A hotel that once screamed luxury
Situated on Santhome High road, Hotel Oceanic was famous during the 1950s. It was a six-acre property owned by KR Shenai. Later, he sold the land to MS Ramaswamy Chettiar of Mahalakshmi Films.
By : migrator
Update: 2018-09-01 19:56 GMT
Chennai
Chettiar built two hotels on the premises — Oceanic and Ratnagar. Completed in 1954, the Oceanic was known to be one of the best hotels in India, “equipped with linen, crockery, cutlery, refrigerators, air-conditioners, cooking ranges, electric fans, ice-cream machines, ice-making machinery, light fittings and other moveable and also with tools, implements, lawn mowers, equipment, kitchen and other utensils” to quote from a record in the 1960s. In addition, it had a shopping gallery where some of Madras’ best-known retailers set up outlets.
By 1959, the Oceanic started attracting high-class tourists – being only one of three hotels in the city to offer air-conditioned rooms. Today all that remains is an empty plot of land with a crumbling welcome arch. From this hotel, one could have a view of the Bay of Bengal and the remains of Leith castle and Port.
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