Aren’t there days when, at the end of it all, the only thing you really want is a good night’s sleep? I landed up at Perfect Haven’s ‘luxury rooms and residences’ on one such day, following a delightfully precise map, my heart lifting as I turned into the marvellously quiet lane hugging Ethiraj College’s tree-lined campus, the sort on which space-starved metropolitan citizens go on morning walks. It’s also nice to know that a bit of Old Madras survives so near the landmark Spencer’s signal on the arterial Mount Road, bang in the middle of business-y Egmore.
Perfect Haven at Tangy occupies seven apartments in an old-fashioned high-rise of that peculiar name; the staff let you know which floor to take if you call ahead. I hadn’t, but the sense of locating a flat in a residential building fell away the minute I stepped through the apartment’s door, when it appeared that I was in an exclusive guesthouse featuring a spacious ‘entertainment area’ with a home theatre system (the rooms each have a flat-screen TV and DVD player as well), a large dining area and a tidy pantry-cum-kitchenette.
I first encountered Perfect Haven at the super-luxury property they manage in Vellore district’s Ambur, where one of India’s biggest leather exporters welcomes big-ticket international clients in great style. Apart from such corporates and their particular preferences, the low-profile hospitality veteran also runs another property on the Old Mahabalipuram Road, which is Chennai’s thriving IT corridor. There’s also a Smart Haven at Kodambakkam, the locality less upscale and the spaces discernibly compact, but the reduced tariff makes no compromise in standards.
To the room, then. Mine was generously proportioned and overlooked the verdant acreage of the BSNL Staff Quarters opposite. It was also impeccably kept, the bed comparable with any four-star, the bathroom and linen spotless, all mod-cons including wi-fi handy. Breakfast is on the house and other meals can be ordered (about Rs 250 per meal). They are catered from nearby restaurants, warmed up in the pantry and served on nice crockery. A manager is chargé d’affaires and there’s a prompt attendant on call at all times. I found the service professional and animated, pleasantly halfway between a hotel and a homestay.
I also liked the confidence with which Perfect Haven keeps a rulebook. The dining, entertainment and living areas are shared (as they are in any hotel, coming to think of it), and guests are requested to ‘be properly attired at all times’ in them; the common kitchenette may be used by anyone; reasonably priced laundry and ironing is delivered on the same day. Finally, it is ‘quiet hours’ between 10pm and 8am, when they ‘ask that everybody’s need for rest be respected’. I am happy to confirm that I did get a very good night’s sleep.
The information
Perfect Haven @ Egmore
Location Dr P.V. Cherian Crescent Road, Egmore (15km from airport, 5km from railway station)
Accommodation 22 luxury rooms
Tariff Rs 3,598 (single), Rs 4,198 (double), inclusive of breakfast, wi-fi and taxes
Perfect Haven @ OMR
Location Lakshman Road, Kandanchavadi (17km from airport, 22km from railway station)
Accommodation 18 luxury rooms
Tariff Same as Egmore
Smart Haven @ Kodambakkam
Location Corporation Colony Main Road, Rangarajapuram (12km from airport, 10km from railway station)
Accommodation 15 ‘budget-class’ corporate rooms
Tariff Rs 2,638 (single), Rs 2,999 (double), inclusive of breakfast, wi-fi and taxes
Contact (for all) 044-42803949, perfecthaven.in, smarthaven.in