Les Hibiscus

Top choice in Puducherry (Pondicherry)


Mango-yellow Les Hibiscus has just a handful of fabulous high-ceilinged rooms with antique beds, coffee makers and a mix of quaint Indian art and old Pondy photos, at astoundingly reasonable prices. (The top-floor single room is a great deal.) The whole place is immaculately styled, fresh breakfasts are fantastic and management is genuinely friendly and helpful. Book well ahead.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Puducherry (Pondicherry) attractions

1. École Française d'Extrême-Orient

0.14 MILES

This handsome heritage building and library is home to over 11,000 Indology books and a series of Sanskrit, Tamil and Manipravalam palm-leaf manuscripts…

2. Seafront

0.24 MILES

Pondy is a seaside town, but that doesn’t make it a beach destination; the city’s sand is a thin strip of dirty brown that slurps into a seawall of jagged…

3. Notre Dame des Anges

0.32 MILES

Looking out to sea, past a statue of Joan of Arc (opposite), Notre Dame des Anges was completed in 1855, and is arguably Pondy's most attractive church…

4. Sacred Heart Basilica

0.36 MILES

Inaugurated in 1907, the Sacred Heart Basilica is a soaring brown-and-white neo-Gothic structure beautified by restored stained glass.

5. Bharathi Park

0.52 MILES

A shady green haven that's always busy, Bharathi Park faces the neoclassical governor's residence, Raj Nivas, on its north side.

6. Gandhi Memorial

0.53 MILES

The main sight along seafront Goubert Ave is this bronze striding statue of Gandhi.

8. Old Lighthouse

0.54 MILES

Pondy's lighthouse was completed in the 1830s and functioned for more than a century before being replaced in 1979.