PRICE:
Frommer's Very Highly Recommended

Set among a rash of rather ordinary old-fashioned hotels, Colaba's sexiest lodging option and Mumbai's only boutique-style hotel is perfect for those raring to have a good time. Originally owned by Arthur Gordon, an early-20th-century trader who made his fortune in Bombay, and now the pride of Sanjay Narang, one of Mumbai's most high-profile restaurateurs, this trendy pad with its toothpaste-white interiors comes as a breath of fresh air, as does the slick, attentive service that starts with the super-fast check-in. There are three themed guest room floors: The Scandinavian level offers smart, contemporary rooms with parquet floors and sleek Ikea-style furniture, timber blinds, and large Euro-themed black-and-white photographs. Mediterranean rooms are equally charming, with bright blues and yellows, tiled floors, cane chairs, John Miller posters, and cool aqua-toned bathrooms. Rooms on the feminine Country Floor are strictly floral, patchwork, and pastel fans. Accommodations are small but well proportioned, with comfortable beds and extras like a stereo system with VCD (video compact disc, a media format popular in Asia that never really caught on in the West) and CD player so you can rent a movie or request complimentary music from the hotel's library. A selection of magazines, bowls of sweets, designer toiletries, free Internet access, and complimentary ironing are more thoughtful touches. The bathrooms may be tiny, but they offer great walk-in showers. Opulent and over the top, the one and only suite has been themed on the Sun King's palace at Versailles, complete with crystal chandeliers and lavish gilded furniture (and available at the price you'd pay for a regular room elsewhere). All Stir Fry, the pleasant do-it-yourself Asian restaurant, is quite good, but look for a new rooftop restaurant (serving Hyderabadi cuisine) to open in early 2006. Sadly, the place has one drawback: The nonstop thumping from the in-house nightclub Polly Esther's, which particularly affects rooms on the second floor.

In room: A/C, TV, CD and VCD player (CDs on request); bedside console, minibar, tea- and coffee-making facility, hair dryer, iron and ironing board on request, electronic safe.

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

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