In a sepia-tinted image of The Lady Connemara Bar & Lounge at the newly reopened Taj Connemara in Chennai, there is a slender lady, possibly an Englishwoman, seated on a high bar stool. She is clearly enjoying her drink even as she smiles for the camera at "Madras' First licensed Bar", then called The Cocktail Bar. Reps of the heritage hotel for the longest time maintained that the young lady was happy high on nimboo pani while the gentleman sitting next to her was enjoying his martini. Be that as it may, they had ice cubes to chill their drinks in a Madras accustomed to hot beverages like filter coffee, masala chai and rasam. In the first advertisement of Connemara Hotel, bought out by Spencer & Co in 1891, this was one nugget of luxury highlighted in bold: ice and hot baths free.
Spencer & Co. was considered a pioneering retail giant in Asia back then; they built Asia's largest department store in Chennai which is now a mere shadow of its grand old self, its original building gutted in a fire in 1983. When Taj Connemara was taken over by Spencer & Co., it was transformed into a beacon of luxury and the good life. Glorious balls and high-society soirees became the norm in a era of entertainment in the 1930s. The Spencers introduced air-conditioning in public areas of the hotel by roping in an apparatus from Great Britain, added a swimming pool for the first time and sourced ice all the way from Canada to mix the finest cocktails in Madras at the time. But soon the retailing behemoth, mired in a financial crunch, had to lease Connemara Hotel to the Taj Group in 1974. So, when Taj Connemara reopened last year on October 20, after close to two years of refurbishment costing around Rs 100 crores, one could not help but take a dekko at the old Cocktail Bar, now renamed The Lady Connemara Bar & Lounge, with ice-cubes clinking in sparkling cocktail classes.
With the Chennai jet set in attendance on the day of the re-launch, the mood must have resembled the liveliness of the most enchanting evening parties hosted at what was once one of Asia's greatest hotels.
An integral part of the cultural nucleus of Chennai, Taj Connemara is also the oldest hotel in south India. Born in 1854 as Imperial Hotel and having moved through owners and personalities—from the Nawab of Arcot to John Binny, the Sheriff of Madras to the Mudaliar brothers to Spencer &Co.—the hotel reverberates with stories both salacious and immaculate. Shut on May 10, 2016, for renovation after the Chennai floods, the revamped version connects this illustrious past in its architecture with a minimalist, modern aesthetic of soft, soothing colours.
The design ethos is distinctly classic colonial, with old photographs of British soldiers and officers, businessmen and families sourced from the British Museum lining the corridors. Famous architect, Geoffrey Bawa’s ‘Tropical Modernism’ touch has been retained in the colour and feel of the hotel. There's jazz and swing of Mary Lou Williams-kind-of-vintage on loop all the time, everywhere. From the elegant Tea Room serving delicate finger sandwiches, scones and macaroons to the Chettinad style restaurant, Raintree, there is a seamless transition from the East to the West executed by Taj's long-time British interior design consultant Sue Freeman. Irish Whisky Connemara coexists with Trichinopoly cigar; a grand staircase with wooden carvings from old temples of Mahabalipuram consort with a grand piano at its foot and a cello further beyond in an alcove of sofas.
"In the scheme of things for Chennai, Taj Connemara is a small, boutique historical property, unlike the big machine that is Taj Coromandel and Taj Fisherman's Cove which has the best access to the sea," says Puneet Chhatwal, CEO and MD of Indian Hotel Co. A revamped Taj Connemara has 147 rooms and suites spread over its Tower and Heritage wings with 4.5 acre of landscaped greens, including a meticulously manicured enclosed garden with white benches and small stone squares. This plot of symmetrical garden abuts the intriguing bachelor's block, which is the oldest section in the hotel and houses the colonial rooms. It currently offers the most luxurious options in the hotel and is as desirable as the suites, sometimes larger than many rooms in the superior categories. The colour palette in the rooms here post-renovation is powdery blue and cerise pink. The large rooms in the section were once shared by British officers and soldiers for long-term stays, just like in a dorm with one bathroom at the corner of each floor. It is believed that Lady Connemara, too, stayed in the bachelor's block in 1890.
But pray why did she leave the Governor's house to live in a hotel? That is where the history of this storied hotel gets tantalisingly interesting. The official version remains that the hotel was named “Connemara” in 1891 as a mark of respect for Robert Bourke, Baron of Connemara—a cultural district in Western Ireland—and then Governor of Madras. While in his official capacity he did a great deal for the development of Madras, he also had his share of flaws and very dangerous ones at that. He was a incurable womaniser and was generously offered Indian women from the harems of ruling nawabs. He also reportedly had intimate relations with his wife's own sister and the chambermaid. Lady Connemara is supposed to have contracted STD from her husband. One day, she caught him red-handed with a group of young women and stomped out of the government house with her bags. Not sure where to go, she landed at the Connemara Hotel which was then called Albany in 1890. She stayed there for about three months before she set sail for Ireland and promptly divorced her husband. It was a big case and Lord Connemara paid the price by losing his governorship of Madras. Many say that the hotel was actually named Connemara in 1891 to honour the troubled wife of the notorious baron. Does the signature cocktail of Lady Connemara Bar & Lounge, called "Since 1891", also swivel to this piece of shared belief?