Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu · premium

Ideal Beach Resort, Mamallapuram

★★★★☆

Ideal Beach Resort is a family-run garden resort on the coast road, a few kilometres north of the town. It has been going since the 1970s, and it feels settled: low cottages among old trees, a lawn running down to a small private beach, two pools and a seafood restaurant. The rooms are simple and clean rather than grand. It is the sort of place people come back to, quieter and better value than the larger resorts, and still an easy drive to the monuments and to Chennai.