I wish I could stay a little longer, Saratha Villa now a resort/hotel was a Chettinad mansion. Restored and brought back to its glory my 2 French architect. Stayed in the Heritage room, simple design with all amenities. Staff were very polite and helpful, food was simple but very tasty and served on time. Traveling with a toddler can be difficult but Saratha Villa felt like home for him.

We spent a week at, acclaimed French architects, Michel and Bernard’s beautifully restored Chettinad mansion. Rooms are spacious, comfortable and tastefully decorated. The common areas are magnificent with an elegant mix of old and new and every detail has been carefully planned. The staff is lovely and attentive. Passionate about the region and its heritage, Bernard and Michel will help you plan your visit to palatial homes, temples and local workshops. Aside from the fabulous houses some restored others in shambes, I particularly enjoyed the demonstration by tile-makers. Perhaps the most striking feature is the ghost town atmosphere and complete silence in the evenings. This cannot be India. Visit before word gets out!

Amazing place - excellent customer service, good restaurant, spacious & well kept heritage rooms. They will provide detailed maps of the place and will go above and beyond to make the stay comfortable. I will definitely choose this place again.

A magic place of serene quiet in bustling India. Like stepping back in time to enjoy total relaxation in a fairytale setting. Amazing how the owners have restored the building to its former glory. The food and service contributed to a stay we'll never forget.

We had a wonderful stay at Saratha Vilas in Chettinad. Saratha Vilas has been beautifully restored which makes it a very pleasant hotel in the middle of the countryside of Tamil Nadu. We explored the different villages with the bicycles that the hotel lent us. The place also offers great massages, excellent food, nice swimming-pool, cooking classes, detailed historical context, etc… I would definitely recommend to stay there.

Very nice and well maintained property. You will love this place definitely. Something we used to see in Tamil movies.

The food and service was too good to find any fault. But the pricing was pretty high they charge at par with neemrana properties

We had fantastic experience during our stay here.special thanks to Kiran & Team

Saratha Vilas is an outstanding Chettiar palace painstakingly and tastefully restored and converted into a small boutique hotel. Perfect location to visit the chettinad region with its thousands of palaces spread over 73 Chettiar villages. The architecture of the mansions is very unique with series of courtyard in a dravidian style with a supperimposition of materials imported from all over the world, which makes a very specific blend of architecture. The region also comprised of very interesting 8th Century cave temples such as Kundrakudi or Tirumayam. Saratha Vilas is located in the Chettiar village of Kothamangalam, 5 km from the most interesting villages of Kanadukathan, Pallathur and Rayavaram. The village offers a peaceful village life with a weekly market next to the Ayyanar shrine. It is also convenient for walks in the beautiful countryside around the village, alternating large waterbodies, rice paddy and small forests with shrines, the perfect birdwatching spot.... Not to mention the tastful Chettinad cuisine. Saratha Vilas is a unique authentic experience.

The palace is exceptionally beautiful with the fine artistic work done on everything situated and located over there. The are lot of steps to climb if the room is interior and it might be difficult for elders

The perfect hotel really. Everything you want from a boutique hotel with amazing food on site. Can organise everything for you. The village it is in is stunning, near an amazing walk that makes you feel properly in the countryside. Staff were great too. All round great experience.

We had a truly wonderful stay at Saratha Vilas, a historical Chettiar mansion tastefully renovated by the owners, 2 French architects. The atmosphere of the house, with its comfortable rooms, beautiful courtyard and hallways, perfect service and delicious food, is incredibly peaceful and relaxing. The sightseeing can be done by bike, which is a great way to experience this part of the Tamil Nadu countryside. The hosts have plenty of good recommendations of things to do and places to visit to make it all a perfect stay!

Bernard Dragon and Michel Adment are doing an extremly good job in respectfully restoring, preserving and maintaining the local cultural heritage. Within, every finest detail a European could wish for - with the given ressources - is taken care of. Also the atmosphere with the staff is healthy and relaxed. And: Kothamangalm is a small village with a very friendly population and its easy to walk around and discover the surroundings. So come : visit the local market, do Kolam and Cooking classes.

Large rooms, tastefully furnished. Attentive service. Delicious food. The owners place great importance on being a part of the local community and infrastructure. A beautiful part of Tamil Nadu, and a great base from which either to explore the area or to relax for a few days. Price wise, it was in the 'treat' range for us but it also felt like good value.

Beautiful place with very nice and attentive hosts Michel and Bertrand, who gave us tons of useful information on the surrounding villages, temples and culture. All the staff is extremely friendly and food is amazing, especially if you have the opportunity to contribute via the cooking lesson😉.

