Detailed review by koshkha
koshkha(46)
Northampton, United Kingdom99%
Rumour has it that the Taj Mahal hotel was built backwards - that someone had the architect's plans the wrong way round and that's why all the rooms look out over the gardens and not the sea. Further fables tell that when the architect returned to view his masterpiece, he was so distressed that he killed himself. The Taj, it's fair to say, makes a big impression!
The first time I went to Mumbai, I stayed out near the airport in the Leela (very nice) and a Dutch colleague dragged me along to the Taj Mahal for afternoon tea as a 'must do' experience. We sat in the old-fashioned restaurant, sipping tea in china cups and looked out at the India Gate and the sea whilst liveried waiters brought us dainty sandwiches. It was like being in a time warp to old England. To tell the truth it was less a matter of opulence and great service and more a reminder of childhood afternoons being dragged to Lymington-on-Sea yacht club. However, I came away with the sense drummed into me that this was probably the most famous hotel in India.
So when I discovered that I'd be staying there on a business trip almost 4 years ago, I got quite excited because the company I was working for at the time wasn't prone to putting us in fancy places. Their justification for the choice was that we had a train to catch and the Taj was handy for the train station - Mumbai's famous Victoria Terminus. I was thrilled and excited but sadly the reality was a bit of a disappointment.
Perhaps the disappointment was my own fault because I'd been so excited. Please don't misunderstand me - there are aspects of the Taj which are outstanding. The public areas are for the most part fabulous and we were there just before Christmas when a giant Christmas tree had been erected in the lobby and local school children came in to sing carols so sweetly you could almost cry. The lobby is a stunner and the restaurants are very nice - but the room I had in the tower (the cheaper end of the hotel) was like any other 4 or 5 star hotel anywhere in the world. There was absolutely no atmosphere or sense of being somewhere special. I have stayed in several better hotels in Mumbai and many better hotels elsewhere in India.
There was nothing actually 'wrong' with the room and it had all the facilities you'd expect from a large business hotel but nothing exceptional that would actually stand out in your mind. We stayed there twice - at both the beginning and end of that business trip and each time the rooms were just a bit too dowdy. Had we paid a bit more for rooms in the 'Heritage' wing, I'm absolutely sure that I would have loved the Taj because those rooms have high ceilings and lots of period features, but up in the tower, things were very ordinary.
The hotel has a bizarre night club that we were told was 'very exclusive' and attracted some of the wealthiest people in the city but it left me cold. We spent a couple of evenings in the bar off the main lobby which was nice, expensive but again, nothing extraordinary. The usual set of expensive top-brand concession stores in the Taj don't set it apart from other hotels either and it's useful to be aware that the in-hotel shops have some odd opening hours and can catch you out.
My colleagues thought the food was great but I can't comment as I left very early on my first stay and when I came back at the end of the week got very sick and couldn't eat anything (I'm blaming a pickled onion at a very pricey Mumbai restaurant). It's possible of course that my opinion of the hotel is partly coloured by spending 24 hours groaning in bed, throwing up and running to the toilet every few minutes. Perhaps if I'd been healthy enough to go and sit in the gardens by the pool I would have been more favourably disposed to the hotel. Under the circumstances, the tip I left for the housekeepers was one of the biggest I've ever made.
On the plus side, the Taj Mahal is in a fantastic location if you want to be in downtown Mumbai and is so close to the famous Gate of India and many of the museums that you can walk to many important sites and if I'd been well I would have been out doing my Christmas shopping in a flash. Compared to staying by the airport it will save you 90 minutes in a taxi. However, standing as a very blatant symbol of affluence in a city like Mumbai means that the area around the hotel attracts an enormous number of beggars and hawkers and some people might find it distressing or uncomfortable to leave the hotel on foot due to the attention they will attract. If you've been to India a lot you may be used to that but for first time visitors it can be upsetting and my boss - a 17 stone ex-rugby player - got pursued down the street by so many small dirty children that he had to enlist the help of a passing policeman to get him back to the hotel and then swore he'd not go out again.
So if you have the chance do give the Taj a try but pay the extra for a room in the Heritage wings. Otherwise, save your pennies and book elsewhere.
Taj Mahal Palace & Tower7
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