Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu · luxury

Palais de Mahe, a CGH Earth hotel, Pondicherry

★★★★☆

Palais de Mahe is a colonial-style mansion in the heart of White Town, run by the CGH Earth group. It was built new in the old manner, around a courtyard, with tall shuttered windows, antique furniture and a small rooftop pool that looks over the tiled roofs toward the sea. There are eighteen rooms. The restaurant does Creole and French-Tamil food, and the kitchen leans on the group's habit of local, seasonal cooking. The promenade and the ashram are a few minutes' walk away. It is the quiet, characterful choice in the French quarter.