our two level rooms stayed cool with effective AC. We loved being away from the touristy French quarter, where we could get a more authentic flavor of pondy.

I'm writing while my senior citizen parents are still staying there, and it's been so disappointing. I booked through Dune's website. The negative reviews about this hotel are absolutely true. The house is dilapidated and hasn't been cared for, and the rooms look nothing like the pictures. They're dark and dingy, with almost no amenities: no hot water, mug, or TV. A TV matters for senior citizens who may not want to go out late in the evening. The one thing the room did have was torn towels at check-in, which my father asked them to change. With a heritage property in this condition, you'd expect good service to make up for it, but service is practically nonexistent. I called the manager, who said this was the best room in the hotel. If so, it makes you wonder about the others. We were waiting for a vacation and paid a premium because Christmas is peak season, and this is not what we expected. I've read the reviews and noticed management hasn't replied to a single one, positive or negative. To me, that shows a complete lack of customer focus, and makes me wonder if they even read what people say. I strongly recommend against booking here and wasting your money.

It's on a street in the heritage town, in an old property the owner renovated as a heritage hotel. Antique furniture gives it some character, but the rooms are small and cramped. There's no restaurant food because the restaurant operates only on weekends to serve the large number of tourists who come to Pondicherry. The room rates feel high compared with what the property offers.

The room they called large was so cramped there was barely room to move around the bed, and the power sockets didn’t work. Noise from the lobby and next door came straight through the poorly designed door and windows. There was no tea or kettle set. The entrance was dim, the staff were discourteous, and the security guard seemed uninterested in who was coming or going. We found another nearby hotel for a third of the price, with a room three times bigger and much more spacious. This place doesn’t deserve its boutique hotel claim, and I wouldn’t recommend it. The whole stay left me deeply disappointed.