Radisson Blu Hotel City Centre in Chennai, India

IndiaChennai Hotels › Radisson Blu City Centre Review
Updated: March 18, 2022
By Santorini Dave

Essentials
• Location: Egmore, in the city center.
• Hotel website: radissonblu.com
• Hotel phone: +91 (0)44 3040 4444
Check prices for Radisson Blu City Centre

Review of Radisson Blu Hotel Chennai City Centre in Chennai, India.

The Radisson Blu City Centre is a refined and modern hotel with spacious rooms and excellent amenities.

Radisson Blu City Centre – Large, comfortable, inexpensive, and surprisingly refined.

More elegant than the outside might suggest, the Radisson is one in a worldwide chain of reliable, functional, and good-value hotels catering to tourists and business people alike. Towering over the Cooum River, it offers a range of spacious rooms, each with a large desk and full-length window providing more interesting views than rival hotels. Amenities are as expected – outdoor pool, big gym, and opulent lobby – but a pleasant surprise is the number of sophisticated bistros, as well as a wonderfully elegant bar/lounge, one of the city’s finest.

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Radisson Blu City Centre – The Location

  • Address: Ethiraj Salai, Commander-in-Chief Road, Egmore, in the city center.
  • Nearest Metro: LIC metro station is 1.5 km from the hotel.
  • Area: Busy residential area on the edge of a shopping district. It overlooks a river, but this is not an attraction and is, in fact, rather smelly at times.
  • How to Get There: There are efficient pre-paid taxi counters at the domestic and international airports; the trip takes about 45 minutes (16 km). (Uber and Ola seem to be off-limits there.) The hotel is linked by metro to the airport, Central and Egmore train terminals, and CMBT (Koyambedu) bus station. (In fact, the Egmore terminal is less than 2km from the hotel.) See Local Transport below for more information.

Radisson Blu City Centre – The Basics

  • Guests: About half-and-half business people and tourists.
  • Views: As the only high-rise in the immediate area, views are more noteworthy than most other hotels in Chennai.
  • Private Pools/Jacuzzis: Not expected (or provided) at this sort of inner-city business-style hotel.
  • How to Book: Booking.com will have the best rates.
  • Phone: +91 (0)44 3040 4444
  • Email: sales6@radchennai.com
  • Website: radissonblu.com

Radisson Blu City Centre – Amenities

  • Pool: Reasonable size but could get crowded. Outdoors, with several cafés/bars facing it.
  • Spa: Chakra Spa offers massages and facials, and features a steam room, hot tubs, and hair salon.
  • Fitness Center: Alongside the pool and spa, with all sorts of impressive equipment.
  • Other Facilities: Laundry. Money-changing. Boutique.

Radisson Blu City Centre – Food and Drink

  • Restaurants & Bars: Oasis – Open 24 hours for buffets and a la carte. Excellent coffee and attentive service. • The Great Kebab Factory – For vegetarians and meat-lovers alike, there’s lunchtime buffets and a long menu all day. • Salt Co. 531 – Open-plan kitchen cooking contemporary cuisine, with emphasis on traditional methods using salt. Family-friendly, and popular for live music and Sunday brunch. • Blue Hickey Bistro – Chic vibe and intriguing décor (e.g. bottles on the walls and ceiling). Open 24 hours. • Winchester Bar – Cocktails, cigars, and conversation in one of the city’s finest bars. Leather lounges and U-shaped bar add immensely to the appeal.
  • Breakfast: Normally included in all rates, but double-check when booking.
  • Room Service: Available 24/7 but a limited menu overnight.

Radisson Blu City Centre – Rooms

  • Room Types: Superior Rooms • Deluxe Rooms • Business Class Suites • List of all Rooms
  • Smoking Rooms: An entire floor of rooms is available to smokers.
  • Best Room: Business Class Suites are considerably larger and feature separate living areas.
  • For Families: Essentially a business hotel, with space for an extra single bed in the Business Class Suites.

Radisson Blu City Centre – Local Transport

  • Walking: With plenty of facilities along a comparatively quieter street, walking is more pleasant than most other areas of the city.
  • Public Transport: The metro offers services to both airport terminals, the major train and bus stations, and the city center. The nearest metro station – LIC – is 1.5 km away. The more useful Egmore metro station is about 2.5 km from the hotel.
  • Taxis & Auto-rickshaws: The black-and-yellow taxis at the airport are nowhere to be seen in the city. Instead, they have been replaced by the app-based Uber and Ola. Plenty of auto-rickshaws around but the drivers won’t use meters, so they usually cost more than Uber or Ola.

Radisson Blu City Centre – What’s Nearby?

Best Nearby Restaurants & Bars

    Very little of note along the street in front, so head to the area around the Ambassador Pallava hotel. From the gates of the Radisson turn right, then right again, and right once more at the junction under the flyover. These places are within 300m of that junction.

