Svatma - A Luxury Heritage Resort

A beautiful hotel tucked away in Thanjavur. We were greeted with flowers and sandalwood paste followed by foot massages while we waited to be checked in. The slight jingle of the wind chime and flowing water feature made the mid-morning feel.peaceful.. Our rooms were spacious and comfortable, and lunch was delicious. The staff is absolutely wonderful.

This was our second stay at Svatma after about four years. We returned because we loved our previous experience, and the Brihadeeswarar Temple keeps drawing us back to Tanjore. Unfortunately, this visit did not live up to our last stay. The staff seemed disoriented, with poor communication skills and a lack of proficiency in conversational English—a noticeable issue considering the majority of guests are international tourists who do not speak Tamil. Service was slow, even in the restaurant, which was disappointing. That said, the food quality was good, though we cannot comment extensively since we are vegetarians and the hotel serves exclusively vegetarian cuisine. We also used the spa services, and while the massage was excellent, the pricing was steeper than most five-star hotels, which felt excessive. The rooftop bar was particularly underwhelming—it was poorly staffed, and on one occasion, we waited over 10 minutes with no attendant present. The bartender also seemed inadequately trained, which affected the overall experience. Despite these shortcomings, Svatma remains a beautiful property in close proximity to the temple, and we may return in the future. However, we sincerely hope that management improves staff training and efficiency to match the hotel’s stunning ambiance and potential.

We live in North America and are visiting Tamilnadu. Have stayed at 3 different hotels and have been extremely pleased with our stay, service and food until we came to this hotel. Not sure who has given this hotel a 5 star rating. Pathetic food- I ordered a cheese pizza and after one bite, I could not eat it. Still had to pay full price for the pizza. The food was greasy, undercooked and smelled bad. The rooms are old, smelly and had to complaint about the odour in the room and in the corridor few times. The room service was substandard. Did not leave any amenities in the bathroom. When we complaint, the only thing the manager Balaji would say is I am sorry. Also there were lizards in the room. My wife could not sleep for 2 nights thinking she was staying at Jurassic park. Don’t recommend anyone to stay here. Also noted that the last response that came from the Hotel was about 5 months ago on any of the feedbacks provided by guests. Lack of any feedback clearly shows that they don’t give a damn about their guests. Another reason not to stay here.