In Chennai there are many interesting old hotels, something to remind you of the days when travel meant long journeys by rail or sea, a place where the rich and the famous of that time would eat. When the roads were big, in the absence of flyovers and skyscrapers. There were few hotels that stood out as a landmark, inviting trespassers to binge on their specialties.Considering a few parts of old Madras, Periamet, a leather hub that stretches from Central Station to Madras Veterinary College and Traffic Commissioner’s Office to Choolai, has given way to plenty of old hotels; many that have been shut down and few still exist with a history to tell. For people who have lived in Perimet, going back to these hotels is always nostalgic. As you stroll along the small lanes of Ponamalle High Road, a blue painted rusted board that reads “Kurunji, Periamet, Madras – 3,” catches your attention because of an appeal all their own: the old fashioned fittings, the lack of the latest amenities and a certain graceful agedness are often part of their character.Started on April 1, 1963, Kurunji Hotel stood out as one of the four landmarks in Ponnamalle High Road that connected Periamet, after Dasaprakash, Hotel Everest and Buhari. Situated in a small lane, the hotel has 35 rooms for lodging and a restaurant that served an authentic South Indian meal in 1963. It has now expanded its branches to four different hotels, Mullai, Jayanthi, Cauvery and Arupukottai in the same locality. In the ‘60s, a career meal was priced at `1.75 at Kurunji and sold nearly 250 career meals in a day. It also had a chicken biryani and mutton roast cooked in Kurunji that was one of the favourite of our former chief minister, M Karunanidhi. The hotel that has lived for more than 40 years, was the first hotel to introduce pre-paid cards for career meals. Raja, a video photographer, who still lives in the same locality, Kurunji hotel is like his second home. “Even after the development of many new hotels in the locality, there is something nostalgic about Kurunji. The good-old days that I have spent with my friends in this hotel are memorable. Their biryani and paya is one delicacy you can die for,” reveals Raja.Kurunji hotel has been a hotspot for many politicians and businessmen, but the hotel is slowly diminishing, losing out to the newly opened restaurants in the city. Just minutes away from the Kurunji hotel, you will find the National Darbar Hotel, situated at the junction of the road connecting the Central Railway Station and Ponamalle High Road. The 80-year-old building with not much improvisation holds a great history. Started by Iranis in 1940, Darbar was called Mazda hotel and served Iranian delicacies. But it was later taken over by Nazir Ahmed in 1968, and was renamed as National Darbar Hotel. Darbar still finds its regular customers, most of them being Anglo-Indians, visiting the hotel for its mutton biryani, bun and butter jam and home-made ice-creams. For Sreekumar who has lived and spent his childhood in Periamet, Darbar’s tea and biscuits were his favourites. “I remember coming to this place after school just to sip on that hot tea and some cookies. The taste is still original and even now after 30years, I pack butter biscuits for my daughter,” he smiles. From National Darbar Hotel, as you head to Parrys, the only famous hotel, which is in its stage of dissolving in the busy commercial market is Hotel Hamedia. In the midst of the hustle and bustle of the market, the hotel remains empty and silent with old ceramic cups sparkling with the stains of tea, plastic chairs and wooden benches showing that this hotel that has not undergone many changes except for its name (from Ahemdia to Hamedia). In late ‘70s, it has been a hangout spot for Kollywood actors like Goundamani, Janakaraj and Pandian, who visit the place after their shooting.When Kottachavadi market was situated in Parrys, Hamedia saw a business of thousands every day. Though it has various stories to tell, Hamedia would be called as “once popular, but no more.”
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