We visited Tranquebar over a weekend from Chennai. Its about 265 odd kms from Chennai & took almost 5 hours by road. After Pondy, traffic was insane.
The Neemrana group of hotels( http://www.neemranahotels.com) had restored an old bungalow into a heritage hotel called(unimaginatively) “The Bungalow on the Beach.” They had over time also bought and restored 2 more properties in the same area – The Gate House and Nayak House. They also run the Tamil Nadu House that has dorms for 250 bucks.
The Bungalow was originally the British Collector’s Bungalow and is over 150 years old. The rooms were from another era with very high ceilings and French doors leading to the verandah. The doors and windows were high as well with the latch reaching almost the half of the door. A beautiful property, lovingly restored. Service is a bit slow but the staff are super friendly. They patiently answered all our questions about the history of Tranquebar & the property itself. They also showed us around the Gate house which I thought was a much more beautiful hotel than the Bungalow! Food is decent - nothing to rave about.
But there’s not much to do in Tranquebar apart from walk around the road & the beach. The Fort is impressive from the outside but nothing to write home about on the inside. But its a great place to unwind & chill. There’s also a nice sense of history in the place.