The Savoy is one of the oldest continuously operating hotels in India. The main building is dated 1829 and began as a school; it opened as a hotel in 1841, built around an existing cottage called Woodville — now the Garden Cottage. Its beams are said to have come from Tipu Sultan's palace at Srirangapatna, hauled up the Segur GhatGhatA flight of steps leading down to a river or tank, used for bathing, worship and cremation.Read in the glossary by elephant.
It is laid out as low cottage rows around a large central lawn at about 2,200 metres in the Nilgiris, rather than as a single block. Forty rooms and suites, and a working fireplace in every one of them.
Why We Place Guests Here
- Tea Mixology at the Canterbury Bar — Nilgiri teas worked into cocktails — is the sort of thing a hill station hotel ought to do and almost none do.
- The Dining Room cooks Badaga food, the cuisine of the Nilgiris' indigenous community, alongside the Anglo-Indian repertoire.
- Croquet on the lawn, a hundred-and-fifty-year-old Steinway in the lounge, and a vintage letterbox guests can still post from. The place has not been renovated out of itself.
The Table
- The Dining Room — Badaga and Anglo-Indian
- Canterbury Bar — gins and tea mixology
- Tea Lounge — Nilgiri teas and high tea
- Herb Terrace
The Elevated India Signature
High tea in the Tea Lounge after the toy train down from Coonoor, with the fire lit.
Questions, Answered
Is Savoy Ooty still a Taj hotel?
It is still IHCL-operated, but the brand has moved: it trades as Savoy, Ooty within IHCL SeleQtions rather than as Taj Savoy. It was extensively restored in 2018.
Should you take the Nilgiri Mountain Railway?
Yes — the toy train is a UNESCO World Heritage listing and the Coonoor–Ooty leg is the best of it. Elevated India books the leg rather than the whole line, and drives the rest.
Journeys That Take You There
Explore the destination guide: Ooty, Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu ↗
Photography: Photograph courtesy IHCL SeleQtions