  • Olive & Basil – Tempting menu of mostly noodles and seafood. (600m).
  • Spice Trail – In the same building as Olive & Basil. Popular, with a focus on local cuisine, including tandoori items and biryanis (rice-based dishes). (600m).
  • Cakewalk – All sorts of pastries and coffee. A few tables inside. (650m).
  • Domino’s – Familiar pizza joint for eating-in, takeaway, or delivery. (650m).
  • Vestin Park – Opposite the Ambassador, this hotel offers a decent restaurant, Splendour, and to the side, Brew Bites. (700m).
  • Ambassador Pallava – Pleasant hotel, if a little old-fashioned, offering Salt & Pepper Coffee Shop (casual, open 24 hours, and excellent meals) and The Society (pleasant seating, tasty meals, and bar attached). (750m).

Nearby Shops

  • A few shops further up the street. Several more calling themselves a ‘mall’ near the Ambassador Pallava hotel, but these are just a meager collection of shops, with little of interest to most hotel guests.

Radisson Blu City Centre – The Hotel

The business-centric hotel is located in the city center.

The business-oriented Radisson Blu hotel is part of an internationally-known chain and is located in the city center.

The hotel lobby and interior are very sophisticated.

The interior of the hotel, especially at the lobby, is more sophisticated than the outside of the hotel might suggest.

There is a classy boutique by the lobby.

At the lobby level is a classy boutique.

Oasis is a refined bistro.

One of several refined bistros at the hotel is Oasis.

Oasis is popular for its lunch buffets.

Oasis is popular among guests and the general public for its lunchtime buffets.

Blue Hickey Bistro is located by the pool.

Also near the pool at the Radisson is the colorful Blue Hickey Bistro.

Blue Hickey Bistro has a remarkable bistro.

The décor is remarkable at the Blue Hickey Bistro.

Salt Co. 531 café is a fabulous restaurant.

Another fabulous place to eat within the Radisson is the Salt Co. 531 café.

Great Kebab Factory also offers lunch buffets.

The on-site Great Kebab Factory offers buffets at lunchtime.

The Winchester Bar is one of the city's most elegant pubs.

One of the most elegant pubs in the entire city is the Winchester Bar, also at the hotel.

The Winchester Bar has an excellent selection of imported drinks.

The Winchester Bar offers an impressive range of imported beers, wines, and spirits.

The business-oriented hotel has a small pool.

The pool isn’t that big and could become crowded, but the Radisson is more of a business hotel anyway.

There are some tables and chairs by the pool to enjoy drinks.

Guests can enjoy a drink at tables alongside the pool.

The spa is impressive and offers massages and facials.

The impressive spa offers a range of massages and facials.

The fairly large gym is well-equipped.

The fitness center is sizable and provides some impressive equipment.

The room decor is pretty impressive considering it is a business hotel.

All types of rooms feature a décor that’s more appealing than most business-style hotels in the city.

The rooms have fairly large desk areas.

As expected of a business-oriented hotel, the desk area dominates the rooms.

The tall hotel offers vast views from most rooms.

As the only high-rise in the immediate area, views are extensive from most types of rooms.

All rooms have India-themed photos.

Although modern and functional, the rooms and suites feature a reminder of India along the walls.

The hotel is located in a busy residential area.

The hotel is in a bustling residential district, just around the corner from a flyover, which acts as a useful landmark.

There are several good small restaurants near the hotel.

From the hotel gates, turn right, then right again, and right once more at this corner for the best range of restaurants in the general area. This road leads to the Ambassador Pallava hotel, another local landmark.

A Domino's outlet is close by.

Along the road to the Ambassador Pallava hotel from the corner with a flyover is the familiar Domino’s pizza joint.

Cakewalk near Domino's sells coffee and cakes.

Near Domino’s is Cakewalk, where patrons can also enjoy a coffee or cake inside.

Spice Trail and Olive & Basil are also located close to Domino's.

Also close to Domino’s are Spice Trail and Olive & Basil, which are both in the same building.

The Society at the Ambassador Pallave offers seating on 2 levels.

Continuing along the road past Domino’s is the Ambassador Pallava hotel. It offers a restaurant called The Society, where some tables face the pool from an upper level.

Splendour at the Vestin Park opposite the Ambassador is another good restaurant.

Opposite the Ambassador, the Vestin Park hotel offers several places to eat, including Splendour.

The neighborhood facilities are interesting but directed more towards locals.

Facilities in the general area near the Radisson are for local residents rather than foreign tourists, but they’re interesting enough.

There are several auto-rickshaws around the hotel.

The hotel is near a junction where auto-rickshaws are always available.

The road in front of the hotel is pleasant to stroll on.

The road in front of the Radisson offers shady footpaths, so it’s reasonably pleasant for a walk. Check rates and availability: Radisson Blu City Centre

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Santorini Dave Author Bio. Santorini Dave was started in 2011 by a guy who loved Greece, travel, and great hotels. We're now a small team of writers and researchers on a mission to deliver the most helpful travel content on the internet. We specialize in Santorini, Mykonos, Athens, and Greece and recommend the best hotels, best neighborhoods, and best family hotels in top destinations around the world. We also make hotel maps and travel videos. I can be contacted at dave@santorinidave.com.