WelcomHeritage Ferrnhills Royale Palace

Not recommended. The hotel is like a deserted palace, very poorly maintained, the bathroom fittings were leaking.. food was below average and no breakfast buffet. The towels were dirty and there is no signal or wifi (which they do provide but never connects). Basically at the cost of a 5 star hotel, you get no comforts or facilities. We actually cut down our stay of 3 days in Ooty to 2 just bcoz of the gloomy atmosphere of the hotel was growing on us. Really bad experience.

For a palace built in the British era and currently owned by the royal wadiyar dynasty, this place is certainly less explored. A wonderful dining experience with the vast menu ranging from Indian cuisine to Anglo Indian( unique flavours) to the visual grandeur the dining hall has to offer. The walls have intricate architecture and detailed wooden interiors around the windows and the walls made with Burmese teak wood. The ceiling is a beautiful papier mache ceiling, you won't be able to look down once you look up. The alleys of the halls have so much history to offer from the british era to the royal dynasty's grand lineage, takes you back several eras. Though the management ( welcome heritage hotels) needs to invest more in the human capital. The property spreads across acres and has beautiful garden and a forest walk to offer. All the suites( like maharani suite, maharaja suite, yuvraj suite etc.) Has their own uniqueness and a Jacuzzi fitted bathroom. The experience in this hotel would certainly leave you feeling royal be it for a while. P.s. : the place needs an upgrade of the dining experience in terms of the staff. Though the staff is sweet but needs to be trained much more as per the potential of the palace.

Stay in the palace was awesome, we got maharani suite. Its all well maintained and clean. They have kids play area and beautiful scenic surroundings to take a walk. Food was average. A place wr u can go once for the feel of stay in royal palace

As soon as you enter in the campus of this heritage hotel automatic you will feel like Royal guest. The corridor is amazing, build is unique. Gretfor photo and videography , you can go inside and look around wonderful ambient and environment. There is restaurant running inside you can also go and order something and but the time order comes you and roam in side , waiters are very gentle and explains you everything you wanted to know. Worth going place like this. Campus is huge. You will definitely enjoy if you appreciate the site and history.

Pros: The property is located in a sprawling estate with a huge lawn surrounded by trees - lots of place to run around and play if you have kids The rooms are large and spacious; my 4 yr old had a ball of a time running around in the room itself. All rooms are suites; ours was a junior suite which came with a sitting area, along with a bedroom with attached bath. The sitting area opened to a small courtyard open to the sky. The housekeeping service was prompt. The bathrooms were clean with running hot water between 6:00am - 10:00am and 6:00pm - 10:00pm. The dining area was once the royal ball room / court; this and many other artifacts / furniture / decor have a grandeur to it. Since all 'rooms' are essentially suites, there are not too many of them, unlike a commercial property. This means less guests and more quiet. The chef who was handling the dinner service was good and was very helpful; he prepared custom dishes to accommodate our preferences. The main restaurant seems to be tailored for foreign visitors, their dishes are self contained i.e. comes with a rice / bread with a curry. The food tastes decent - we dined there twice - although I would say a little overpriced Cons: The room did not have any windows. Views are a big part of any scenic destination and Ooty has lots of sights to offer. No windows hence no views was a big letdown. The french window opening into the courtyard had to remain curtained for privacy. Heritage does not mean weather beaten. The furniture was not maintained; the indoor furniture was in desperate need of polishing and a fresh coat of paint for the outdoor ones was long overdue. Since, all the rooms are suites, there aren't too many guests on the property. Since the dining area is huge, its felt a little too silent, muted and unlively for my taste. The breakfast service was a tad bit slow; the baked items eg muffins, danishes were not fresh. We ordered dosa for breakfast and the waiter served just the dosa sans the sambar, chutney etc. Going forward, we specifically mentioned chutney and sambar along with the dosa. Overall verdict: I would not visit again. While the heritage and the royalty bit is all great, the charm wears off soon when the service does not match up. The price tag is pretty high and it does not give enough bang for the buck.