Name: Dune Mansion Calve
Address: 36 Vysial Street Heritage Town,Vysial Street, Pondicherry, Pondicherry, Pondicherry, 605001, India
Rating: 7

Air conditioning

24-hour reception

Smoke-free property

Terrace

Outdoor furniture

General

Bridal suite

Non-smoking rooms

Cable TV

Minibar

Flat-screen TV

Shower/Bathtub

Bathtub

Shower

Wardrobe/Closet

Rooms

Ironing

Laundry

Safe-deposit box

Luggage storage

Services and amenities

Diet menu (on request)

Restaurant

Packed Lunches

Meals

Free Wi-Fi

Internet

Airport transportation

Car rental

Transfer

English

French

Languages Spoken

No parking

Parking

Pets Not Allowed

Pets

Location

At the hotel

Room amenities

Puducherry Airport

Dune Mansion Calve

Pondicherry

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

private-bathroom

shared-bathroom

10-beds

11-beds

12-beds

13-beds

14-beds

15-beds

16-beds

17-beds

18-beds

19-beds

2-beds

20-beds

21-beds

22-beds

23-beds

24-beds

25-beds

26-beds

27-beds

28-beds

29-beds

3-beds

30-beds

31-beds

32-beds

33-beds

34-beds

35-beds

36-beds

37-beds

38-beds

39-beds

4-beds

40-beds

5-beds

6-beds

7-beds

8-beds

9-beds

king-bed

queen-bed

limited-time

lounge

treatment

no-window

bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

ocean-view

oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

partial-sea-view

partial-view

pool-view

river-view

sea-front

sea-view

street-view

sunrise-view

sunset-view

water-view

with-view

annex

basement

main-building

1-bedroom

2-bedrooms

3-bedrooms

4-bedrooms

5-bedrooms

6-bedrooms

not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

I booked this place for my parents, who are senior citizens, through Dune's website and I'm writing this while they are still staying there - that's how disappointing it is. 

The rooms look nothing like the images and it is actually a dilapidated house and has not been taken care of. 

The rooms are dark and dinghy, there is nothing in the name of amenities - no hot water, no mug, no TV (its important for senior citizens who may not like to venture out late in the evenings). One thing they did have were torn towels at check-in which my father requested them to change. For a dilapidated property like this, that they pass off saying heritage, you would expect the management to make up with good service - the service here is practically non-existent. 

When I called the manager he said this was the best room in the hotel. If this is the best then it certainly makes you wonder how the other rooms are. 

When you have been waiting for a vacation and paid a premium (Christmas is peak season) this is not what you expect. I have been reading all the reviews and realised that the management has not responded to a single review - negative or otherwise. To me that is an indication of the complete lack of customer centricity. I wonder if the management is even reading what people are saying about the property. Strongly recommend against booking anything here and wasting money.

All the negative reviews about this hotel are absolutely true

Most of the properties in White town are called Heritage house. In normal language these are houses converted into hotels. This reservation was not intentional. We didnt have a reservation and wanted to stay in Dune le'Orient. I  used google, called their reservation number and booked two rooms. I didnt pay online and that was my mistake. Based on the verbal confirmation I assumed the rooms would be available. I was on ECR road, so went to Auroville enroute, had lunch on Bussy street and then headed to the hotel. It was around 3:00pm and was told that the hotel was sold out because the rooms were booked online. But they offered the Mansion Calve option. They said its in the Tamil side and we can check it out. So we drove for about 7 mins and they showed us all the rooms. We weighed the option of looking for other rooms versus taking what was available. We were given free upgrade to their bigger rooms. These big rooms are on second floor, no lift. If any one is planning to stay in this hotel, try to negotiate around RS 2500 as it is more of home stay. This is a no frill hotel i.e. no TV, no kettle, coffee machine, no bottled water, fans may have speed control button etc. However this experience will take you back to how our ancestors was staying but electricity etc. In most heritage hotels, and on websites they mention breakfast is free. Please dont fall for that and keep the expectation very low. Typically in our house we make one or max two dish, so you would a real homely feeling. We went to Cafe D' arts and had breakfast. Bathrooms were clean. The team is low on staff, but helpful. So most of the heritage hotels in the white town area seems to be hyped, but I feel the choice is limited. However we felt the locality was close to all major points, may not be walkable but if you have a car, then its asy to go around. Promenade beach is very near. We also went to Serenity beach, had dinner at Villa Shanthi. Overall we enjoyed Pondicherry and would visit every year. However will explore some new place. return to bangalore we took the state high via gingee to Krishnagiri, road is in bad shape.. so if one can drive 45 kms more, use the vellore route via Arani to Gingee, at least its  good drive.

No frills overnight stay hotel

We first met Kamesh at the reception, and for the next four days, made our stay memorable. He was always there to help, be it at breakfast, to answer a query or to get us a cab - that too at a very good rate. A special word for Douglas, who added to a personalised experience. Not to forget, Tanseer. 

Our room was comfortable, and well attended to. A night light in the loo will be a good addition. But that's something most hotels need to look into. 

Dune Mansion is a charming 150 year old Tamil home, barely 7-8 minutes from the French quarter.  It's situated bang next to the home where Sri Aurobindo first came to live in in Pondicherry. 

The breakfast was personalised and we were served at our table. It was a great way to get started for the day. 

Keep it up, guys. 

A memorable stay, thanks to the staff.

I spent 2 nights at this hotel, the staff was very attentive and kind, especially one guy named Douglas, he went out of his way to help me with some issues I was having.  Which I’m very grateful for.  Also the location was good, central but tucked away on a quiet street.  
However my room was a bit run down, it was suppose to be a “deluxe “room, but I found it to be dark,  a bit dingy and run down and not as clean as I would like it to be. For the premium price I expected more. I had some trouble with a friend canceling on me, so I was looking to change my room to something smaller and more affordable for one there  was some wheeling and dealing going on with pricing which didn’t seem all too honest to me. It worked out for me in the end but I didn’t like negotiating and trying to get away with cheating my friend.  
Breakfast was ok. Basically it’s an ok place to stay but not worth the price.  


Mediocre 

We stayed in this wonderful property on the republic day weekend. Booked this property as all the rest had been booked. Read the reviews post booking and was worried as some had posted negative reviews. Surprise..Surprise on arrival we found the property to be perfect heritage house. Travellers be advised that it's a restored heritage house and there are no lifts (elevators) . 
We are alloted rooms on the 2nd floor, a steep staircase walk. The rooms are basic with classical wooden furniture and wooden clad ceiling. Bathroom also is clean and basic. No room service, basic Indian breakfast is served complimentary. 
I would definitely recommend this property for all travellers looking to stay in a heritage house.
Thanks to Kamesh, Thanser and Lalitha for taking good care of us

Heritage house

Wonderfully restored Tamil merchants house on a pleasant quiet street. But beware, not all the rooms are as good as they should be. Two SuperDeluxe rooms are excellent, Two rooms, bathroom & balcony on first floor opening onto super open sitting area. 
Two of the Deluxe rooms are good, also leading to open sitting area, BUT the other 3/5 Delux rooms are terrible, set on two floors, lower is tiny sitting area & upper is tiny bed area.
Also, hotel has NO HOT WATER in taps. And when we stayed, the owner/manager had taken out the fridges [for a private party somewhere] from all the rooms, so NO FRIDGE in room. Bathrooms not very clean. WiFi not functioning when we were there.
Otherwise beautiful looking, antique furniture, great staff, great location & good breakfast.
But not good value for the price.      COULD DO BETTER.   Owner/Manager needs to consider the welfare of his clientele.

Dune Mansion Calve

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