Name: Cozeestay
Address: 6/11 East Abhiramapuram First Street Mylapore,East Abhiramapuram First Street, Chennai, Chennai, Chennai, 600004, India
Rating: 8

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Chennai Airport

Cozeestay

Chennai

We (my son and I) stayed here for about 6 days in Dec. 2018. The Cozee Stay is a very inexpensive option in Chennai and its location was ideal for our purposes (mainly involving visiting my mother and other family elders).

The actual room was fine. The WiFi worked  (and Google Fi also gave me LTE coverage here). The room was clean, had a good shower (with a geyser button that you turn on) and the excellent location in Mylapore meant there was hardly any road noise or traffic. You can order out for food in Chennai these days, so the lack of nearby restaurants was not a problem.

The problems started with the interaction with "management." The Cozee Stay has no manager really and certainly had no one who could interact with internationals. Since I can speak Tamil, this wasn't a problem per se but did result in quite a bit of unintentional entertainment.

The Cozee Stay offers a free breakfast every day (which is a great deal for such an inexpensive place). When we sat down for breakfast the first day, there was an immediate problem. There were dosas and idlis in a container, a single plate, a bowl of sambar and a bowl of chutney (and no utensils). Since there were two of us, I requested a plate and additional empty bowls (in order to split the sambar and chutney). Here's where the fun started. 

The person in charge of dispensing the food (henceforth referred to as THE DUDE) met my request for extra bowls and utensils with a cheerful nonchalance. He asked me why I needed these items since no one else seemed to need them implying that perhaps I had overthought the situation and could settle for a simpler solution. I replied saying (reasonably in my opinion) that I didn't quite know how to eat the food since there was only one bowl of sambar and chutney and no utensils which meant we would have to both double dip into the same bowl of sambar. The dude looked nonplussed for a moment and then responded with the idea that I could pour the sambar into each plate. Since this would result in the dosas and idlis (in the plate) getting soggy from the sambar, I said (once again reasonably) that extra bowls would solve the problem. The dude thought about this some more and then shook his head firmly and responded saying that we were permitted only a single bowl of sambar and likewise a single bowl of chutney. Assuming that I had been misunderstood, I clarified stating that I was merely requesting two  *empty* bowls (and utensils). The dude ruminated on this new piece of information for a while and then finally brought us two extra bowls and a single spoon. I again requested more utensils which led to one more round of rumination by the dude but finally we did get two spoons. I then asked if we could get coffee for breakfast. The dude seemed surprised by this request. He responded by saying that no, there was no coffee, but we could get hot tea. I had no response to that but YMMV.

Unfortunately, the next day was a Groundhog day reset and we were back to a single plate, no extra bowls and no utensils. A friend of mine suggested that far from us trying to train the staff in (international) eating norms, it was us who were being trained in Tamil ones which apparently involves communal dipping of dosas and idlis into a common sambar bowl and eating them with fingers. Fair enough, but you have been warned that this is the rule rather than the exception.

Our stay was also enlivened with more interactions with the dude (who really should audition to participate in a Wodehouse novel). When we discovered that there was only one towel, my son tried calling for an extra one. He got the usual passive/aggressive response that "it would be sent up yesterday." Unfortunately, no towel showed up. My son then contacted the dude who seemed to be hovering around our floor most of the time anyway sort of like a spectre. The dude digested this request once again with taciturn nonchalance and then asked my son to call in the request (despite us having done precisely that). My son then returned to the room and called the main line. You can guess the rest. The dude (!!) took the call and processed the request with his typical august gravity and the towel was dispatched 90 minutes later. 

What this exchange reveals is that the Cozee Stay is wildly inappropriate for anyone with a purely international background. You have to be accustomed to Tamil/Chennai parochial norms (of eating etc.) since the management has no exposure to anyone else. But, if you are OK with this and don't mind some unintentional hilarity, this is a reasonably inexpensive place for a week in Chennai.

Where the global meets the parochial

We stayed at this service apartment as part of a wedding party for 3 nights. Arriving at the property at 2 am, we did find it a little difficult to locate the building when we reached the road because of the spare signage. During the day, this should not be a major issue. There are 3 floors in this property with two 3-BHK apartments on each floor. There is a lift for easy access. Each apartment has a hall, an adjoining dining room (with a fridge), a kitchen and a balcony. In short, the usual amenities one comes to expect of a service apartment. 

We did find that some of the room allotments were shoddily managed even given that many of the rooms were taken up by one party organizing the wedding. Many of the A/C remotes were not functional and working the air conditioners were a significant issue. The washrooms are excellent although a tad small. Every bedroom has many cupboards which allows for temporary storage of many items in an organized manner. 
The staff were accessible and accommodating though, attending to our requests in a timely manner.

Hailing radio taxi rides from this location wasn't an issue as most taxi drivers showed up at the location without any guidance from our side. The location is the biggest plus here with many locations in Mylapore, Alwarpet, Mandaveli barely 10-15 min away.

Convenient location, Adequate facilities

Hotel is in a quiet tree lined street.  Our room though basic was fine and the bathroom shower was excellent.  Helpful staff.  Walking distance to main thoroughfares.  Good for access to the airport yet near restaurants etc,. Even if the room is only needed for part of a night then the cost allows one to relax pre flight and enjoy Mylapore and the general area.

Simple and economical

Linen were not so clean.  Could not close bathroom door.  No chairs or tables.    The checkin and checkout time are very much inconvenient for us who are traveling by trains.  We have waste lot of time to checkin at 12:00 PM

StayOn17thNov

A calm and quite place, its service apartment each unit has three rooms with a common kitchen, dinning and living space. Each of the rooms has individual wash rooms suitable for family or single stays. Rooms, linens and washrooms are maintained clean. Rooms are spacious furnished with wall attached cabinets, and Channel TV. Wifi of average speed is available, sometimes poor inside the room. South Indian breakfast of average quality is included as complimentary. Kitchen is good and a micro-woven is available, but for cooking you have to ask for the electric stove. Utensils, pots, dishes, spoons etc. are supplied on request. On order by phone you can order food from a nearby restaurant named "Modern Food Court". A fridge is provided on common dinning space.The building is surrounded by greenly plants around.

Its a good service apartment to live with family or in group. We stayed for 10 days occupying 2rooms with family very recently (in October 2017). Manager and staffs are very good behaved and cooperative. They always tried their best to help us whenever asked for. Rooms, beds, linen are good quality and clean. Only problem we found is that water quality in the wash rooms are reddish, high iron in the water.  Wifi speed inside rooms found not good after closing doors. Wifi modem range/capacity can be improved further. Breakfast can be provided with variation in menu. We felt safe and secured there. The place is located at Mylapore area close to Kauvery Hospital and other places centrally located. Adjacent road is calm and quiet. We enjoyed our stay there and I must recommend this for others during their Chennai stays.

Cozeestay

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