The five-star hotel, now Vivanta by Taj, is an important landmark in the city
(Above) Some of the rare photos tracing the origin of Taj Connemara, city's oldest hotel, displayed at the hotel lounge. A huge portrait of Nawab Muhammad Munawwar Khan Bahadur the IV prince of Arcot with Lord Connemara adorns the Vivanta by Taj
Chennai: It was once a palatial garden house that adorned the area close to Egmore by the Cooum river and quite close to the Government House (now Omandurar Government Estate) and located at the intersection of Mount and Binny Roads. That was in 1805–06.
The impressive house of the Arcot Nawab, which was once rented out to John Binny who built his garden house there, underwent numerous avatars and branding over the years to become the Connemara hotel in 1890 providing single and family accommodation to visitors.
This heritage structure, Taj Connemara, turns 125 on November 27 this year, though its history is over two centuries. The five-star hotel, now Vivanta by Taj, is an important landmark in the city and is steeped in history standing testimony to hotelier tradition for over a century and a quarter.
Though it is not clear whether it was named after Lord Connemara, the then Governor of Madras (1886 – 90) who was close to the IV Prince of Arcot Nawab Muhammad Munawwar Khan Bhadur who threw lavish parities to the Governor, or Lady Connemara, the aristocratic hotel nevertheless is decorated with a huge portrait of the Lord Connemara with the Nawab Muhammad Munawwar Khan Bhadur.
The lounge at heritage wing is named after Lady Connemara who was said to have stayed at the hotel for about a year before sailing back to England to seek the much debated divorce from her scandalous husband.
“Lord Connemara (Robert Bruce, the Baron of Connemara in Ireland) liked young girls. The younger the better for him. And this had landed him in trouble with his wife,” says S. Muthiah, Chennai’s historian, with a chuckle. “We also have a library named after him in the city,” he says and adds “this is still a prime property with real estate value.”
The Nawab who was said to have borrowed extensively from the Queen was not in a position to repay the sum, explains Anant Marwah, Assistant front office manger. In 1854, T. Ruthnavaloo Mudalaiyar (who acquired the property) established the Imperial Hotel and later he either leased or sold it to the Mudaliar brothers: P. Cumaraguru Mudelly and Chokalinga Mudelly, who renamed the property to the Albany in 1886 and in 1890 it was renamed the Connemara.
The property on about nine acres was bought by Eugene Oakshatt, then owner of Spencer and Co in 1891. Of the nine acres that were bought, 4.37 acres were used to build one of the most striking buildings in the Madras of the time, a department store spread over 18,000 square feet, the biggest in Asia in its day. The Connemara was sold to Spencer & Co in 1913 by Oakshott’s sons. By then, what was a residential hotel had also become a hotel for the traveller. Spencer’s also began to acquire other hotels in Madras and elsewhere in South India, including the West End, Bangalore, another prime property now managed by the Taj, which took over the Connemara in 1974.
In 1976-77, the Indian Hotels Company Ltd, of the Tata group, took over the management of the Connemara from Spencer’s, who believed that the hotel needed a more modern approach as the demand of the property increased with a steady growth of travellers from all around the globe.
After coming to a management agreement with Spencer’s for its three hotels — the Savoy in Ooty was the third — in March 1984, the Taj Group decided to renovate them. Work began in the 1990s on the three hotels with an investment of '450 million. And finally in 1995 the Connemara was prefixed with ‘Taj’ to its name. In September 2010, the Taj Connemara adopted the stylishly spirited service philosophy of the Vivanta by Taj brand, giving its guests a revitalised service, yet retaining the old-world charm of its past elegance.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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