During our trip to India, we had quite a varied need when it came to hotels. A good part of the trip took us to some really rural parts of Tamil Nadu. Needless to say, you take what you can find when traveling in those areas. We did end up spending several days in Chennai, though. With a large crew, staying with relatives wasn’t an option. That brought us to our first “star hotel” of our trip, the Welcomhotel by ITC Hotels Cathedral Road Chennai. Why this hotel? Pricing and location, reasonably close to where we needed to be during our stay. My mother paid for our stay, but the “Executive Club” room we booked generally runs about Rs. 12,000 (~$133) in summer.
Note: this post is part of my trip report series covering our family’s trip to India and Korea in July, 2025. Click here for the trip report index and introductory post.
Welcomhotel by ITC Hotels, Cathedral Road Chennai
- Website: https://www.itchotels.com/in/en/welcomhotelchennai
- Address: 10 Cathedral Road, Teynampet, Chennai 600086, Tamil Nadu, India
- Features: 4 on-site restaurants, business center, travel desk, fitness center, spa, pool
Location
Approximately 7 km from the city center and Chennai Central railway station and 15km from the airport, not far from the US Consulate. It is roughly 3 km from Marina Beach, which is straight down Cathedral Road. The large shopping district of T Nagar is about 4 km to the west. One thing to keep in mind – Chennai traffic is insane, so guessing travel times is a crapshoot. The trip to the airport takes 25-30 minutes without traffic. It can take twice as long, however, in heavy traffic.
In theory, you can also reach the airport via AG-DMS station on the Chennai Metro Blue Line. It’s about a 1.5 km walk, taking about 25 minutes. Just beware, the walk isn’t for the faint of heart due to traffic and road conditions.
About ITC Hotels
ITC is one of the largest operators of “star hotels” in India and Sri Lanka, with 117 properties in total across 7 different brands. At one time, ITC was associated with the old Starwood, though today, it’s fully independent. Most of the old Starwood properties operate today under the parent ITC brand. These were previously branded as Sheratons; for example, the ITC Grand Chola in Chennai was the Chola Sheraton. (Though the Sheraton brand wasn’t exactly upscale here in the US, it was regarded as a 5-star brand in India.)
Meanwhile, ITC operates 28 hotels under the Welcomhotel brand. ITC positions the brand slightly below the flagship ITC Hotels, and bills it as a purveyor of “experiences” appropriate to the location. Kinda sounds like a boutique hotel concept with design that’s supposed to be unique to the location. In the case of the Welcomhotel on Cathedral Road, it’s designed as a business hotel, and also a spot for social events such as weddings.
Date of stay: July 6-9, 2025
Check-In and Common Areas
We arrived at the ungodly hour of 5 am, after a typically chaotic immigration/baggage claim experience at the airport. Check-in took a bit of time, though with 3 rooms and 8 people to process, it was about as expected. It took about 25 minutes to get everyone’s keys, though luggage delivery proved confusing. The clerk said somebody would bring up 0ur bags directly to our rooms. Half an hour later, though, still nothing. So we just went back downstairs and grabbed ours so we could get to bed.
Anyway, the check-in area is typical of star hotels in India, where you’re invited to sit while checking in. There is some distinctive artwork behind the check-in desks to admire while you wait.
The main lobby itself is in a rotunda style. From the entrance, the bar is to the left, with the corridor to the restaurant on the right. One thing that’s noticeably missing, though, is a seating area. The only place to sit is a table in the corner, with a couple of chairs and a couch. There is a nice sketch behind the table; I thought at first it’s Chennai Central train station. But upon further review, I don’t think that’s right.
There is also a large statue of the Hindu goddess Saraswati to the right of the check-in desk.
Finally, the ground floor includes Fabelle, a high-end chocolate shop. I’d never heard of it, but apparently it’s a creation of ITC, located in several of the company’s hotels. Prices start at Rs. 529 (almost $6), an astronomical sum by Indian standards. Hopefully it’s good at least…
On the second floor is another small public area. For the most part, this is just a walkway around the rotunda chandelier. However, there is another sitting area on one side by a faux window. The entrance to the hotel’s Indo-Chinese restaurant, Mahjong Room, is also on this floor.
As far as other facilities go, the hotel includes a business center, fitness center, and pool. We didn’t visit any of these, but I’ve included stock photos of the fitness center and pool below.
Guest Rooms
As mentioned, mom booked us an “Executive Club” room. The name “Executive Club” is a bit of a misnomer, as there’s not actually a “Club” or lounge. Rather, these just represent larger rooms (60 square meters vs. 26 or 35 for standard rooms) with a separate living area. The room initially opens into the living area, with a couch and dining table in front of you. I found this room quite spacious, with plenty of free space between the couch and TV.
