Review: Vivanta by Taj Coimbatore

If you are visiting Coimbatore, you’re probably on a business trip or meeting relatives and this review of Vivanta by Taj Coimbatore also called by its former name, Vivanta by Taj Surya Coimbatore might come in handy. I do not expect too many people to be tourists (like we were) in Coimbatore. The hotel does justice to the expectations of a leisure traveler and probably beats those of a business one as is expected by any Vivanta by Taj in any location.

Check out this post for the must see places in Coimbatore.

This post covers

• Location
• Facilities and Amenities
• Room
• Restaurants
• Service
• Cost for 2 Night Stay
• Rating on Travel forums

As compared to other Taj hotels, Vivanta by Taj Surya Coimbatore has a smaller property and has a lot of buildings adjoining it. While it is Taj on the inside, it isn’t much of a 5 star property on the outside. Entrance to this hotel can easily be missed if one is not looking or using a navigation aid like Google maps etc.

Location:

It is a 20min drive from the airport. The taxi pickup can be arranged by the hotel on a charged basis or complimentary (if you’re staying in a suite). Housed on a busy road it is in the city center, at a walking distance to many decent restaurants in case you wish to explore the city.
The Taj-ness in the property was missing, probably because it was the a pre-existing hotel acquired and converted into Vivanta by Taj, Coimbatore. Thus the name Vivanta by Taj Surya Coimbatore. The staff and service however was impeccable and one of the main reasons why Saurabh and I like Taj properties

Facilities and Amenities:
All basic facilities and amenities one expects:
There was a pool, although it was closed due to maintenance purposes when we visited (end March – early April). Various restaurants and bars offering different cuisines (Latitude, Tease, Red Pearl)
Fitness center: As the Vivanta line by Taj is largely 5 Star business hotels, it doesn’t have a dedicated children’s play area or activity center. This is something we found in the resorts we stayed in, in the other parts of our trip.
We had taken a self drive option for our trip and Taj had enough space for our car parking too.

Rooms:
We stayed in a deluxe suite and I wouldn’t call it very spacious in comparison to the other hotels and other Taj properties I have stayed in. All basic amenities like a tea box, kettle, mini bar, safe, bathrobe, ironing board, toiletries etc in place

Restaurants:
There are 4 restaurants including a bar
Latitude is their restaurant where they serve breakfast and is their all day dining area (7am to 11:30pm). The cuisine is a blend of continental, North Indian and South Indian. Breakfast spread as expected was terrific.
We did not try Red Pearl (Chinese cuisine), Smoke on the water (barbeque and grill) or Tease (their bar) since we were more focussed on traditional South Indian food which is a rarity in Dubai (especially the vegetarian variety).

You can also have a look at this post to see the best places to try the local cuisine in Coimbatore.

Service:
Considering that we were a family with 2 young children, the staff helped us with early check in (at 7:30am itself instead of the usual 12noon). We were not charged extra for the early check in although the charge was highlighted by the reception staff
Check in was very smooth and within minutes we were in our rooms along with all our bags.
Check out was very swift as well. Our bags were waiting downstairs and the final bill was ready while we finished our breakfast.
We requested for washing and sterilizing of some baby mugs and Tupperware and it was done with alacrity.
Taj is known for their impeccable service and the attitude was reflected in each and every staff we interacted with

Cost for 2 night stay: c.INR 10,000 for a suite.

Ratings:  Rated as one of the top 10 hotels (6 out of 106) hotels in coimbatore with a certificate of excellence. For more information, you can visit the hotel website