Heritage Madurai occupies the grounds and buildings of the old Madurai Club, built to a design by the Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa and restored by Vinod Jayasinghe, one of his disciples. Bawa's work is scarce in India and almost never accessible as a hotel.
Seventy-two keys, thirty-four of them villas, spread through park-like grounds of mature banyans on Melakkal Main Road at Kochadai, on the western side of the city away from the temple core. One room category is simply called the Geoffrey Bawa Room.
Why We Place Guests Here
- It is a rare chance to sleep inside a Bawa building — the tropical-modernist language of courtyards, verandahs and borrowed landscape is unmistakable.
- The grounds are generous and genuinely old, which in Madurai's heat is not a small thing.
- Thirty-four villas, several with plunge pools, give room that the city's other hotels do not have.
The Table
- The Banyan — alfresco over the trees and temple pool
- Swig & Tee Bar
- Coffee shop
The Elevated India Signature
An unhurried walk of the Bawa buildings in the hour before dinner, when the courtyards do their work.
Questions, Answered
Who was Geoffrey Bawa?
The Sri Lankan architect who shaped tropical modernism — courtyards, verandahs and buildings opened to their landscape. The former Madurai Club that Heritage Madurai occupies was built to his design, and the hotel names a room category after him.
Gateway Madurai or Heritage Madurai?
Gateway has the hill and the view over the city; Heritage has the Bawa architecture, the villas and the bigger grounds. Elevated India uses both depending on whether the guest wants the view or the building.
Journeys That Take You There
Explore the destination guide: Madurai, Tamil Nadu ↗
Photography: Photograph courtesy Heritage Madurai