The Park, Chennai

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The Park, Chennai

Style: Cutting-Edge

Atmosphere: Happening

215 Rooms

The Tamil Nadu capital formerly known as Madras may lag behind certain other Indian cities as a travel destination, but it’s not for lack of charms, including, for high-design hotel junkies, an outpost of the newly stylish Park Hotels mini-chain. The Park Chennai is built on the grounds of what was once the Gemini film studio (there’s more to the Indian film industry than just Bollywood) and is infused with a suitably theatrical sort of glamor — stunning set design, dramatic lighting effects both natural and electric, and at night, film strips projected against the walls of the lobby atrium.

The interior design by Conran & Partners is cutting-edge, from the public spaces to the silk-and-leather elevators to the guest rooms, modernist but not monochrome, luxurious but not fussy. Walls are lined with old movie posters and printed film stills, and each room is packed with modern conveniences, including work desks, cordless phones and high-speed internet access.

On the seventh and eighth floors are the Residence rooms, offering another level of luxury, with plasma-screen televisions and DVD players, as well as access to the Residence Lounge, a sort of VIP-level restaurant, bar and meeting space. For the rest of us there’s the lobby-level 601 restaurant, open 24 hours, as well as the Leather Bar (a reference to the décor rather than the clientele) and Lotus, an elegant Thai restaurant. And it’s not all late-night eating and drinking — the newly opened spa and fitness center go a long way to assuage any morning-after guilt.