Mumbai - Taj Mahal Palace
Spring 2008
Frank's view 
''more of a conference centre'
The 75 minute drive through Mumbai, from the airport in the north of the city, to the Taj Mahal Palace hotel in the south, is a journey which highlights the shocking extremes of Indian wealth and poverty.
Advertising hoardings, selling mobile phones, beer and soft drinks, are nailed to corrugated iron shacks lining the road side, the homes of struggling immigrants who have moved from country to city in search of a better life, and now, aspire to afford the products their dwellings promote.
Every stop, and there are many in the endless traffic jams, gives an opportunity for children to knock on the car window and sell books, magazines and even DVDs.
“If you make eye contact they will not go away,” our guide warns.
It’s hard not to look at children, still years off their teens, as they tap incessantly on the glass by your face.
The most disturbing image, witnessed from the luxury of our car, was a mother lying on the street amongst rubble and rubbish cradling her tiny naked baby.
The Taj Mahal Palace is situated by the monument, ‘The Gateway to India’, close to the harbour in the affluent business district of Mumbai. The hotel dates back to 1903 and, despite its claims of ‘Moorish, Oriental and Florentine’ influences, architecturally, it bears more than a passing resemblance to one of London’s huge Victorian railway stations.
Built around a vast atrium, with a wide staircase weaving its way upwards, this is a hotel created in the style of the ‘Grand’ late 19th century European hotels.
The hotel web site boasts of 565 rooms and 20,000 square feet of conference and reception rooms, with capacity to hold between 25 and 2000 people, making it clear where the Taj’s business focus lies. However, its claim to have state of the art wireless Internet access throughout the hotel failed frustratingly when my Mac connected to Microsense, the Taj’s ISP, but would not then access the Internet.
As we lay by the pool, the adjacent terrace would momentarily fill with pasty Caucasians in business suits sporting large name badges, all enviously grabbing a ray of blistering sun during a conference tea break.
Our ‘Luxury Grand Sea View Room’ overlooked the harbour and the 'Gateway to India', currently under wraps and undergoing repair. It also overlooked a mass of local people standing against the sea wall, their eyes locked on everyone who entered or exited the hotel. I watched one European couple cross the road to the sea side. They were immediately hounded by people begging for money and rapidly crossed back.
The most poignant incident occurred when we left the hotel to walk to Indigo restaurant, literally behind the hotel. As we passed the hotel boutique windows of Louis Vuitton we were approached by a local girl carrying a baby, so tiny it should not yet be born. She held the infant's hand towards us, crying for money.
Mumbai has 52,000 taxis, black with yellow roofs, which swarm around the city night and day like a plague of wasps. I awoke at 5.30am and moved to the window. The roadside opposite was lined with taxis, all with open doors. Apparently, the taxi drivers from outside the city sleep overnight in their cabs, the front of the Taj Mahal being one of their parking lots. Around 6.30am they all sped off in search of another day’s fares.
The Taj Mahal has some good restaurants, most notably Wasabi (Japanese). We also tried Masala Kraft, the hotel's Indian restaurant, which was fine.
Mumbai is fundamentally an entry and exit point to India for tourists. It is worth a half day guided tour taking in sites such as a Jain temple and the public laundry.
The Taj Mahal Palace & Tower is a well established 'heritage' hotel which is used extensively by local travel companies for their European tourist clients. It has a new adversary in the Four Seasons Hotel, which opened on May 1st 2008, and is very much my preference.
Taj Mahal Palace & Tower
Apollo Bunder
Mumbai
+91 22 6665 3366
http://www.tajhotels.com/Palace/
Advertising hoardings, selling mobile phones, beer and soft drinks, are nailed to corrugated iron shacks lining the road side, the homes of struggling immigrants who have moved from country to city in search of a better life, and now, aspire to afford the products their dwellings promote.
Every stop, and there are many in the endless traffic jams, gives an opportunity for children to knock on the car window and sell books, magazines and even DVDs.
“If you make eye contact they will not go away,” our guide warns.
It’s hard not to look at children, still years off their teens, as they tap incessantly on the glass by your face.
The most disturbing image, witnessed from the luxury of our car, was a mother lying on the street amongst rubble and rubbish cradling her tiny naked baby.
The Taj Mahal Palace is situated by the monument, ‘The Gateway to India’, close to the harbour in the affluent business district of Mumbai. The hotel dates back to 1903 and, despite its claims of ‘Moorish, Oriental and Florentine’ influences, architecturally, it bears more than a passing resemblance to one of London’s huge Victorian railway stations.
Built around a vast atrium, with a wide staircase weaving its way upwards, this is a hotel created in the style of the ‘Grand’ late 19th century European hotels.
The hotel web site boasts of 565 rooms and 20,000 square feet of conference and reception rooms, with capacity to hold between 25 and 2000 people, making it clear where the Taj’s business focus lies. However, its claim to have state of the art wireless Internet access throughout the hotel failed frustratingly when my Mac connected to Microsense, the Taj’s ISP, but would not then access the Internet.
As we lay by the pool, the adjacent terrace would momentarily fill with pasty Caucasians in business suits sporting large name badges, all enviously grabbing a ray of blistering sun during a conference tea break.
Our ‘Luxury Grand Sea View Room’ overlooked the harbour and the 'Gateway to India', currently under wraps and undergoing repair. It also overlooked a mass of local people standing against the sea wall, their eyes locked on everyone who entered or exited the hotel. I watched one European couple cross the road to the sea side. They were immediately hounded by people begging for money and rapidly crossed back.
The most poignant incident occurred when we left the hotel to walk to Indigo restaurant, literally behind the hotel. As we passed the hotel boutique windows of Louis Vuitton we were approached by a local girl carrying a baby, so tiny it should not yet be born. She held the infant's hand towards us, crying for money.
Mumbai has 52,000 taxis, black with yellow roofs, which swarm around the city night and day like a plague of wasps. I awoke at 5.30am and moved to the window. The roadside opposite was lined with taxis, all with open doors. Apparently, the taxi drivers from outside the city sleep overnight in their cabs, the front of the Taj Mahal being one of their parking lots. Around 6.30am they all sped off in search of another day’s fares.
The Taj Mahal has some good restaurants, most notably Wasabi (Japanese). We also tried Masala Kraft, the hotel's Indian restaurant, which was fine.
Mumbai is fundamentally an entry and exit point to India for tourists. It is worth a half day guided tour taking in sites such as a Jain temple and the public laundry.
The Taj Mahal Palace & Tower is a well established 'heritage' hotel which is used extensively by local travel companies for their European tourist clients. It has a new adversary in the Four Seasons Hotel, which opened on May 1st 2008, and is very much my preference.
Taj Mahal Palace & Tower
Apollo Bunder
Mumbai
+91 22 6665 3366
http://www.tajhotels.com/Palace/
Be Frank: agree or disagree? What do you think?
