In rain-battered Chennai, Taj hotel’s gesture for guest wins hearts

Heavy rainfall over the past two days has led to severe flooding across parts of southern India, with Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu, being among the hardest hit. The relentless downpour has disrupted daily life, resulting in school and college closures, frequent power outages, and severe traffic congestion on waterlogged roads.
Amid the chaos, a prominent hotel chain is earning praise on social media for its compassionate gesture toward a guest. The hotel waived charges for a guest who decided to cut his trip to Chennai short due to the flooding.
D Prasanth Nair shared his experience of staying at a Taj hotel in Chennai on the social media platform X. He was full of praise for the Tata Group-owned hospitality business, contrasting it favourably with another prominent Indian hotel chain.
Mumbai-based Nair said that he and a colleague of his were in Chennai when the rainfall began. While Nair was staying at a Taj property, his colleague had opted for another large Indian hotel chain, whom he did not name but identified only as “H”.
The two were supposed to fly out of Chennai on October 16. However, given the unpredictable weather, they decided to cut their trip short and return on the evening of October 15.
Nair was pleasantly surprised when he informed the hotel of his decision and they decided not to charge him for the 16th, as they were well within their rights to do, saying they understood the circumstances behind his change of plans.
On the other hand, his colleague’s hotel decided to charge him for both the 15th and the 16th, not taking into account the exceptional circumstances of weather.
“H charged my colleague for both days. To my surprise, Taj charged me for only one day. The front office executive mentioned that they understand the reason for the change. That’s why Taj is Taj,” Nair wrote on X, adding another word of praise for Tata culture.

People in the comments section were touched by this gesture from Taj and praised the hotel chain for putting customers before profit.
One guest recalled how a Taj hotel in London took great care of his wife when she suffered a hairline fracture while staying alone at their property.

“Will never get this service at Ritz/Waldorf,” the guest said.
“I left my shirt in Taj. They have cleanly ironed it and sent it to my house through a Special courier,” another X user revealed.
“I have so many unforgettable moments with Taj across India. No hotel chain can beat Taj in their courteous service,” said X user Govindarajan.