A tiny beautiful sea side town with strong French influence and great sea food. Where you can cycle around the beautiful tree lined streets, offering you French colonial landscape that takes you back to the 18th century. A rocky beach with a pier at one end looking down the beautiful sapphire colour water of Bay of Bengal. Pondicherry is the perfect nest for people looking to stop the time and enjoy the breeze. Located in the dreamy French quarter, there is a hotel that was once the residence to the mayor of this town and this is the story of that heritage property. Le Dupleix – French colonial heritage of Pondicherry.
Long time ago, there was a French mayor called Joseph François Dupleix who lived in a beach side colonial town, in southern India. The legend has it that he fell in love with a woman who used to live in the Tamil quarters but since in those days the Indians were not allowed to come in the white town, they could never live in his villa. Many years later this property was bought by a leather goods designer, and today this villa has been converted into a premium heritage hotel property. Named after the mayor himself, Le Dupleix has a perfect mix of colonial architecture with the top floor added adorned with traditional rosewood pillars, adding an accent of the Tamil architecture. This week we get you inside one of their suites.
Dark wooden flooring with rosewood furniture might be too much wood for a room but not when you have a double height ceiling and the old colonial windows to fill the room with ample light. The red handi light above the bed and the blue upholstery on the bed back adds some colour to the otherwise very monotone colour scheme of this room.
Just incase if you were wondering what are those wooden boxes on both the sides of the bed, they had night lamps inside which worked perfectly as a lamp. A note here that one should always have different sources of lighting in their room, not only it adds drama but also helps in conserving energy.
This rosewood desk is a part of the heritage of this property as according to the staff, this is where Mr Kapur of Hidesign designed his first bag and rest as we know is history. The glass handi above the television balanced the light fixture above the bed.
The little closet with a gold framed mirror inside and a mini bar is placed perfectly in middle of the entrance and stairs going above to the mezzanine area. Since it is a heritage property, the air conditioners are put in wooden boxes that have wooden louvered shutters.
The mezzanine area has a bed and a TV with some storage space as well. Which makes it great for having your kids have their own space. The big french windows on two side of the room really make it airy and extremely well lit to be in this room.
The chandelier in this room is genuine hand blown Belgium glass and one could also read the make and the year etched on the glass. The wrought iron arms make beautiful geometric pattern on the ceiling when lit up.
For all the history aficionados and lovers of wood, this property is the perfect place to be. It might not be a five star property but then its not always about new world nuances. The old world charm of this property gives it enough character to strike out from all the five star stays we generally prefer. To see more of Pondicherry and its beautiful architecture, follow us on our Facebook page or on our Instagram. Until next time, au revoir!
