InterContinental Chennai Mahabalipuram Resort Review: A Luxurious Coastal Escape in Chennai, India

Based on our two stays here, most recently in March 2024 before the property’s major renovation, yes, it is one of the stronger luxury options on the Coromandel Coast. The temple-inspired architecture designed by Kerry Hill’s CV Sydney studio gives the property a distinct character that sets it apart from the more conventional beach resort aesthetic. The staff, across both visits, demonstrated genuine warmth and a willingness to go beyond the standard, whether that was arranging off-menu dishes from Tao of Peng for in-room dining or opening the lounge outside its usual hours. The property has since undergone an extensive renovation completed in late 2025, and the current experience may reflect further improvements to the areas we noted room for growth in.

Our stay in March 2024 was pre-renovation, so specific room categories and configurations may have changed since the property completed its extensive refurbishment in late 2025. At the time of our visit, the Vilasa Suite with a private pool was the most premium option, and the East Coast Suite with Sea View offered the most direct Bay of Bengal outlook. The Rathi Honeymoon Suite with Jacuzzi, into which we were upgraded via InterContinental Ambassador status, suits couples well, with the jacuzzi as the design centrepiece. For the most current room inventory and categories following the renovation, it is worth checking directly with the hotel or the IHG website, where the post-renovation offerings are now reflected.

The resort has three main dining options. The Melting Pot is the all-day multi-cuisine restaurant and serves a solid breakfast buffet. The beachside restaurant, now called Off The Hook (formerly KoKoMMo Tiki Shack), is the coastal dining option for lunch and dinner, and the fresh seafood here is among the more enjoyable parts of a stay. Tao of Peng, the Chinese restaurant, operated on weekends only at the time of our visit. The kitchen team showed commendable flexibility during our March 2024 stay, preparing off-menu dishes for our room when we could not make it to the restaurant in person. As the property has since undergone a full renovation, it is worth confirming current restaurant hours and offerings directly with the hotel.

In our experience across two stays, including one with a six-month-old, the resort works well for families. The staff were accommodating of our baby’s needs throughout, from dietary requests to meal timing flexibility. The private beach is calm and peaceful in the early mornings, and the temple tank-style pool is well maintained. One practical note from our pre-renovation stay: if you are traveling with an infant and require a crib, it is worth following up directly with the hotel before arrival to confirm the request has been registered. The InterContinental Ambassador program’s late checkout benefit, which gave us until 4pm, was particularly useful when traveling with a young child.

We stayed at both back to back on our March 2024 trip, with InterContinental Mahabalipuram first and Taj Fisherman’s Cove immediately after along the same East Coast Road. The two properties sit at slightly different points in character. InterContinental Mahabalipuram has the more distinctive architecture, drawing explicitly from South Indian temple design, and a stronger sense of place relative to the UNESCO heritage sites nearby. Taj Fisherman’s Cove has the more storied setting, built on the ramparts of a 17th-century Dutch fort at Covelong Beach, and the Taj brand’s service consistency and Jiva Spa give it an edge in terms of polished luxury delivery. If the monuments of Mahabalipuram are central to your trip, InterContinental’s location makes more sense. If a longer coastal stay with the resort as the primary focus is what you are after, Taj Fisherman’s Cove is the stronger choice.

The resort’s private beach is one of its best features in the early mornings: quiet, with the Bay of Bengal at close range and the sunrise over the water making it a genuinely peaceful way to start the day. At the time of our 2024 visit, the beachfront stretch was relatively small for the property’s size and tended to become crowded by early evening, particularly on weekends, with limited loungers. Whether the post-renovation property has expanded the beach facilities is worth confirming directly. Off The Hook, the beachside restaurant, more than compensates: sitting there with fresh seafood and the sound of the waves is one of the more enjoyable parts of a stay.

Mahabalipuram’s UNESCO World Heritage sites deserve unhurried attention. The Shore Temple, positioned right on the water’s edge, is best visited at sunrise when the light is soft and the crowds have not yet arrived. The Pancha Rathas, five monolithic stone chariots each carved from a single boulder, reward a proper slow walk through. Arjuna’s Penance, one of the largest open-air bas-relief carvings in the world, has a scale that takes a moment to fully absorb. The resort is also well placed as a base for Pondicherry, about two hours south, which offers French colonial architecture, excellent restaurants, and a distinct atmosphere that makes for a natural day trip.