The couch is plenty large enough for three. However, if you want to work from the couch, plugs are at a premium. The only one I found was on the window side of the couch. Also, don’t forget to bring an adapter, as all plugs are the Indian-style 240v outlets.
Meanwhile, there’s a dining table by the window. The hotel advertises its Executive Club rooms as having “city views”, but don’t get too excited. The view across Cathedral Road isn’t all that interesting.
There’s also a kettle with a tea and coffee set (unfortunately, the turrible instant variety), along with four complimentary bottles of water. Nicely, housekeeping replenished these daily. Underneath the tabletop is a small refrigerator with some minibar items (not free).
Finally, there is a small workdesk by the door. There is an additional 240v outlet at the side of the desk as well.
Moving on to the bedroom, it consists of a single bed with an ottoman, and a sitting chair by the window. I frequently find beds in Indian hotels uncomfortably hard, but this one was ok. Firm, yes, but not uncomfortable or anything. The extra pillows also help. I guess the sitting chair is more like a chaise lounge, though I found it uncomfortable to sit in for too long. There’s a definite lack of thigh support, which led to sore legs after a bit. Each nightstand also includes one 240v outlet, though no USB ports. So, make sure to bring your plugs for your mobile phones.
For what it’s worth, my certainly enjoyed the room, which was the most important thing.
There is a second TV in the bedroom, with good sight angles from the bed.
The bathroom design is a tad different, maybe odd. A walkway to the right of the bed leads first to a walk-in closet.
From there, you head right into the bathroom. This particular room comes equipped with a large soaking tub, much appreciated by me and my son. The shower setup, though, is a little weird. Next to the tub faucet, you’ll notice a handheld shower to the left. That’s all you get, which I imagine might not be popular with all. If you prefer a more traditional setup, ask for a room without a tub, which features a standard walk-in shower instead.
The hotel offers free WiFi to all guests. I tend to find WiFi speeds in Indian hotels annoyingly slow, and this was no exception. It’s fine for basic web browsing, but streaming and FaceTime proved challenging.
Overall, I found the room quite spacious and well-appointed. We had plenty of space for three, and provided a comfortable rest after a long journey.
Food & Beverage
We ended up ordering room service for lunch on our first day, and then ate breakfast in the “Welcomhotel Marina”. For room service lunch, I ordered a chettinad chicken curry with malabar paratha. (Aside – I’ve always liked these flaky parathas, but I’m also curious when they became trendy. I always remembered these being hard to find in restaurants.) For a hotel restaurant, the food was actually pretty decent. The curry was quite spicy as it should be, and had the proper consistency and roasted pepper flavor.
The only problem? As with all star hotels in India, prices are quite high by local standards. This plate of curry and two parathas ran more than 800 rupees ($9). That’s several times more than what you pay in a local restaurant.
For breakfast, the rate we booked included a buffet breakfast. The buffet includes a wide selection of North Indian, South Indian, and western items. Starting closest to the seating area, there is a DIY toast station, with a mix of white, wheat, and multigrain breads.
Next are a few North Indian dishes, though a couple of odd ones for breakfast. I can’t say channa masala is a typical breakfast dish.
The spread then transitions to typical South Indian breakfast items like upma, pongal, and poori. In addition, there is a station with idli and sambar.
Western options included French toast, pancakes, baked beans, and chicken sausage and bacon. I believe you could also ask the cook to make you an omelet.
Meanwhile, at the back of the buffet area you’ll find salad, condiments, fresh fruit, and pastries. Disappointingly, the fruit spread didn’t include mangoes, even though we visited at the tail end of mango season. (I found a generous selection in pretty much every grocery store nearby, though.)
Finally, a self-service drink station includes fruit juice, sweet lassi, and iced coffee.
Tea and coffee is provided on request. The coffee is filter coffee, not Nescafe, though my mom (the family coffee snob) said it wasn’t great. I did sample the tea, which was a decent masala chai. Note that the filtered water on the table is safe to drink, though
Both mornings we ate breakfast, we encountered sparse crowds. Occupancy wasn’t very high at the hotel during our stay, it seems.
Welcomhotel by ITC Hotels, Cathedral Road Chennai – Final Thoughts
The hotel was certainly nice enough, and five star hotels in India are a bargain right now with the exchange rate. I certainly had no complaints for $133 a night. But honestly, I don’t exactly understand the concept. ITC seems to market the Welcomhotel brand as a boutique concept. But at least at this hotel, it’s very nice, but doesn’t feel particularly boutique, or unique. Rather, it feels like…a pretty generic Indian high-end hotel. Nothing wrong with that, but it does feel a bit pretentious.