SARATHA VILAS HOTEL - CHETTINAD

The Saratha Vilas (a luxurious Chettinad mansion)  was constructed in 1910 by Thiru S.A.S.S. Subramanian, a prosperous Tamil merchant from the famous Chettiar community, known for their trade and financing success across Southern Asia.   Despite the fact that most of Subramanian’s business activities were based in Malacca, Malaysia, S.A.S.S. Subramanian wished to maintain a home in his native region as did the majority of Chettiars of this period.  Therefore, he began construction on a spacious and luxurious family residence, a tribute to and demonstration of his success.

Saratha Vilas Hotel in Chettinad is the result of the discovery of the sub Indian continent, by two architects, Bernard Dragon and Michel Adment.  Their story began with their direct collaboration with Kerala based artisans in the development and production of a furniture collection presented in France under the label Gondwana.  Then the two designer-architects made their first exploration of the Chettinad region.

The restoration and metamorphosis of S.A.S.S Subramanian Chettiar’s residence into a hotel, was undertaken in February 2010. Saratha Vilas received its first guests in December 2010. – “We have learned much from local artisans about traditional construction techniques and in exchange shared our knowledge of more contemporary construction materials and architectural design”