[3] The property was later bought by T. Somasundara Mudalyar[3] and built as the Imperial Hotel in 1854 under the proprietorship of Triplicane Rathinavelu Mudaliar, renamed Albany in 1886 when it was leased to two other Mudaliar brothers, and re-established as The Connemara in 1890,[4] named after the then Madras Governor during 1881–1886, Robert Bourke, baron of Connemara, a rural area in County Galway in the west of Ireland,[5] later becoming a Spencer's hotel.

In 1891, Eugene Oakshott, owner of Spencer's, then a little shop near Anna Circle, bought the hotel and its nine acres to build a showroom.

[12] Although the building was purportedly 200 years old by the turn of the twenty-first century, dating back to the original garden house bought by John Binny, according to Muthiah nothing of the old structure remains.

Aiming at recreating old menus and cuisines, the renovation would retain only the Verandah and Raintree restaurants, refurbishing all the rooms, lobby and banquet halls to look more like the hotels early years.

[14] The renovation preserved the architectural influences of Classic Colonial, Art Deco and distinctive elements from architect Geoffrey Bawa's "Tropical Modernism" style.

[16] The Art Deco façade and interiors are the hotel's original features, including wooden carvings sourced from the 16th and 17th century temples of Mahabalipuram.

[17] Given its centuries-old background, the hotel boasts some historical snippets: Taj Connemara is located on the eastern banks of River Cooum on Binny Road, off Anna Salai, abutting the Spencer Plaza, one of the most prominent landmarks of Chennai.

The restaurants in the hotel include The Verandah—a 24-hour coffee shop serving Indian, Continental and Thai food, The Lady Connemara Bar and Lounge—serving exotic cocktails, spirits, wines, beer and light snacks in a colonial ambiance, Raintree—an ethnic, open-air restaurant serving Chettinad cuisine from Tamil Nadu.