E Hotel

E hotel professes to provide luxurious accommodation, with a choice of two different room offerings, either the elegance room or the emperor suite. I was staying for 2 weeks and wanted to live like an emperor and also treat my wife to a special stay, I therefore chose the latter, which provides a separate lounge space with dining and kitchen, in addition to the bedroom. Based on the stylised photos I saw when booking, I was certain that I would not be disappointed by this hotel. I have stayed in many hotels in Chennai and the photos always matched the actual hotel’s interior and I have never questioned my choice of hotel or the price I was paying. The 2 week booking was quite expensive, costing well over £1k, but for me the cost was justified given the space and amenities I would be getting in return and the fact I would be having a luxurious experience. The significant number of positive reviews reinforced my belief that this was going to be a fabulous stay. I contacted the hotel 2 weeks prior to leaving the UK and requested an airport transfer for when I would arrive in Chennai, I received a response from Ramesh Subramanian, who confirmed that the airport transfer had been arranged. I rang the hotel a few days before the trip to confirm that the airport transfer was definitely still in place and Ramesh answered and confirmed that everything was in place. Content with everything so far, I left the UK for Chennai expecting a wonderful holiday. On arrival in Chennai, I collected my luggage and left the airport expecting a taxi to be waiting outside, I stood in the sizzling Chennai heat with my wife looking for a taxi driver that should be holding a sign board with my name on. It was incredibly uncomfortable due to the heat and also because I was being harrassed by other aggressive taxi drivers trying to make a quick buck. Eventually, I decided to ring the hotel to ask where the taxi was. Ramesh answered the phone and stated the driver should already be there and he would get in touch with the driver to find out where he was waiting. He then called me back to say that the driver was already waiting at arrivals, which is where I was stood. I looked out for the driver but again he was nowhere to be seen. I rang the hotel again and Ramesh stated he would contact the driver again. After multiple phone calls back and forth, between Ramesh and the driver and myself and Ramesh, the driver was still not at the arrivals, so I asked for the driver's number. I contacted the driver directly who stated that they were already at the airport waiting near a police booth. A booth which was right in front of my face. Unfortunately the driver was lying and Ramesh was also lying. The driver was in fact still on his way to the airport. My wife and I waited for 2 long hours before the driver actually arrived. By this point I was furious with Ramesh and the Taxi driver. To make matters worse, the driver's vehicle was old and very dirty inside, with heavily ripped