Just back from a pre new year's vacation to Pondicherry (or Puducherry as the locals call it). The most baffling fact of all - we tried looking for accommodation at a good resort-ish or heritage-ish kinda place, well in advance, but were all sold out !! Our time-share (Club Mahindra) couldnt accommodate us at Zest since they were sold out too ! With some help from friends who're well 'connected' in the travel space, got 2 nights accommodation at Zest - Big Beach Pondicherry.
Arrived on 25th December and stayed till the 27th. Beautiful resort, away from the city (though the city doesnt have the typical humdrum anyways) and right on the Bay of Bengal beach. Post an extremely quick check-in and the customary welcome drink (that I couldnt even swallow), we were shown to our room. Very well done up room with a stone theme and dashes of red color in the upholstery. They dont give mineral water in the rooms. So be prepared to have the regular purified water, or pay for your water. Room had an LCD that helped me watch my liverpool match during our stay, but dint have DTH service - so very poor quality picture on TV. No floor mats in the washroom, and no showercaps for Nuts. No hand towels too. Hmmm... for 7.5k per night, that wasnt very impressive.
Next day I had an elaborate fight with the housekeeping team - no fresh towels despite several reminders and reassurances that they were on their way. Finally heard some sob story on how they outsource the laundary and the laundary guy screwed up. Like I care ! Left a very unpleasant taste in the mouth for the remaining period of our stay.
Being a time share property, there were hundreds and thousands of kids (each family must've had some 3 - 4 kids on an average) at the resort, obviously very keen on utilizing every resource that their time-share weilding papas had paid for. Them in the pool, them in the activity room. Them at the breakfast buffet, them in the park. Them on the beach, them in the lobby.
The food - was pretty good. Good spread of buffet for breakfast/lunch/dinner with traditional south Indian/ North Indian / continental / chinese cuisine and a live dosa/omelette/pasta counter. Awesome desserts. A complimentary glass of wine for those who enjoy their drink with their dinner.
The most disappointing bit though, and its nothing the resort folks can do anything about, was the beach. Was clean and well maintained for sure, but the waters were just too too rough and uninviting. Extremely dirty - mud colored waters and high waves. And it stays so through the year. So if one is looking forward to enjoying the sea water - might be in for some disappointment.
Staff - but for the housekeeping guys who kept giving me innovative excuses - was friendly and courteous. We were given a complimentary coupon for several activities at the resort - a free Wii session (the wii was out of order), a game of air hockey (I defeated Nuts for a change!) and a few other motley things like bicycle - which we dint use. There were some dance classes on in the main area of the resort and a lot of kids and ladies tried to shake a leg - the constantly repeated track (obviously coz it was dance practice) was irritating.
So in summary, if you're a family with kids, you'll just love it. I was more looking forward to a break from work, good time with the wife kinda vacation. These 2 days at Zest were clearly not that.
Room Tip: Choose rooms on the ground floor - they come with a nice little sit out.
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This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
