In February 2016, a friend and I decided to go on a 2 week trip to India. We visited 2 different cities in India and our first stop was to Chennai. Since I travel a lot, I knew getting an accessible hotel in a third world country might be difficult so I always travel with my manual wheelchair.
Getting There
We left Calgary on a Tuesday night and didn’t arrive into Chennai until the Thursday just before 6 AM. From Chennai Airport, we got a driver with a larger car to take us to where we are staying La Woods Hotel. The drive was about a half hour and the driver had to tie some of our luggage to the roof of the vehicle.
from the airport to the hotel
Even the drive that early in the morning was quite busy. I never really knew much about Chennai and only booked it here because I found a great flight deal. I had no idea what to expect about the city and took a chance anyways.
traffic wasn’t too bad
The Hotel
When we arrived to the hotel, I was immediately concerned about wheelchair accessibility since I saw the 3 steps to get inside. We were staying at the hotel for 5 nights and didn’t want the hassle of switching hotels. As long as the room and the bathroom works for me, we can deal with the 3 steps. It can be tricky booking hotels online because sometimes they claim to be accessible but it really isn’t. From the outside, the hotel didn’t look that great but once inside was really nice. There is two small elevators that takes guests to all the floors with one at the front and the other at the back.
3 steps to get inside the hotel
Room
The room worked out well for us. Even though we had to share a bed, there was a lot of space in the room for my wheelchair. It was just a basic room without anything fancy but still looked decent. We were fine with that since we didn’t plan on staying in the room much.
decent room
The bathroom surprised me. Not only did it look nice, it was a large bathroom with a large roll in shower. My commode fit over the low toilet perfectly and there was no bump to wheel into the shower. The only issue was that the shower head was fixed on the wall which made showering a bit harder.
accessible bathroom with roll in shower
Amenities
La Woods Hotel is rated 3 stars so we really weren’t expecting this hotel to offer much. We didn’t know ahead of time, but their website says that they offer free transfers. They also have add on options like a conference hall, spa services and a restaurant/bar that offered a free daily breakfast with limited options.
free daily breakfast
Location
La Woods Hotel is on #1 Woods Road and is surrounded by a bunch of small shops and restaurants. Two big malls are just about a 6 minute walk/stroll away. There is the upscale Spencer Plaza Mall and the big Express Avenue Mall. When it got extremely hot outside, we did visit the mall to enjoy the cool air conditioner.
Express Avenue Mall
Even though, it requires about an hour drive, I highly recommend a day trip to Mahabalipuram which you can read about it here. We got to visit some cool temples and visit a Crocodile Bank.
day trip to Mahabalipuram
La Woods Hotel had a few steps to get inside but the room and the bathroom had great accessibility. The free daily breakfast wasn’t the greatest but the location was decent. I would consider this budget hotel if I was to ever come back to the city.
Linda takai
Thank you for the information!
alantvuong
if you have any other questions about India, let me know
Chan
hi Alan,
You have been to 25 countries ? That is so impressive! I intend to checkout more of your posts.
Chennai is my hometown and I enjoyed reading your post. It’s been many years since I last visited Chennai and I am planning to visit soon. I am so excited.