PRICE:
Frommer's Very Highly Recommended

Location, location, location! It may be away from the central tourist area of Colaba, but this hotel enjoys a lovely seaside setting in one of Mumbai's hippest suburbs. It originally opened in 1999 as the Regent, but in 2002 the Taj Group took it over and refurbished it, turning it into one of the city's finest hotels, with each and every guest room affording views of the Arabian Sea through palm trees. The lobby is done up in earth tones and has potted plants, huge metal pots, and sculptures of horses; the atrium, with its grand piano, hosts live music every evening. Plush and slightly over the top, the carpeted guest rooms feature wonderful, solid, king-size mattresses covered in soft, cool white linen. Pale pink or darker maroon walls are decorated with contemporary prints and watercolors, and the rooms feature quality embroidered fabrics and plenty of wood -- only the slightly ruddy carpets could do with a makeover. If you don't mind shelling out the extra $85, get a Taj Club room on the 21st floor, which has wonderful wood floors, a personal butler, express check-in and -out, and a separate lounge area with complimentary French wine and exotic dry fruits. (Ask about special promotions and rates, which the hotel has been using to entice new visitors.)

Facilities: 3 restaurants; bar; pool; spa; fitness center; concierge; travel desk; car hires; business center; currency exchange; bookshop; salon; 24-hr. room service; laundry and dry cleaning; doctor-on-call; butler on call; luxury and club lounge floors; Wi-Fi enabled. In room: A/C, TV, electronic bedside console, dataport, minibar, hair dryer, tea- and coffee-making facilities, electronic safe, scale, magnifying shaving mirror. Taj Club rooms have plasma TV.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's India, 3rd Edition, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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