Taj Gateway Madurai, Pasumalai Hill

This Review of Taj Gateway Madurai, Pasumalai Hill will hopefully convince you that staying in this hotel is a must do in Madurai along with seeing Meenakshi temple. An oasis of bliss in the scorching heat of Tamil Nadu. Madurai is not a famous tourist destination especially for people living outside of India. Most famous for the Meenakshi Temple, for most of the people it’s a 24hr destination. And that is how it was for us. But we wanted to a little more than just visit the Meenakshi temple so we decided to add in a local food tour and this amazing place we stayed at. If you’re not into temples, even then I would recommend you try out Taj Gateway Pasumalai, Madurai.

This post covers

• Location
• Facilities and Amenities
• Room
• Restaurants
• Service
• Cost for 2 Night Stay
• Rating on Travel forums

Location:
It’s a little outside of the main city limits while still in Madurai, its perched atop the Pasumalai hill. You’ll need an Uber or Ola or your own vehicle to visit the city or Meenakshi temple. The hotel is at a height so we could actually see the Meenakshi temple gopuram from our room and balcony. The fact that it is not in the center of the city is one of the best parts about this property.

Facilities and Amenities: All basic facilities and amenities one expects:
Taj Gateway Madurai was like staying in a palatial place in the middle of a forest. As all Taj properties I have stayed at (and I’ve stayed at many), it’s a family friendly hotel. The kids loved Taj’s impeccable service and all the different experiences they had. Did you know peacocks love peanuts? Neither did we, till out children fed some beautiful peacocks in the hotel premises. They can be seen strolling in the wilderness of this hotel. Other activities like bird watching, squirrel stroking, early morning nature walk or jungle trail will surely be a hit with kids and adults alike, away from the busy city life.
Taj Gateway Madurai also boasts of a game room which has the usual Chess, carrom and table tennis tables apart from other board games.
For those looking for a relaxing time and an ayurvedic massage, head to Nalam, the ayurvedic center offering wellness programs. The hotel also conducts, daily hour long Yoga sessions at the poolside lawns from 6am to 8am.
For us, cherry on the cake was a personal cooking session with the Chef. We made 3 different dishes, all inspired by the local tastes and from the South Indian cuisine. A potato curry which is practically everyone’s favorite, a spinach delicacy and at the end their jaggery rice payasam. What we prepared is what we ate for lunch and I have to say it was awesome – made more so by the fact that we cooked it together with the chef fresh right then and there.

Rooms:
We stayed in a lovely suite with a nice big balcony outside the room. A lovely place to have tea and experience the sunrise or sunset. Our room had a view of Meenakshi temple in some distance.
The usual amenities are all there as expected.

Restaurants:
Taj Gateway Madurai has 3 different restaurants apart from the 24hr in room dining option. They have Vista, the coffee shop; Harvey’s Lounge, The Bar and Onboard, the alfresco dining Indian specialty restaurant

Service:
Experience of staying with kids at any hotel really brings out the true customer service focus. With Taj, we have always had a great experience and this was no less. Forthcoming in telling the kids about peacock, making special arrangements for the kids during meals, warm safe and friendly atmosphere and best of all ever smiling staff.

Cost for 2 night stay: c.INR 10,000 – INR 15,000

Ratings:  Top rated hotel in Madurai with a rating of 8.8 on Hotels.com, you can directly make the reservation with them at the hotel website.

Check out how we spent our 24hrs in Madurai and what were outstanding experiences we had.