Madurai, Tamil Nadu · luxury

Heritage Madurai, Madurai

★★★★★

Heritage Madurai occupies the old Madurai Club grounds, a walled garden designed by the Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa. It keeps Bawa's low pavilions and water courts, and adds villas with private plunge pools among the trees. The main pool is long and quiet. There is a spa, and the restaurants cover Madurai street food as well as the usual range. It is a ten-minute drive from the Meenakshi temple, but it feels well out of the city, which after a day in the old town is the point. It is the most comfortable base in Madurai by a distance.