Wonderful hotel in a traditonnal and incredibly well restored Chettiar house. Very nice swiming pool too. I had an amazing stay there. Thank you

Fantastic place to stay. Heritage one. I really proud It is located in my hometown. 😁

Repost of my original review: I didn't want to sound too negative then but even after 2 months when I am reviewing the place, I still can't find anything exciting to share! The place is highly overrated for the money we paid for a day's stay... 12K with extra bed. The Room where we stayed was no doubt big but otherwise there is nothing great for the amount we paid. No proper reception, no property tour etc., "Breakfast included" will be very misleading especially if you are a pucca south Indian... because all they served us were fruits, bread, coffee, appam with coconut milk. That is no way a karaikudi breakfast! This was a huge dampener for me and my family. I understood later the place is run by French architects from Pondy who have taken the place on lease & renovated the place to maintain its original grandeur. I believe my displeasure primarily stems out of comparison with that of Chidambara Vilas & The Bangla where we stayed and had a real taste of Karaikudi hospitality and cuisine . So if you are a foodie and expecting heritage stay with a proper tour of the property you are staying at...do choose Chidambara Vilas over Saratha Vilas (or) The Bangala because a hotel / resort where we pay huge sum of money the least one will expect is good reception, great food and of course an excellent stay even if it is for a day! Except for the big room, other aspects needs attention. Hope someone is listening. P. S: I did get a response from the owner to my above review. My response is as follows : It is NOT only the food but the overall experience w.r.t touring the property with some noteworthy anecdotes / ancestry was somehow missing. All those points on Burmese teak, Japanese tiles etc which you had painstakingly highlighted in your response would have given us a good insight on the efforts had it been shared at the time of our stay there. BTW no breakfast options were requested / mentioned either at the time of booking or even during check in!

We absolutely loved Saratha Vilas. The mansion has been painstakingly restored, not to make it a museum, which isn't liveable, but a perfect mansion with all the modern facilities required to be comfortable. The rooms are large and airy, the courtyard perfect for a lazy afternoon, to sip on a Hibiscus iced tea and watch the parrots play with each other. Raja made sure we had everything we wanted, and was extremely sweet and helpful. The breakfast was exactly what we wanted- light enough so that we could stuff ourselves with the Banana leaf lunch! Dinners reminded us of our home food- hot, fresh and tasty. We honestly could not have asked for anything more. Thank you! We can't wait to visit again!

Saratha Vikas is a labour of love and commitment. Soon as we landed in this quaint village of Chettinad, we knew we were in for one of the best experiences of our lives . My wife and I went to Saratha for my 40th and instantly knew we were at the right place . The owners have restored a dilapidated Chettinad mansion to its past glory. And they have done this gargantuan task aesthetically. Soon as you enter saratha Vilas , a feeling of calm and serenity engulfs you. The rooms are cosy and aptly priced , for this experience is one of its kind . If you are looking to get away from the general tourist trap and immerse yourselves in tradition and heritage , this is it. Away from the bustling crowds, the quaint Chettinad has lots to offer . Beautiful temples, colourful mansions and amazing streets to walk on . It’s like taking a walk in the past . The staff at Saratha is super friendly and helpful. The courtyard is a perfect place to sit with a morning coffee and retire with your favourite book. The large hall at the entrance is perfect for some meditation, yoga or to just gawk at the magnificent interiors. They have the most amazing Ayurvedic massages too. The food is simple yet eclectic & sumptuous at the same time . The pool is perfect for recouping after a long day at karaikudi . If you are into vintage furniture and antiques , then a visit to karaikudi is a must. Saratha is not for everybody. If you are looking to party and have a variety of restaurants in your vicinity, then please refrain from going here . For my wife and I , I would rate this place a 11 out of 10. Saratha is definitely in our top ten destinations. December and January is a fabulous time to visit Chettinad. Also, please be a responsible tourist and maintain the sanctity of this region .

Extremely unprofessional online booking service and staff! High-handed management that is unaccommodating of guest's requests. Please note that they advertise the master chamber room as accommodating 2 adults and 2 children but at the time of booking, they charge you extra. It is misleading and when I raised this with the management, I was asked to cancel the reservation. This is despite paying a 50% advance on the rooms. Since I wasn't sure if children would accompany us on this trip, I requested that the extra amount that they charge be settled at the time of my stay. Instead of the request being considered, I was intimated that my reservation is cancelled. ABSOLUTELY RUBBISH SERVICE! Clearly different rules apply to India guests. DO NOT RECOMMEND! P.S- beware of their unsubstantiated and baseless claim of no 1. booking engine and expect cancellation of your stay should you have any request or seek clarification on their misleading marketing