This hotel had great reviews here and in my guide book but when my mum and I went to stay for Christmas 2011 we were so disappointed we made plans to get a refund and leave almost immediately. The rooms we were given were in an annex a few doors down from the hotel. To be fair to them, we were told this in advance. However, what they did not tell us was that the rooms opened directly onto the street and one of them was at street level. There was no lobby with a porter or guard, nothing between us and a poorly lit street with lots of young men lounging about rather unpleasantly. Next, the food. While there was good French bread and some surprisingly good pate, that is where the good stopped. The breakfast coffee was so bad we couldn't drink it. At lunch and dinner we were repeatedly served cold or luke warm meals which not only were unpleasant but also were a health hazard in the South Indian climate. The staff were chronically disorganised, one of the waiters told us that many of them do not understand each other's languages (he was from the North and therefore didn't speak Tamil) which rather farcically meant that many orders were literally lost in translation. Some of the other staff, notably the receptionists were down right rude and unhelpful. We were expecting crisp French colonial grandeur. What we got was a shambolic, uncomfortable and unsafe farce. Never again

We stayed 4 nights at the Hotel de l'Orient for Christmas 2011, this is a beautiful charming hotel, old 18th century house very well renovated, very well located in the "white" part of the town, rooms are all different, with old antique furniture and large bathroom, overlooking the patio. Food is excellent and service very good. We were there on Dec 30th when the cyclone Thane happened, and i must say i was impressed with professionalism of the manager and his staff. despite half of the kistchen destroyed and difficulties to find products in the following days, they managed to prepare a breakfast, a lunch and maintained the new year eve diner with a nice buffet. Congratulations to the team at hotel de l' Orient.
A very nice address in Pondicherry..

Stayed for one night in this beatifull hotel. We had the Calicut room which was very nice.
Hot running water was available after putting on the boiler 10 minutes before you wanted to take a shower. Location is perfect in the French part of town. You can walk easily towards the beach and wander around town.
We had dinner in the hotel which was excellent.
Service and staff were very good and friendly.

Really such a tastefully designed little romantic find. French colonial flavor, cozy antique chic rooms. Also has a cute courtyard brasserie with nice big marble tabes and wrought iron high backed chairs. Lovely...